I’m being contacted by people who have dealt with Teresa Kettelkamp in her position as executive director of the USCCB’s Office of Child and Youth Protection. For example, there’s a group of Catholics, the Holy Family Society in Tucson, Arizona, who wrote to complain that their diocese’s “safe environment sex education program” was recommending a book called “A Very Touching Book.” I was also sent copies of pages from this book intended to be read by children. I can’t post the pictures here because they’re too graphic!
That’s right, this book to be used with elementary school children shows anatomically correct drawings of adult men and women. It also encourages the child and the adult reading it with them to make themselves comfortable with the words for their private parts by chanting them out loud three times. Once again, why does a child need to know the word “vagina” to know that no one should touch her in a private place? The book also encourages the child to ridicule adults who are uncomfortable using explicit words, saying how funny they are with their faces turning purple. In other words, the book strips children of their innocence and makes them ripe for exploration and exploitation in sexual matters.
After being alerted to the book by the Holy Family Society, Kettelkamp reassures them that they are worrying for no reason:
