Hello everyone. This week we are continuing in the VERY long chapter 2 of "Youth Culture 101" By Walt Mueller. Click on the picture above to head over to Amazon.com and see about picking up a copy. It's a great book. 

The last couple of posts we've been looking at how the things that influenced teens lives are different now then they were even a decade ago. As a result, these changes have led to changes in the trends of teenagers. In other words, because influences have changed, so have the behaviors of teens. Here's how:

1. Sex - No Rules. - This is a major difference in the lives of teens today. To quote Meuller, " Our teenagers live in a sex saturated Society." He goes on to explain that a majority of teenagers believe that sex before marriage is ok. They also indulge in other sexual acts such as oral sex at younger and younger ages. This is not to say that these things weren't happening 20 years ago, it's to say that today it is more accepted.  We'll look more at this one in Chapter 8.

2. Materialism- I can still hear my dad saying these words. "You're lucky, when I was a kid all we had was ______" Sometimes for fun I'll say the same to our students..."When I was a kid we only had 70 channels on tv..." The truth of the matter is that our students live in a time of increasing wealth. Because of the success of marketing, our kids want more and better things all the time. You can own something for less than 6 months and something better has come out. MY wife bought me an ipod the week before new models came out. I couldn't help but think that I had an outdated piece of technology.(despite that fact that it's held strong for over 2 year and I've never filled it up!)

3. Prevalence of Substance Abuse - Mueller makes the point that before the end of high school, nearly 75% of teens will have experimented with alcohol. They do this because they are bored, pressured, stress, depresses, or curious. As a former teenage alcoholic I can identify with this one. It is much more acceptable today to do these things. I can't tell parents how many times I've heard a teenager say, "it's only marijuana, it doesn't hurt anything". It's tough, but it's true.

4. Rise in teenage violence- Normally this one doesn't affect the suburbs as much as more urban areas. However, this week on the news of I've seen multiple reports of teen violence. Mueller reports that there is good news in that recent reports see a slight drop in violence among teens. It is still a serious point to consider since 33% of high school reported to having been in a fight.

5. Teenage Depression and Suicide- Suicide is the third leading cause of teenage death in the US. (as of this writing). Being a teen today includes plenty of stress, anxiety, and being overwhelmed. Combine this with the normal struggles with being a teenager and learning how to become an adult and you have a recipe for disaster. This is a tough area which we'll come back to in Chapter 11.

6. Smorgasbord Spirituality - Postmodernism as well as globalization gives students deadly combination when it comes to being grounded in faith. Postmodernism teaches a relative stance of "if it works for you, it's ok for you to do." Teens struggle with Christianity because it is exclusive. It forces them to say you are wrong to people who have different beliefs. And as much as students hate to say that, they hate to hear it even more. As a result students began to adopt a belief system that has holes and inconsistencies with true faith.

 All of these trends have been emerging from the teenage world over the number of years. They present a tough problem facing our teenage students. But that doesn't mean that it's hopeless to "raise a child in the way they should go". Next week we'll look at some things that keep parents from teaching their kids about the truth of God's grace.

Until then,

Jon