YOUTH CULTURE EXPERIENCE 2
Everyone is searching for something. The broken need something to put the pieces back
together. Young people want to feel something or nothing at all. In Chris Harper's video about the
cultural observations he made at a high school football game, I felt like I was sucked back to
high school two years ago. Like the mother he observed encouraging and praising the young
girl's behavior, I remember working with high school girls who found their worth in appearance
or male validation. Social media in today's age has made it much more important. Now there is
always an image that children are trying to make a reality. In outings and at the park, young girls
take multiple pictures and apply filters. Then they wait for people to swipe up or like it.
Technology is an crucial part of their everyday life.
When Chris Harper discussed being checked out by the girls at the game, it made me
think about the way families function today. Many young people are a part of single-parent
households and do not have healthy marriages in the family. It is rare to see a married couple,
nevertheless a young married couple, at games and events. There are few positive Christian role
models that students are connected with. They imitate what they are surrounded with and what
helps them feel loved. This reminds me that healthy culture is attractive. If they see a healthier
alternative, their desire will change, but if all they see is all they have, how can they change? The
need for validation in the younger generation is something that I also noticed. Technology,
Covid-19, and an overall change in values in the culture today have shaped youth to be even
more dependent on others' approval and the need to share their own. As long as they feel
validated, they feel more at ease.
People aren't a project; people are people. At the beginning of Chris Harper's video, he
mentioned how he went in with the wrong motives and was analyzing heartlessly, and I realized
how easy it is for me to do the same. You always find what you search for, and sometimes all I
search for is problems for me to "fix." It is especially easy to do this when we are around people
younger than ourselves. But it is vital to look at people as Jesus does and to have compassion.
Sometimes, people younger than us have more maturity and grit than their counterparts. There is
much to learn from them instead of always trying to teach them. God uses the young for His
glory.
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