The First Unitarian Church of Honolulu is offering a sex education program that aims to serve as an educational option for families opting out of a mandatory program now in place for Hawaii public school students.

Tailored for high school students, the church’s “Our Whole Lives” program is an eight-session course slated to start Oct. 17 and wrap up Nov. 22. Free child care for younger siblings will be available for every session.

A mandatory orientation for parents of 10th- to 12th-graders will be held 11:30 a.m. Sept. 27 at the Unitarian church, 2500 Pali Highway. Before enrolling, parents will be able to examine course details and speak with teachers. The cost is $100 per family. If fewer than 10 families register, the course will be canceled.

“The main difference between us and the DOE (Department of Education) is we’re going to be much more family-oriented; we’re insisting that the parents participate … because we believe very strongly that parents are the most important sexuality educators. … The question is whether the parents will have the right information,” said church spokeswoman Nancy Kleiber, who plans to serve as one of the program’s trained teachers.

Classes for students and parents will run concurrently and in separate rooms while intimate subject matter is discussed, said Kleiber, a retired religious educator and anthropologist specializing in women’s health care. She maintains that both teens and parents will feel less awkward in such groupings, noting, “There are a great many parents who would have trouble saying the word ‘penis’ — it’s still not something that’s out there in an intergenerational context.”

“This is a way for parents to share their values with their children” and learn how to talk about sexuality with one another, Kleiber said.

There will be some joint sessions, including potluck dinners. “They’re also going be together on the way home,” when they can compare notes on topics they might not otherwise discuss, Kleiber said. “Just saying the word ‘masturbation,’ now that’s radical.”

General topics up for discussion will include anatomy and physiology, sexual orientation and gender identity, friendship and dating, lovemaking and conception, and pregnancy and birth. Also, the course will stress responsible, healthful behavior tied to abstinence and contraception, unintended pregnancy options, sexually transmitted diseases and sexual abuse ranging from harassment to rape.

According to First Unitarian’s website, unitariansof‑ hi.org, “Our Whole Lives not only provides facts about anatomy and human development, but also helps participants clarify their values, build interpersonal skills, and understand the spiritual, emotional and social aspects of sexuality.”

The curriculum is based on standards set by the National Guidelines Task Force, a group of leading health, education and sexuality professionals assembled by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S.

Katie Ackerman, First Unitarian’s director of LifeSpan Religious Education, will be one of the teachers, along with staff from social service agencies outside the church, who will be screened and trained to serve as instructors.

In June the state Board of Education approved a revised sex education policy that expands a long-standing, abstinence-based policy to include lessons on contraception, disease prevention and skills to help students make “healthy decisions” about sexuality and relationships.

The revised policy requires that students receive sexual health education that is age-appropriate and medically accurate. It leaves it up to the DOE to vet curricula and adds a provision for parents to have their children not receive the instruction.

The old board policy, which was last updated in 1995, had said that the DOE “shall instruct students that abstention from sexual intercourse is the surest and most responsible way to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.”

For additional information about First Unitarian’s sex education program, contact Ackerman at re@unitariansofhi.org. To register online, visit bit.ly/1ivzkEP.