Kids These Days

I love my job. The hours, the people, the location - it's a great place to be. For those of you who don't know, I run a drop-in centre in rural Manitoba. And it's great. I get to chat with some great teens about life, religion, God, and all that stuff. I've seen a few kids who were alienated by the church come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. I've been able to answer some of their questions that they were told not to ask, or, if not answer them, I've pointed them in a direction where they can ask the questions better. I never would have said I wanted to be an evangelist, but I have to admit that there's nothing I'd rather be doing right now.

Sometimes, though, parts of my job can be very difficult. Dealing with irate parents who want to know why the drop-in has not magically stopped their kids from doing drugs. Defending our mission from more conservative folks who feel that the youth should just "go to church with their parents and not be met where they're at." And then there's the youth themselves.

I'm not complaining, I'm just venting. If you don't want to know how bad it is out there, then go do something else. I wouldn't blame you.

Drugs really bother me. I mean sure, weed's everywhere, and it is a "gateway drug" - that is, it can lead to heavier drug use. The earliest age I've known a kid to start weed is younger than 12. I say that because 12 is the earliest age we allow, and some come to the centre for the first time at age 12 marijuana veterans. But I almost go limp with relief when a kid says that's all they're doing. There's so much worse out there these days, so much worse than what was available to our parents - not saying that your parents did that, of course.

The one that really bugs me is crystal meth. So easy to produce, so easy to find. For 100$ of ingredients you can make thousands in profit. I know for a fact that someone's selling it in the town where I work. The level of addiction and damage it does to the body is enormous - and it's cheap, easily affordable on the most modest of allowances.

It's also really dangerous because of how it makes you act. I've seen police tapes of teens on meth, and they're out of control. Police across North America have been forced to shoot people on meth because all other options are useless. In my Jiu-Jitsu club we had a class on crystal meth, and the instructors told us ,"If you're attacked by someone on meth, the normal rules don't apply. They won't feel pain. You punch them they'll shrug it off. You break their arm they'll keep swinging. If you want out you'll have to break their legs so they can't follow when you run away." I cringe when I think of that substance running through the veins of a 13-year-old.

another huge issue is promiscuity. One of my volunteers was chatting with a young girl of 12, who was in tears because her boyfriend of 14 had broken up with her. She was most upset because they had gone extremely far physically, which she thought would prevent him from leaving her. When she calmed down, she was expressing desire to find a new, older boyfriend with whom she could continue exploring the physical side of dating. Now I'm all for personal freedom and whatnot, but this is disgusting.

Even more concerning to me was listening to a group of 14 and 15 year old girls relate their sexual escapades with a series of men in their early to mid 20's. Just FYI for the non-Canadians in the room, Canada's age of consent is 14. Which no psychologist in the world will tell you is a healthy, fully developed age for children to begin having sex with people twice their age. The predators that take advantage of this law... you just wouldn't believe it. These young girls are being used, and there's no laws to protect them anymore.

And the church is busting its gut trying to stop gay marriage instead of this. Way to go, guys. Gotta prioritize, right?

Why am I venting about this? Well, for starters it's because then teens in our community are being more open with myself and our staff. This is a good thing, because now we are working on programs to combat this. I'm working with the RCMP and CFS to inform the parents of the community about the issues - sadly, many are blind to it. I'm also doing this because I know that some people assume these problems are confined to the cities. They're not. My wife once had a conversation with another YFC employee - one who worked in the city - who told her, "Oh, well the kids we get are inner city kids - you wouldn't understand what they're like." I really hope this attitude is not widespread.

I do feel fortunate, however, that I'm not going in this alone. I've got family, friends, and a small army of volunteers with me. And I also have Christ. Through him alone will anything be accomplished, and it's my prayer that I will be used to bring his hope and life to the kids I work with. Lord knows I can't do this without him.

I'm not really looking for anything here, I just needed to get this all out. Feel free to comment if you want, or if you've got similar experiences to share.