This video says, pretty succinctly, some key things to understanding the world of teens looks like. Especially from the perspective of parents and the church, this should be some pretty good motivation to renew our efforts of living out and articulating our faith in a meaningful way.
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Two remarks you’re probably already aware of. 1) These are the younger millennials (~1989-??) which are very different from the older millennials (~1979-1988). 2) As the Church it is imperative to articulate our faith to all of society. What does it mean to articulate that faith sensibly to the varying presuppositions and attitudes of the many different generations around us?
Almost made me think of watching animal planet. Has H.S. been that long ago?
Blake, 1) yeah, I know that older millennials often think very differently than the younger ones. However, one of the interesting insights that I came across a few years ago was that when trying to describe what this generation, the only thing that they share in common is that they all different from each other. There isn’t one homogeneous way that works to describe the vast majority of this generation, as opposed to say Gen X or Baby-boomers. I’ve found that this holds true with my kids. There’s just simply a huge range of belief, knowledge, lifestyle and perspective on the world and saying “this is what these high schooler think” just isn’t helpful or accurate. I guess that’s all to say that while they are different than older millennials , they are also often very different from each other. That pluralism is probably one of the key characteristics of the generation, though.
and 2) I’m totally with you that this is not only the challenge for youth but for all of society. The difference between the culture of the generations within our churches is often much greater than the difference between the church some other people who are outside of the church. The best example that I have of this is how the job of communicating basic information to our church has changed. It used to be (40 years ago) that if we wanted to make the whole church aware of an announcement we could just put it in the bulletin, maybe announce it in church. Now, if we want to make sure everyone as really seen it, we have to put it in the bulletin, announce it in church, put in in their church mail boxes, send a physical letter home, do a series of phone messages, send it in an email, put it on facebook, and post it on the website. I can’t let go of anyone of those forms of communication and have to competent at all of them because there’s at least one person in church who really only pays attention to one of those forms of communication. It feels like cross generational communication follows kind of the same path.
I agree that pluralism is a defining characteristic for them, but pluralism is never absolute. There are always trends within pluralistic groups that suggest limitations. I find an almost ingrained naivete towards technology in them. Then there are things about slang, fashion, pop culture and postsecularism that seem to glimpse at trends in ways that are hard to put a finger on. Wanting to be beyond stereotyping has been a common dream for many, but human nature doesn’t work that way. Our brains compartmentalize to handle information. Networks of relationships can become more complicated, but that doesn’t mean stereotypes disappear. Instead, they become more nuanced. I think another defining characteristic of the younger millennials that is as prominent as their pluralism is idealism. Much of the above is explained by a generally idealistic view of the world and its potential for better or worse.