April 15, 2009
Bored in Suburbia?
Today Dave Gibbons wrote a post on the topic of Suburbia. He’s a great voice for this kind of stuff and in his post he addresses something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Boredom in suburbia. He writes,
“And [suburban teens] are bored. . . this boredom’s outlet is doing something crazy often with activities that would impact their relationship with God and others. The spirit of adventure intrinsic in many youth is wasted in the lifestyle of the burbs, the American dream.”
I think he’s right. My 5 year old is already saying he’s bored way too often.
I also think he’s onto something we’ve been thinking through at The Well a bit when he writes,
“My sense is that the greatest opportunity during this time of global chaos and upheaval is to invest in these young people who are bored. Ignite them to do crazy things for God! Let them know unless they have a calling to stay, they should GO to the fringes of our culture, cities and culture.”
I’m in the midst of some early discussions with a few people from The Well on how we can help teens from the local high school in our area engage issues in the city. The goal would mostly be to mess with their minds a bit by exposing them to a world that most suburban kids just don’t see. This can be done through partnering with the many organizations in the city who are caring for the poor, disabled, AIDS patients, homeless, etc.
I am a big believer that when you inspire and believe in teenagers you’ll get pretty amazing results. The first thing we need to do is wake them up from their boredom…
04.16.09
By: Dorie Morgan
I think first things first with Cole: You need to let him know that if he is bored, there are plenty of chores to do around the house. Brian and I are both convinced that method is how we learned to entertain ourselves. :)
My question: Which high school? And how will we go about obtaining these teenagers? The Well isn’t exactly the megachurch with a teen lounge…
11.29.09
By: Ana
you know what? just bring him downtown and around the city. I find there’s NOTHING in suburbia..it’s great for raising children I guess, I mean I had lots of room to play but now I kinda feel like I want to see more..there is SO MUCH out there and there is so character in the suburbs.