A report from Barna just a week ago compared issues facing teenagers and preteens. I looked at the issues and felt strongly that all are areas that churches and church families can impact. Consider this summary statement:
"The percentage of young people plagued by peer pressure issues more than doubles once a child reaches high school," Barna revealed. "That pressure takes many forms: using drugs or alcohol, befriending certain groups of peers, owning specific media technologies, having sexual experiences, wearing particular types of clothing or brands, and possessing a certain attitude."Most of the peer pressure issues listed aren't new: using drugs/alcohol, being part of a particular group, sexual experimentation and looks/attitude pressures...but I don't recall seeing "owning specific media technologies" show up as a peer pressure problem before. I am guessing that we have moved beyond the "own a car" stage as a peer pressure. Does that mean that we, as parents (and grandparents) have succumbed to the pressure to make car ownership/access an automatic right-of-passage?
I see the ever-shrinking cell phones, the white ear pieces indicative of an iPod, and know something of PlayStation. I am, however, shaking my head that these items are a source of pressure that somehow affects a teenagers self-worth or ranking among peers. That saddens me.
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