this article doesn’t really say anything new, but it’s nice to see an article that affirms what many of us in middle school ministry have been saying for a number of years: that the teenage years DO NOT START at 13. today’s 11 and 12-year olds are as much teenagers as 14 and 15-year olds were twenty years ago — in every way, including physiologically.
The shift that’s turning tweens into the new teens is complex — and worrisome to parents and some professionals who deal with children. They wonder if kids are equipped to handle the thorny issues that come with the adolescent world.
(ht to the journal of student ministries e-journal)
technorati tagged for youth ministry
I’ve been at a conference over the past couple of days where ‘youth work/ministry’ was described by two of the people there as ‘teen ministry’ which nearly drove me crazy for precisely the reasons that you bring up and that teen ministry fails to include those who are young people but not yet teenagers. In the UK we are losing children/young people in their droves between the ages of 9 – 13, even those who have grown up in the church, have been committed to and loved the children’s stuff. They’re too old for it and so because often we haven’t woken up to doing something which is relevant they leave (and who can blame them!) Definitely in the UK we need to do something about this now we know these trends rather than just look at them happening around us!
Ooops that pingback wasn’t meant for this post ;)