We just got our first couple of teen friends on our church MySpace page. And I'm here to tell you that whatever fears I've had about my finger not being on the pulse of the younger generation have all come true. These kids live in a whole 'nother world than I did back in the 70's. And not a better one.
All I can say is...God bless youth pastors and DCE's and catechists and everyone else who works with teenagers.
5 comments:
Thanks, we need it ;)
You might try concurrently creating a facebook. I had created a myspace to see what those darn kids were up to only to find out that many had moved on to the facebook.
Give it a dry, it's mildly addictive too ;)
We're on that!
Hey, you groovy chick! Join us next year!
I can say that when I entered ft youth ministry 15 years ago; it is vastly different today.
The "openess" of what youth are doing is scary.
I don't know, this might sound strange, but I actually think teenagers today are living in a way BETTER world than I grew up in back in the 70's. I'm on MySpace & FaceBook, too. I get that there are a lot of weird things out there today. But my kids (21, 19, 15) hang out with other kids who are different races, cultures, religions, sexual orientation & identity, (dis)abilities, ethnicity, etc. They crack jokes at each other and seem immune to the kind of scary political correctness that inhibits honest conversation between people who are "different" from each other at my age. They are online with people from every continent on the planet, playing live video games with kids speaking different languages, trying to communicate with each other across geography and culture. They seem to breathe more easily because they're not strait-jacketed into stereotypical gender roles when it comes to employment, relationships, etc; they're not in as big a rush to "pair off"; they have options I never dreamed of when I was their age. Believe me, I know the challenges and the trouble they face. They live with me! But if I had to pick a time to be a teenager, I'd pick today in a heartbeat. They're hopeful. They're voting! They're spiritually curious. They're open minded. They would never dream of NOT recycling. I think we ought to give ourselves a little credit for helping to create a world that really IS a better place for our kids. I hope I'm around long enough to see the world they give to THEIR kids.
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