Mar 6, 2008 9:23 am US/Eastern
'Talking About Touching' Plan Rejected In Mass.
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
The number one mandate that came out of the church sex abuse sex scandal in America was protecting children.
Massachusetts churches were ordered to implement child abuse prevention programs. However the program called "talking about touching" has come under fire, with both parents and priests refusing to participate.
The Boston Archdiocese says 16 parishes are refusing to offer the class that teaches children to identify and report inappropriate touching.
The parishes are concerned some of the material is inappropriate for children as young as 5. C
ritics say the program uses language that is too sexually explicit for young children.According to the Boston Globe in two of the cases, priests are refusing to support the program. While in 11 other parishes either parents or educators say they wont teach the classes.
The archdiocese says the parishes haven't implemented the program despite direct requests to do so from Cardinal Sean O'Malley or his auxiliary bishops.
Another 48 of the archdiocese's 295 parishes don't have the program due to teacher turnover or other reasons.
The gap has put the archdiocese out of compliance with the national abuse prevention measures adopted by the nation's bishops.
The Rev. John Connolly, who oversees abuse-related issues for O'Malley, said the archdiocese will continue to encourage parishes to install the program.
The archdiocese told the paper that of the parishes that are offering the program, only one percent of parents have opted to keep their kids out of the training.
Church officials told the newspaper that the archiocese has offered two alternative programs to the parishes who think the classes are too sexually explicit.
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