I have always appreciated Youth Specialties and still do, but my perspective has changed a bit. I not only believe that youth workers are under appreciated and taken advantage of, but I also believe that they have perpetuated a lot of the stereotypes themselves.
Now to the point.
Yesterday the National Youth Workers Convention kicked off with a bang. Tic Long stood on stage with a Philip Rivers jersey on and began asking questions of the crowd…”Stand up if you took a mission trip. Stand up if you have been in ministry more than 25 years.”
The vast majority of them were fun and interesting questions. The one that left me with a frustrating feeling was:
“Stand up if you made a parent mad.”
This was followed by people standing up and then a rousing celebration.
Now I thought I understood why the question was asked and some excitement was shared, as made famous by Will Smith “Parents Just Don’t Understand.”
But it really got me angry because I am also a parent of a “youth” in a “youth group” and have been hearing for quite a long time now how much youth workers struggle to get parents to participate in the spiritual development of their kids.
So it got me irritated to see the celebration of making parents angry and yet hearing how youth workers are frustrated about not being understood or having cooperation with parents.
And it also frustrated me to see an organization that is here to support youth workers encourage such a relationship between parents and youth workers.
If it’s a cause for celebration because you made a parent mad, I have lost my hope for youth workers and their ability to be a voice of influence in my child’s life.
And if it’s a value Youth Specialties sees as important, I have lost my hope for Youth Specialties to equip youth workers to reach youth with the Gospel.
