Lack of Eye Contact is My #1 Concern About Today's Teens

Back in March of this year I had the opportunity to be part of a panel discussion. The occasion was the Fiftieth Anniversary of Director of Christian Education (DCE) ministry in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. I spent the first twenty-five years of my ministry as a parish DCE focusing on youth ministry, which I guess qualifies me as a pioneer in the eyes of my peers.

One of the first questions to the panel was; What is the biggest change in ministry since my early years? I must admit that I had often considered that as I watch today's youth ministry professionals sort through the wealth of resources available. I was handed a Concordia Publishing House catalog on my day of graduation. The expectation was all I needed could be found there. Our church body had a team of four professional in St. Louis who produced resources that were supposedly up to date and doctrinally pure. Of the two major publishers today, Youth Specialties was just getting started and Group Publishing was just a dream in Thom Schultz's mind. The only media was 16 mm films that came on big reels and had to be ordered via mail, usually at a hefty price.

I have recently had to re-think my answer. I still believe the abundance of resources available today is the greatest change but probably the biggest challange comes from the way today's teens communicate.

I have recieved a lot of feedback from a comment I posted on my Facebook page last week. I referenced the latest findings that report the average teenagers sends fifty or more text messages each day. I had the opportunity to spend last Friday at Dallas Lutheran School and many of my former colleagues wanted to share their comments and opinions on the topic. All found the trend disturbing. One noted that she had observed two high school students in the hallway standing six feet apart but still using their cell phones to communicate.

I must admit that I do find texting convenient. "Meeting Still on?" "B there in 10 min." But I also recognize the value of face to face conversation. There are so many more ways to communiate than just written words. I value eye contact. I want to observe body language. Even the tone of voice and cadence can tell me so much.

If you share my concern, I would encourage you to talk it through with your teenager. Maybe you need to establish some ground rules in terms of texting within your family. There is still a need for one-on-one discussion within the home.