Cultural Observation Project
Name: Christian Smith
Sport’s Event: Lord Botetourt Basketball Game
YOUT 201-001
Observation: (1 Page)
When Christine and I went to the basketball game at Lord Botetourt High School
we were both a little shocked at some of the things that we saw. Some of the main
things that stuck out to me were the way that the students were dressing and the way
that the opposite sex acted around some of the students that were dressed immodestly.
I noticed how they would try to get the guys/girls attention and then they would do
something inappropriate so that the people watching were almost forced to watch. I also
noticed some sexual innuendos that were made in between some of the students while
the game was going on.
Also I noticed how much disrespectful language was used throughout the game
by the students and also by the adults that brought some of the students. I noticed that
many of the students that were using foul language all gathered together right at the
edge of the court so that they could be seen and heard more easily as they constantly
were swearing and saying disrespectful things to the refs and the players on the other
team. These students would constantly say these things and then look around to see
who heard them and to see if anyone was watching as they acted this way. This action
of looking to see if anyone heard them or was watching really caught my attention
because it seemed as if they were doing these things with the sole purpose of gaining
attention from the crowd that was around them.
One of the last major things that I noticed and was really astonished by was that
the fans from one team was yelling across the court at fans from the other team and
saying terrible things about the teams from the school that they did not attend. This
really was astonishing to me because I was surprised to see how both schools took part
in this putting down of the other and how neither one of the schools was willing to stop
and put an end to the yelling.
Response: (1.5 - 2 Pages)
As I watched and looked more deeply into the lives of the students and not just at
the groups that they were hanging with it became more evident to me how different and
unique each one of them was. I started to look at them in a way of love and even look at
some of them in a way of pity because I knew that some of them had not been raised in a
Christian home and that some of them had never even been to church before in their life.
I watched these individual students and started to understand that one of the reasons
that they act the way that they do is for attention and that might be because they do not
receive any attention from anyone in their home and therefore they look for other ways to
obtain it.
This showed me how much these students need someone who wants to show
them attention and who wants to make them feel important and special. As I watched
them and the way that they were acting and looking for attention I had a part of me
that wanted to show them that attention in a Godly way so that they might stop the evil
that they were doing and notice that they don’t have to be disrespectful and obnoxious
to get God’s attention. I know that the sins that they were committing had already got
Gods attention but they had gone about getting His attention all wrong.
The more I watched them the more I realized how lost they were in this world and
how they had not guidance to get out of the sin that they were in. As I watched them go
from one sin to another I was grieved to think how someone could look on these students
and think that they would never amount to anything just because of the way that they
were acting in public. I also was terrible to think how some of these people, as mentioned
before, had never heard about Christ and how they were living a life without
the saving knowledge of Jesus. This was a very sad thought because as I watched
them I realized that they did not even know that they were sinning because they did
not have the conscience of the Holy Spirit inside them telling them what was right
and wrong.
As I continued to observe the students I started to pray for them. At first I started
to pray just about the way that they were acting and I was praying that they would stop
acting in that way, but then I realized that I needed to pray for the student and not just
for the actions that were taking place. I realized that just praying for the action would
not help anything because many of them probably did not know that what they were
doing was wrong. I started to pray for each student individually and ask God to help
them in whatever situation they were in. As I prayed I felt a calmness from God and I
knew that He was listening to my prayers. This also gave me a reassurance as to my call
into youth ministry.
What I have learned? (1 Page)
Through this project I have learned the true need for youth/student ministry in the
world. I attended a Christian school my whole life and never imagined that it could be this
bad and that there would be so many people that did not know about Christ. I also learned
that I need to be careful about what I say because there is always someone watching. I
saw the younger children who were at the game as they watched the older students
cursing and being disrespectful and I was saddened to think that these
children would probably follow in the footsteps of these older students if someone did
not step in and show them the saving knowledge of Christ while they were still young. The
whole experience taught me about how we as Christians should start trying to minister
Christ children at a young age that way they will hear about Him before they start getting
involved in all the sins that the world offers them as teenagers. This is seen in Luke 18:15-
17 when Jesus calls the little children unto Him. This shows that Jesus saw the
importance of getting the little children before the world got the chance to get a hold of
them. We need to do the same thing and try to reach the children when they are younger.
I also learned through this project how there are many parents that have no
desire to be involved in their child’s life. There need to be some Godly people who want to
be involved in the lives of these students so that they will not look for this attention that
they desire in ungodly places. I learned how we need to find ways to get the
parents involved in the student so that they will have a role model to look up to and they
will not look to the sinful celebrities and famous people of today’s world. Overall I
learned how the church needs to get involved more in the lives of these students so that
they might be able to come to the saving knowledge of Christ. Even if some of these
students do not want to listen and come to church it is the churches responsibility to go
out to them and spread the Word.
Strategy: (1.5-2 Pages)
One of the main things that I think is very important to getting these students to
come to Christ would be prayer for the students. This prayer would need to be for the
students as a group but also there needs to be prayer for each student specifically. We
need to remember that each one of these students is an individual and that God looks
at each one differently than He does the other and that He does not group the students.
Prayer is a necessary thing that needs to be done every day for those who are lost so
that the Holy Spirit will be working on their heart and so that when they do hear about
Jesus they might be receptive to the message. In my opinion prayer is one of the most
important steps in any process to getting someone led to Christ.
The next important thing that needs to be done is finding out a way to spend time
with the students on a regular basis. This would be somewhat hard for me and the
school that I went to because it is over an hour away but I would be interested in trying
to start a relationship with students that attend a high school that is closer. The
relationship that needs to be formed first needs to be one of friendship so that the
student will trust you and know what you are telling them is true. After you have become
friends with the student you need to show them that they don’t have to do the things that
they do for attention because Christ already pays them attention all the time. Also they
need to learn that the relationships that they desire to have with people cannot even
compare to the relationship that they could have with Christ if they will just turn their life
over to Him. This would be the type the relationship that would be between two people
and therefore would be a one on one basis.
The next type of relationship that would need to be built would be a relationship
with a group of the students. This is important because there are many students who
would be against having a one on one relationship with someone but would be more
inclined to do something if a group of students was doing it. Something good to do with
a group like this would be to possibly go to a Christian concert or possibly just hang out
at a friend’s house to watch a sporting event on the television and then during the half
time to have short devotion and prayer time before the second half starts. These would
both be good things to do with groups because they relax any tensions that the students
might have but it still opens up the door for the Lord to speak to the students either
through the music or through the small devotion during halftime. Either way whether it is
done through individual relationships or through group relationships there needs to be
connections made with the students of these high schools so that they might be able to
hear about the Savior of the world.
Integrity Statement
I, Christian Smith, went to a Lord Botetourt High School basketball game on February 10,
2011 with Christine Langford and have followed all the necessary instructions.
