Further North

For the past couple of days I was up at Luther Dell Bible camp, one of my favorite places. I was helping out Youth Encounter by lending my guitar skills and then earned my keep at the camp by building a bridge over a marshy swampy area along one of the trails. It was a messy day of work, but was also rewarding as well.

I have also been reading one of the books I gained in my Understand class called "Hurt" by Chap Clark.



It has been a very interesting and somewhat depressing book to read knowing that the truth he writes about connects on so many levels: school, family, and church to name a few. Here are a few quotes I have come across.

"To survive, a young person must learn how to be a child, a student, an athlete, and a friend, while also continuing the ever lengthening process of determining who he or she is. In other words, we have allowed a new stage of life known as midadolescence to emerge, and this new stage carries with it new and at times very difficult challenges." pg 20

"Adolescents have been cut off for gar too long from the adults who have the power and experience to escort them into the greater society. Adolescents have been abandoned. They have, therefore, created their own world, a world that is designed to protect them from the destructive forces and wiles of the adult community." pg 21

"What is interesting is that many adults will highlight these (sports and dance) and other activities as proof as their commitment to the young. "I drive my kid to all of these activities. I sacrificed my own life, work, avocation, and enjoyment in order to take the kids to soccer games, concerts, and competitions."...We have evolved to the point where we believe that driving is support, being active in love, and providing and and ever opportunity is selfless nature. We are in a culture that has forgotten how to be together." pg 46

"The sharp and attractive and the rebellious and countercultural make up only 20 percent of the population, and yet they receive 80 percent of adults' attention" page 49

"The loss of meaningful relationships with adults has been the most devastating to developing adolescents" pg 50

These are only a few of the ones I have come across. But I shutter at the fact that parents, teachers and even youth workers have fallen into this perpetuation of adolescent abandonment. We believe deep down inside that we are doing them a service, but are we really? Are we providing what is best for their lives? Or are we putting our own selfish needs and wants first and making them happen through the youth of today?

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