Ten years and 14 thousand students later




It’s official. I have “retired” from visiting school classrooms and youth groups. I’ve talked to a lot of students. But if I consider 14 thousand a large number, I need to ask myself, “How many actually listened?” Humbling thought.

Each classroom visit was my opportunity to convey some realities about things teens face and the importance of making healthy choices. Without going into the stark details, I was given the chance to step inside the Millennial’s world and nothing could have prepared me for what I learned.

Believe me when I say that a few participate in sexual activities you don’t want to know about. While some have the idea that monogamy is having lots of relationships, just one at a time. Some dabble with risky choices, while others choose not to dabble at all. But most students are fully aware of what is happening. Innocence has been lost, often before middle school.
It has been an enlightening journey. Besides being technologically superior to me, most teens are also quite savvy. This is what I learned from them:
  • I don’t know what they are facing; it isn’t the 70’s.
When I joke that I graduated during the Dark Ages, I may as well have for the difference in our separate realities. While some teens were having sex in the 70’s, no one dealt with viral STDs having potentially life altering consequences.
  • My parents did not have to work as hard as today’s parents do.
When I was growing up, about half of my friends had moms who stayed home. Yet even when both parents worked, families had more family time, and fewer outside activities. Today’s parents routinely make hard choices about money and time.
  • I took college for granted because it only cost $2000.00 per year.
In 1976, a state college education was affordable. I lived in an apartment and had a part-time job. I left college four years later, virtually debt free. Teens today face college costs that can leave them indebted for years. Bonus: the worst job market in recent history.
  • My future was based on hope. Today’s teens face grim realities.
At age 18, I had plans with wiggle room. Changing my college major didn’t create a financial crisis. As newlywed college graduates facing the economic challenges of the 1980’s, we could still afford a place to live and had all the essentials. Today’s teens share in our nation’s 13 trillion dollar debt. They face global competition for jobs. Will they be able to afford the American Dream?

Today's students want the same thing I wanted at their age: independence. Yet, for many, they have grown up too soon. Modern technological opportunities will never make up for love from a good home. Many teens are the Walking Wounded. When some of their decisions don’t make sense, they can’t take all the blame. My hope for them is that they can be stronger for their adversity and wiser for life’s lessons.

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