Young People are such villians!
The other day I read an article from the Christchurch Press. Basically it described the teenagers on the Christchurch strip at 4am on a Sunday morning. The point was to portray these young people, and by association, all young people as drunk, out of control, a nuisance or problem that needed fixing. I guess it was also a swipe at the politicians who did not allow the Bill to raise the drinking age to go back up. To read this article you would think only under 20's were out.
Yet in reality a large chunk of the punters would have been over 20, and just as boozed as the young people. In fact my limited experience of being out in Wellington at this time is that it is mainly over 20's, and some of them are way drunk, and not behaving well. Again, our media vilifies young people for ratings, and fails to describe the real issues.
On Monday night the Mount College had its Academic Prize Giving for Senior Students. Proud dad moment. Kate sang a Billy Joel song, and was magnificent! She also picked up prizes for Outstanding Contribution to the Social life of the school, and for Visionary Leadership! As I looked up at this bunch of 7th Formers (sorry year 13) I was struck by how fast they grew up from being little 13 year olds. Where did those hairy males come from, and those shapely young women. But I also thought, yes they drink, sometimes too much, but what a great bunch of young people they are. Talented, caring, and slightly crazy. So different from the picture in the Christchurch Press.
The sad thing is our media is creating a mood of fear of young people, which stops many in our churches and in our society having anything to do with them. The older people loose out, and so do the young people. We need to have much more positive images of young people, and we as church should be leading the way!
Yet in reality a large chunk of the punters would have been over 20, and just as boozed as the young people. In fact my limited experience of being out in Wellington at this time is that it is mainly over 20's, and some of them are way drunk, and not behaving well. Again, our media vilifies young people for ratings, and fails to describe the real issues.
On Monday night the Mount College had its Academic Prize Giving for Senior Students. Proud dad moment. Kate sang a Billy Joel song, and was magnificent! She also picked up prizes for Outstanding Contribution to the Social life of the school, and for Visionary Leadership! As I looked up at this bunch of 7th Formers (sorry year 13) I was struck by how fast they grew up from being little 13 year olds. Where did those hairy males come from, and those shapely young women. But I also thought, yes they drink, sometimes too much, but what a great bunch of young people they are. Talented, caring, and slightly crazy. So different from the picture in the Christchurch Press.
The sad thing is our media is creating a mood of fear of young people, which stops many in our churches and in our society having anything to do with them. The older people loose out, and so do the young people. We need to have much more positive images of young people, and we as church should be leading the way!
Comments