 |
 |
 |
Planting
Seeds for LIFE
Sid Davis
| Have
you ever thought about how much humor is at the expense of teenagers? I’ve had three of my own, and I certainly know about the challenges of navigating through teenage waters. But watch television sometime with this filter: listen to the tenor of the sitcom humor where young people are in the picture. It’s brutal. And it’s everywhere. Sure, there are other things about television and its influence on our lives that need our attention, but when a teenager is involved, they are the targets for big-time bashing. This leads me to the following theory: I believe that we as a society have adopted the ‘anything for a laugh’ mentality where children and youth are concerned. Think about it. We’ve all heard and possibly done it. Someone returns from being a counselor on a youth choir trip and another person asks, “Did you survive?” And most of the time, even though that adult may have had a ball and actually enjoyed hanging out with the kids, the reply is something like this: “OH MY GOSH! It was close! I’ve never seen so many dramas on one bus in my life!” And the conversation goes from there. I was once in a church where the senior pastor started a sermon with “Ten Ways to Know You Have a Teenager in Your House.” A list of unflattering things followed, eliciting laughs from the congregation – all this with a large, dedicated youth choir in the loft. I rest my case. The Rx for this? Awareness is a huge step toward respecting the kids for who they are and what they need from us as adults. I give a lecture every year to the adult volunteers who work with my choir, who go on retreat with us or who are counselors on our bi-annual tours. If someone says to you, “Did you survive?” the answer is, “No – we THRIVED.” I only want people to be with my kids who are uplifting and supportive and see this opportunity for what it is – planting seeds for LIFE. |