Youths: Great Potential, But Some Things I Don't Understand

Youths today are amazing, astounding persons in many respects. They often accomplish great things. Many enjoy access to home computers, smart phones, and other modern devices I didn't even dream about when I was growing up. (I was born in 1958, so I primarily grew up during the 1960s and 1970s).

The current generation of youths potentially can do much to help make this world a better place if they use the resources available to them constructively. However, there are some things I fail to understand about these youths.

Why do so many youths get tattoos and piercings? Why do so many seek to visit tanning salons? Why do so many get involved in high risk behaviors such as drug abuse and sexting?

When I was a kid things like drug abuse existed, as did casual sex. But the advent of smart phones seems to make spreading messages about illegal and immoral activities easier and faster.

For much of my childhood, our family had one home phone, which was wired into the wall. Furthermore, my mom was a stay-at-home mom who seemed to almost have a sixth sense about where I was and what I was doing. Maybe she did! Also, many of our neighbors were also stay-at-home moms who could phone or visit mom if they saw me doing something that they thought was wrong.

Of course, many of us did do some things wrong and had opportunities to do many more things wrong if we had chosen to do so. Each generation throughout history has faced a different set of opportunities and a different set of challenges.

Furthermore, overall, I think modern social media like Facebook and Twitter can be a blessing if used properly, as are smart phones. The smart phones that allow sexting also allow parents and children to keep in contact with each other and to make emergency phone calls.

But, to me, it seems texting and video games may take up too much time in the lives of many young people today. Also, today's busier kids with their advanced phones who spend less time with their parents may be more able to engage in high risk behaviors than my generation was during our childhood. And I admit that is only a "maybe," because lots of opportunities for doing things wrong seem to exist for each generation.  

However, I think we need to do a better job of communicating to young people how to behave properly and why it is so important to do so. Far too few young persons seem to understand the risks that come from tattoos, piercings, sexting, etc. Does the typical youth understand how one's life can be impacted forever by one decision on one day to engage in one particular activity? Somehow, we need to communicate the risks that come from one's actions more effectively. I'm confident we can and that the current generation of youths can be our best one ever, but we need to do a better job of training them to ensure this happens.

One resource that may help in this regard is my book, True Christianity: It May Not Be What You Think, which I believe contains much helpful advice that can help Christians (and even followers of other religions, agnostics, and atheists) come closer to living the joyful, healthy, productive lives that the highest righteous authority (which I call God) desires us to, whether we are youths or adults. I self-published the second edition earlier this year.

My bias as the author is probably showing, but I think the book is a valuable resource. However, many other helpful resources are available, too, both religious and secular. Let's take advantage of them and help the upcoming generation be the best one ever. We can do it!