Everything After - A 9.11 Youth Circle - How do feel about teens being very active in their schools and communities?

I feel that being a very active teen is a good thing. I mean there are some down points to it but it is very enriching. I am a very active teen and I love it I'm active in my school and church. I play basketball I'm an FCA Officer, Beta Vice, Yearbook commity,and I'm on the Prom commity. I am also on the Drama team at my church and we go all over TN and do ministry work and My family and I also help feed the people in our church's under-the-bridge-ministry. I love being so active.Ilove to read and write poetry as away of expressing myself and as away to have some inerpeace. I like writing short stories and esays I think that it is just sooo fun. I also think that if you are an active teen than you are not going to get into all the stuff that teens our age get into like drugs, smoking, drinking, and having sex. I mean I know a girl who got pregant in eighth grade, what is happening to our society. Our morals are shrinking instead of encouraging the youth of today to save their selves for their mates we give them condomes and birth control so they can lose their virginity. So I think that being an active teen is good that every teen in the world should be active so that they don't want to do that stuff so they can fit in.
Well thanks for listining to me,
Hannah

Hannah -

I agree that being active is a good thing but I disagree with your point of "we give them condoms and birth control so they can lose their virginity". I believe in comprehensive sex education. Teaching someone how to put a condom on, learning about different contraceptives, and alternatives to pregnancy does not make someone go out and have sex. If anything I believe it helps them make a smarter decision. Along with learning about protection you should learn about STD's and healthy alternatives to intercourse. People have sex. It's something that is unavoidable. Wouldn't you rather them know how to protect themselves from diseases and such rather than having all these unnecessary and avoidable problems?

In response to the overall topic yes I believe that being an active teen in great. I work in community organizations, I on the bowling team, and I love to write poetry and such. My only problem is that sometimes parents/society views teens who are not as active as others as "nonchalant" "indifferent" "troublemakers". Not everyone is interested in joining many things. I know many people who aren't involved in a million activities but have very happy and safe lives. Some people would rather do things such as paint or read or start a band. There is nothing wrong with that. I believe teens should be encouraged to express themselves freely whether it be through sports, art, music, drama, community work, etc.

Wow, I completely agree with you MacSuxHansonRules!!
I too think that being informed about issues that are taking place within our society today is very important. For, hopefully one day when we get out there and start living our own independent lives, we will have to make some hard decisions(that we may be making even now at this age too;); therefore, being well informed or educated about "hush hush" subjects like sex, drugs and all the consequences that may follow, is really a great advantage for one's view on what to decide for themselves when it comes to dealing with those types of problems.
Unfortunately though our peers today are so caught up within their own lives and how to become the best that only THEY THEMSELVES can be, and so a lot of times being involved within the community is about just one doing what everyone else is saying is right. In other words, yes it's great that one is participating in so many community things, but are we really doing anything truly because we want to help others, or because we want to feel better about ourselves for what we are doing. Don't get me wrong though, it's really good to find an outlet and do what you love because it makes you feel like you have a purpose or generally just good about yourself; but, still, there are so many issues out there that should be attacked and moved forward and really be of help to someone. One who is able to care about a cause or someone else more then about themselves is a wise being. One who is able to help someone else or move a great cause forward and not announce it all over the news or world is a courageous, humble, brave, but most of all a person that really did something because they truly cared for the civilization existing today.
To illustrate what I mean here's a direct quote from a guy at Stanford that I read about in a book called "Soul of a Citizen"-(great book, read it!!) anyway, so one of the guys says
"You know, I have learned so much over the time that I have spent in the homeless shelter, that I wish my grandkids had the opportunity to do so as well!!" then another guy said "you know, that's really not the purpose to be brutally honest. We want the homeless shelters to dissapear and be that way because everyone has a house to live in with a sufficient amount of food.>"" do you see what I mean now? ok, anyway..
Ok,I really don't mean to disparage any of you who are so involved within your communities and schools, but just think sometimes about how much are you actually doing for others that need help in a unselfish way, instead of just because it makes you feel good.-(although I know that is a huge part of what inspires one to help others, as well.)
With that said,ok, I am done. I can't wait to read some more responses about this issue. THanks!bye
Tamara

MacsuxhansonRules
I'm not saying that giving teens the education about sex isn't important and that they shouldn't do it is just the way that they approach it as though there is nothing wrong with it and that your allowed to do it. The way I view sex is if your not married then it's a sin and God hates sin. I know that He forgives when you ask for it but that is one sin that we shouldn't have to ask forgiveness for. I mean even though people are going to have sex I don't think that it should be made a big deal. I mean even though we give the youth of today condomes and birth control they don't always use it for fear of their parents finding out. Even if we give them condomes they wont always us them and birth control can't always protect them against some STD's which can still kill you. Even though they teach us about all the safty precautions that we must precede with I don't think that they always get the message across at what can happen to you if you have sex. I mean getting pregnant is the least worse things that can happen there is alot of thing that are out there and can kill you. That was what my point of view was on that. As for nonactive teens I know alot of people who are not active and a great people and have really interesting things about them but there are also a few that I hate to be around because they are just horrible. Their personalities are mean and they are just very hard to get along with.

Hi Jesusisinme (and everyone else out there),
you said something about how some kids at your school were really mean and horrible, while others were willing to help out in the communities or were just generally great people to hang around with. Anyhow, I wanted to ask you, what do you think then is it within our society that causes one group of kids to act one way, and another a different way? Is it the culture they were brought up in, our society, or just generally what would you or any of you actually who might be reading this message, what do you think is the reason behind such varieties of character? For, if you say oh it's the society; well then that would be wrong, because we all grew up in it and therefore that doesn't explain the reason behind such different spectrums of personalities.
Thanks,
Tamara

Hi Tamara,
I think that alot of it has to do with their up bring. If you teach a child the difference between right and wrong than most of the time they will become good people but there is always going to be a some bad eggs. But when parents do not instill at least a little bit of moral values in them than it wouldn't be quit as bad. just like this one guy that is in my class his mother almost died when she had him so she and her mother spoil him he does not know the meaning of no or work. When he gets suspended his grandmother takes him to the arcades the movies and shopping. Now is that the kind of punishment that a person should get for doing something wrong. Exactly what does that teach him except for that he gets rewarded for doing something wrong. I just can't comprehend why parents would do that to their kid I mean that doesn't help them it harms them. In answer to you question I don't know I think that it is a mixture of things. And Perepressure is one of them. But it's not the only one. well that is what I think.

Hey,
I myself love being a teen. There are some things bad about it, but I think it's better probably than being an adult. Teens are sort of 'in between' being and adult and a kid, so we can do the things adults do, like drive(if you're old enough) and get a job sometimes and be independent, but you still have that good feeling of being a kid and knowing that someone will be there to help you. Most people wouldn't admit this, but it's nice knowing when you're upset about something, your parents will always be there to talk to.

I disagree with people who think that teaching kids how to use condoms and stuff is making them have sex. I think the reason teens do that is because of, like Jesusisinme said, how they were brought up. Parents shouldn't be rewarding kids for getting in trouble like that, because then they will think whatever they do is okay. I think most of the problems in teens is caused by the parents. There are kids who are always doing bad things, like kids who swear every other word and ruin things and hurt other people. They do that because of what their parents do, or because their parents just don't care about them so they get angry about other people and things because they're really just so mad and upset that they're parents don't care about them. A few months ago a kid put a bomb threat on the bathroom wall of the school I go to. I really don't have an explanation to why he did that. A lot of times it is peer pressure. And after that, the teachers in our school called us all into the auditorium and tried to explain how it was wrong and we shouldn't do things like that, all that stuff. I heard kids after that saying how stupid it was and how they slept through the whole thing. Most adults don't understand that, no matter what they say, kids aren't going to stop doing these things. I think it's mostly their parents fault.

Hey guys, D here. I just want to respond to the initial question -- I think it's great when teens get involved in their communities. They are just as much members of their communities as the adults, senior citizens and little children. There is a wave of youth empowerment sweeping the nation right now, and it's a very hot topic. You can see a lot of different groups reaching out to embrace that, although they may not quite know how it is that you empower youth. What matters though, is that they're trying. What's significant about this, is that any teens who want to get involved in their community are having as good a chance as ever to offer their opinion and share their voice.

Hope you guys are having a great day!