OCTOPUS is the unlikely acronym for a church-centered sex-education program for teen­agers and their parents.

Designed for use in any house of worship or by other community groups, it involves a network of health professionals, religious leaders, teens, and parents. The purpose of the program is to prevent teenage pregnancy by activating “Open Communication regarding Teens’ Or Parents’ Un­derstanding of Sexuality.”

This manual was created to give not only in­formation on birth control, reproductive anatomy, and sexually transmitted diseases, but also on responsible decision-making, adolescent de­velopment, and community resources. The fact that parents need more input into the sex education of their children is recognized and made an essential element of the OCTOPUS program. Included in the manual are activities, exercises, and homework assignments designed to enhance family com­munication skills. There are also group sessions on the values of love and relationships, churches’ per­spectives on sexuality, and issues of decision-making and responsibility. The bibliography offers addition­al resources and suggested readings.

The church has proven an effective setting for sexuality training because of its traditional family orientation. OCTOPUS offers churches and com­munity organizations a unique, family centered, sex education program based on three years of develop­ment and more than two years of testing in the field.