Hello everyone! It's been a few weeks due to the amount of work that goes into a retreat weekend. But we're back picking up where we left off in Youth Culture 101 by Walt Mueller. Remember this is just the basics. I would encourage you to go pick up a copy at any bookstore or order in online at amazon.com.

That being said, let's pick up where we left off discussing things that are shaping teenage values. We talked last time about family issues so today we're going to talk about outside issues that shape our teens. Let's just jump in!

1. Music, advertising, and other media- Our teens are constantly blitzed with media. Tv, radio, magazines, ipods (with itunes), ads on facebook or other social sites, and more. These things send a message to our kids whether it's telling them what to buy, or who to vote for. (President Obama reached a record number of young adults using social network advertisement during his campaign. The same young adults who came out and voted on election day) Our students are being fed by the media culture.

2. The Digital Revolution- 15 years ago it would have been hard to imagine that you could watch tv, surf the internet, talk to your friends, update the world on what you were doing, and listen to music  all at the same time. Throw in the the fact that you can do it all with a device that fits into your pocket and it would blow your mind back then. But that's the case today. Kids have the world at their fingertips and it's affecting the way that they think and how the approach things in their lives. We'll re-visit this in a few weeks.

3. Peer Group - In a series of questions asked over a number of weeks, I've asked the kids if they have felt pressure from their peers. A vast majority said that they did. This isn't a new phenomenon. In fact you could probably say the same for yourself when you were in school. The difference is that when we faced peer pressure it was often from someone trying to convince us to do something that we both knew was wrong. Now it is more of an unspoken pressure to do things that are accepted as ok. Teens face pressure to drink, do drugs, have sex, .etc because their peers see these things as acceptable behaviors. This is a lot tougher for a teen to face off against.

4. The Postmodern Worldview- Postmodernism has been around a while and it has made it into the world of our teenagers. This affects our students mostly in the area of absolute truth. When George Barna asked a group of adults whether there was "absolute truth" or if it was relative to specific people, 64 percent said it was relative compared to 22 percent who claimed that truth was absolute. When the same question was asked to teenagers, 83% said that truth was relative and only 6% claimed that there was absolute truth.  When teaching students about God's absolute truth this presents an tough issue.

These are a few of the outside influences that begin to shape our students. I don't mean to pain all of these as bad. I just want to say that they affect the way that students think. This is a time to begin to having conversations with students about these issues. Start talking about advertising and what students are taking away from it. Start having conversations about absolute truth and how they view God's truth. This is a good chance for conversation.

 Until Next Time,

Jon