Purpose: To help the older generation understand the struggles of the younger.
Activity: Most people who aren't teenagers have a difficult time understanding the pressures and struggles that teens face in their lives at school and at home. Before this session, talk with your church's youth pastor and see if he or she can arrange a teen (or a group of teens) to visit your small group for a Q & A session. Sample questions are listed below, but the main goal is to give the older generations in your small group a snapshot of what it means to live as a teen in today's culture.
If you are not able to interview a teenager, see if your church's youth pastor would be willing to participate.
Sample questions:
- Begin with background information—name, high school, favorite hobbies, etc.
- How many hours do you spend in school each day? How long does it take to finish your homework each night?
- What's something you saw in school recently that made you sad?
- What kinds of things do you feel pressured to participate in by people your age?
- Do you think it's easy to live as a Christian in your world? Why?
- If you could change one thing about your friends, what would it be?
Possible follow-up questions:
- After talking with the teenager(s), what surprised you? What made you sad?
- If you could give one piece of advice to a youth close to you, what would it be?
- How does a craving for this world keep us from hungering for God? Give some examples.
—Copyright 2010 by the author and Christianity Today. Used with permission.
