Tuesday, September 06, 2005

No sex please we're teenagers

Annoyingly I missed mos tof this because I forgot to set the video and only got back from our Youth Council meeting at 9.45

Anybody tape it so I can watch the whole thing? Anyone got any deeper ideas about the show as a whole?

However I was in time to see three girls talking about the service they went to in the US and it gave me some hope for our relatively plain, down to earth Anglican services. They said that a church in England was ok cos it was "like all on the sheet and stuff" but the US service was "too much. It's like jumping in the deep end when you don't really know how to swim"

They felt uncomfortable with the hands in the air arm waving and felt like giggling so left before they upset people. A challenge to us then...

How do we invite young people who have never been to church to our services?

How do we help them not to be embarrassed in such circumstances?

2 comments:

EasyRew said...

I thought it was great - hope you manage to get a tape of it.

There were some terrific soundbites in there from the young people and the narrator. Loads to use as discussion starters (even if you can't use the whole series). Such gems as:

- talking about losing her virginity at 15 - "we went to the toilet and it just happened really - it wasn't all it's cracked up to be"

- from the only Christian among the group - "being a Christian doesn't make it easier - I'm just as horny as the next guy"

- referring to losing your virginity and it leading to an active sex life - "once you pop, you can't stop"

Also, the narrator at one point equated sex with entertainment, which was an interesting view. In a segment about one of the group members being in a relationship and her boyfriend struggling with the lack of sex, he (boyfriend) commented that they now have to watch DVDs instead. For him the worse bit was the fact that they only have four/five DVDs in their collection. The narrator seemed to imply that because they had "limited avenues of entertainment" it was going to be a particular challenge for them.

A couple of things struck me in particular. Firstly, almost all of the group regretted losing their virginity so early/in the way they did. Secondly, it was sad to hear that they had such active sex lives that it would be a real struggle and they wouldn't know what to do with themselves.

I thought the youth leaders did an excellent job - and the positive impact after only 2 months was amazing. Let's hope they keep it up.

Overall I thought it was good and can't wait to use it to kick off discussions with our young people.

Rich

Sarah Brush said...

Barrie I think it might well be worth keeping them all. Thanks for the offer of the first one. I'll be out next Tuesday too so may not catch that one either anyway!!