NEED IN 12 HOURS or LESS

Read my classmate post. Think and write your thoughts and feelings about his post. (1 page)

                                              Classmate’s Post 

“Would you take my class on Sunday? I have the teenage girls.” That request struck fear into my heart when I was a young teacher. I wasn’t much older than a teenager myself, but I remembered the intensity, the angst even, of those years. While I felt comfortable with the little ones, facing a roomful of students who could not only ask deep questions, but also challenge my conclusions was frightening! These students were not likely to accept what I said just because I was “Teacher.” Even greater was the realization that I might steer a life in the wrong direction if I wasn’t extremely careful with my words. Surely James 3:1 was written especially for teachers of the teenage classes, I thought!

           Since that Sunday, I have had many opportunities to teach teens. I even helped direct a camp for teenage girls for several years. Some of my experiences could have served as illustrations for chapter 17 in Yount’s book; no doubt, many of my classmates could say the same. In the words of our assignment, what are my “thoughts and feelings” about teaching youth?

           First, teaching youth successfully requires building a relationship with them, and in their eyes, relationship is spelled t-i-m-e. We have to be available to them when they need us, not when we have blocked out time on our planner. When we agree to teach and show up in class, teens see us as the person who is there to do a job. When we show up at their ball games, band concerts, and school plays, they are more likely to see us as an adult who cares. That perspective of caring opens doors; when they have questions, they are more likely to come to us looking for answers. It even happens when we are not their current classroom teacher. Time and energy spent in building relationships is a foundational aspect of successfully teaching teens, both in the classroom and in life.

           Second, teaching youth requires listening. When Kendra came to sit on my couch to tell me she was pregnant out of wedlock, she did not need me to give her a dressing-down for her sinful behavior. She already knew that sex outside marriage was wrong. What she needed from me was a safe place to talk about what had happened, a place to express her sorrowful heart. When Lydia came to tell me she had been secretly married for six months, she needed to vent her frustration with her mother and to try out her arguments for why her deception was acceptable. These girls came to me because we had the necessary prior relationship, but also because they knew that I would hear with my heart and not try to overwhelm them with my “wisdom.”

           Learning to hold back from offering my wisdom was a process for me, but it is a vital third aspect of teaching teens. They come to us with their problems, and we want to solve them, to find a way to bring peace to their tender hearts. I finally realized that THE right way to approach all of these problems was to find what God had to say about it. Giving them my answer was in effect, an appeal to my authority for living. However, I do not possess such authority. Pointing them to God’s authority, His written revelation, showed them that we live according to thoughts and ways higher than our own (Isa. 55:8-9). Beyond that, someday they may not have access to me, but they will always be able to access God’s Word. My role as teacher came as we sought the right way to apply God’s Will to their current situation. Ideally, teachers should have the experience and wisdom to guide teens first into the text and then into proper application of Scriptural principles they have discovered.

           Fourth, teaching teens means giving them straight answers in straight talk. They don’t have any more time or patience with talking around a topic than we do; by the time they come to us, they have likely spent a great deal of mental and emotional energy on the matter already. They need us to speak truthfully, candidly, and openly and they don’t need us to be shocked. They need us not to be embarrassed about sexual matters or to be ignorant of their cultural references. Speaking to them as though we need to protect them from their question or the answer is disrespectful and guarantees they won’t look to us again.

           I have thirteen grandchildren but many more “my girls.” Maybe I was their classroom teacher at some point; maybe I was their out-of-class friend/teacher. Whatever my status in their teen lives, what a blessing they have been in my life as we learned how to grow together.