I have had an interesting couple of days. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I signed up- and as far as that goes, I'm still not sure what to think. Yesterday and today I got to speak to a couple of health classes at the high school. I was working on my Master's in Public Health when my life was re-directed. I have always wanted to have my hand in this field because most of the voices there tend to be a little more liberal than mine. I think it's good to have balance. After volunteering at
Thomas Street for over a period of about five years, and engaging in dialogue with people whose views on life are as opposite of mine as one can conceive, the flame was fanned to greater heights. I do believe that being involved in the foster care system &
CASA is another way to make a difference. But the past couple of days have been what I
was preparing for.
Worldview is something that most high school students never think about. It is like air to them. They rely on it without thinking about it. They trust it- even though they can't explain it. And they defend it -however illogical it may be. It is
necessary that the kid thoughtfully consider why and how she draws her conclusions, agrees to her presuppositions and makes her life-altering decisions. Before I became a parent I spent most of my time with kids their age. After high school, while I was still in college, I worked with teenagers. I am still amazed that parents let me take their children on trips, over-night excursions and teach them in a structured setting-about life, the Bible, other people & our relationships with them, for about 4 uninterrupted hours a week. I am glad that their are adults who
truly care about "making a difference" in the lives of youth. For the most part they need all of the good advice that they can get. That being said, I think that teenagers have the capacity to think deeply, reason logically and love deeply. However, we live in a society that demands little of them, labels their disrespect as individuality and "dumbs down" any potential "life altering" conversations that we might actually engage in with them.
The opportunity that I had was to speak to them concerning worldview, abuse & pornography. The discussion, I felt, was very honest, revealing and interesting. EVERY girl, All of them, said that one day they wanted the person that they marry to be "hard working". That was interesting to me because they wrote their "List of Top 5" privately. I would love to see some type of "generational trend" research concerning this. (I made a list when I was in high school of what I wanted in a husband and that never crossed my mind. I think I said something like: 1. he has to be blonde 2. he has to be a cowboy. 3. he has to be casual....nevermind.) I know that I said college graduate. NONE of them said that. When speaking to a lady in my church who is 80 on Sunday, she said that she used that exact phrase (hard-working) when she was growing up to describe what she desired. "Why?" I asked. She said, "Because my dad was so sorry." Anyway, I digress. Only two of the girls out of 22 said that they were not allowed to date because "their parent were over-protective." All of the girls said that their parents needed to meet the person that they were going out with, however, none of them said that their parents actually asked the "potential" date any questions. They just wanted to know who he was before their daughter got in the car with him.
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