The Chastity Challenge - Are You Raising Saints In 1995 the Pontifical Council for the Family published The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality - Guidelines for Education Within the Family. This test attempts to capture two things from that document - the actions parents should take (Things to Do) and the information they should teach their children (Things to Teach). Each statement or phrase has a number or numbers following it. These numbers refer to the applicable sections of the council document. The user should then refer to the council document if more information is needed about a statement or phrase. To take this test simply read each statement or phrase and ask, "Am I doing this well now?" or, if your children are not yet in that age group, "Am I prepared to follow that guidance at this time?" If the answer is yes, place an "X" next to the sequence number. If your answer is no or you are not sure, leave it blank. The items left blank are those you should consider addressing. Parents should then use the results of this test to plan how they will better promote chastity in their homes. If you would like a formatted version of this test in Microsoft Word just send us a note at mail@ThinkChastity.com and we will send one to you. Things to Do _1 Don't become discouraged; place trust in God 7, 31 _2 Encourage all of the virtues 19 _3 Living conjugal chastity is the most valid premise for educating children - honor and generosity toward spouse and life 20 _4 Consider any attack on the chastity of your children as an offense 21 _5 Maintain a positive atmosphere of love, virtue, and respect for God's gifts 22 _6 Help them discover their vocation to marriage or consecrated virginity 22, 26, 27 _7 Spouses must collaborate and share vigorous dialogue 37 _8 Never tolerate immoral or inadequate information being given outside the home 44, 64 _9 Find time to be with your children and talk to them, learn how to listen carefully, and make the effort to understand them 51 _10 Recognize the fragment of truth in their rebellion 51 _11 Ensure immoral fashions and attitudes do not violate the integrity of the home (mass media) 56 _12 Moderate, critical, watchful, prudent use of mass media 56 _13 Have them practice self-restraint and make personal sacrifices for God 58 _14 Mothers - value your maternal vocation and your place in the home 59 _15 Fathers - behave with masculine dignity, but not machismo 59 _16 Generosity on accepting life 61 _17 Home of faith and prayer 62 _18 Truths of faith and morals deeply studied with reverence 63 _19 Word of God read and lived with love 63 _20 Moral dimension must always be a part of explanations 68 _21 Provide constant help for the growth of child's spiritual life - discipline of senses and mind, avoidance of sin, modesty, moderation, wholesome pursuits, prayer, frequent reception of sacraments 70, 71 _22 Read well-chosen books on formation 74 The Years of Innocence _23 Never disturb these years with unnecessary sexual information 78, 83 _24 Formation in chastity should only be indirect 78 _25 Protect from exaggerated opposition to sexual stereotypes 80 _26 Use the Motherhood of Mary as a model 81 _27 For boys - discourage overly aggressive behavior among boys 82 _28 Correct erroneous information and obscene language 84 _29 Encourage obedience, generosity, self-denial, self-reflection, and sublimation 86 _30 Present objective standards of right and wrong 86 Puberty _31 Be particularly attentive to Christian education 87 _32 Pay attention to physical and psychological development 88 _33 For daughters - help them to joyfully accept development in a bodily, psychological, and spiritual sense 90 _34 Don't give detailed information about sexual union unless asked 90 _35 For boys - present physiological facts in an atmosphere of serenity, positively and with reserve, in the framework of marriage, family, and fatherhood 91 _36 For daughters - use trusting and open dialogue to guide daughters through any emotional perplexity 92 _37 For daughters - Promote chastity through consideration of the opposite sex 92 _38 Point out the beauty of motherhood, the wonder of procreation, and the deep meaning of virginity 92 _39 For boys - correct tendency to use sex in a hedonistic way 93 _40 Present God's commandments as a way of life and strive to form a right conscience 94 _41 Keep all information about life, sex, anatomy, and hygiene in a Christian context 94 _42 Give well-reasoned arguments about the value of chastity to children's questions 96 _43 Don't put much emphasis on pathological sexual problems 96 _44 Don't give the impression that sex is something shameful or dirty 96 _45 Help children resist negative influences 97 _46 Watch out for their relations with the opposite sex, but don't be too obvious 97 _47 Education should support the vocation they receive from God 98 _48 Your children should not be alone in discerning their vocation 99 _49 Strive to give example and witness with your lives 102 _50 Know how to say "no" 107 _51 Cultivate a taste in them for what is good, noble, and true 107 _52 Give loving and patient advice to help young people from closing in on themselves 108 Towards Adulthood _53 Encourage responsibility and necessary autonomy 110 _54 Intensify their faith relationship with the church 110 _55 Help define conditions for a promising union 110 _56 Stress value of virginity equally to boys and girls 111 Practical Guidelines _57 Encourage them to think about what is true, just, honorable, pure... 111 _58 Associate with other parents and others that can help with problems 24, 114, 130, 131 _59 Participate in instruction outside home 115, 116 _60 Remove children from bad instruction 117 _61 Don't discuss homosexuality before adolescence 125 _62 No erotic material for any young people 126, 127 _63 Instruction must be positive and prudent, clear and delicate 126 _64 Continue your formation 134 _65 Reject secular and anti-natal education 136 _66 Sterilization and contraception should not be discussed before adolescence 137 _67 Be cautious of professional associations dealing with sexual issues 138 _68 Reject safe sex education, insist on education on chastity 139 _69 Avoid education that promotes self-determined moral codes 140, 95 _70 Be attentive for ways sex education can be inserted in other subjects 141 Things to Teach _71 The unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being 4 _72 The capacity to renounce self, to make sacrifices, and to wait 5 _73 Love is true when it creates good and gives it to others 9 _74 Human sexuality is a good 11 _75 Human life is a gift received in order to be given 12 _76 Love between man and woman is achieved when they gives themselves totally 14 _77 The physical intimacy of spouses is a sign and pledge of spiritual communion 14 _78 Chastity is the spiritual power that frees love from selfishness and aggression 16 _79 The revealing sign of authentic married love is openness to life 15 _80 Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery 18 _81 Seek continuous illumination of the Holy Spirit 21 _82 Married love is physical and spiritual, total, faithful, and fruitful 29 _83 Christian marriage integrates sexuality into a path to holiness 30 _84 Reject any separation of sexuality from love 32 _85 It is morally grave to separate the unitive dimension from the procreative dimension in married life 32 _86 The consequences of sterilization, abortion, and sexual activity outside of marriage 32 _87 Man is called to live in truth and love 36 _88 Fulfillment is found in the sincere gift of self 36 _89 How to enter into a healthy relationship with God and other people 53 _90 Decency and modesty in speech, action, and dress - motivated by respect for one's body and dignity of others 56 _91 Respect for privacy 57 _92 How to evaluate the environment with a critical sense and autonomy 72 _93 Detachment from mass media 72 _94 Chastity is possible and it brings joy 73 The Years of Innocence _95 Masculinity is a gift and not a sign of superiority over women 82 Puberty _96 Discuss the cycles of fertility and their meaning 90 Adolescence _97 For boys - help them understand the physiological aspects of genital development before they get misinformation from others 91 _98 Provide sufficient information about the physical and psychological characteristics of the opposite sex 91 _99 The value of modesty and autonomy from society's trends 97 _100 To love the beauty and strength of chastity, value of prayer, recourse to the sacraments 102 _101 Indissolubility of marriage 102 _102 Relationship between love and procreation 102 _103 Immorality of abortion, contraception, and masturbation 102, 103 _104 The Church's view of homosexuality 104 _105 The disordered use of sex or trivializing it destroys the capacity to love 105 _106 To go against social trends that stifle true love and an appreciation for spiritual realities 108