Do Hard Things: C1

Rebelution: 'a teenage rebellion against low expectations.'

Tug of war between a hundred men and an elephant, the elephant wins every time.

Elephant handlers however only use a piece of string tied to a tree as a way of keeping the elephant under control. Despite the elephants huge potential of strength and power it is shackled in its mind, thinking that it is under the control of the handler. Are we elephants? Have we, people with incredible potential in God, become shackled by the myth of adolescence?

Definition of a teenager. someone who has a myspace page and is more likely to take a photo on their phone than on a camera. However at one time teenagers didn't exist...
The first documented use of the word teenager was in 1941 in a copy of Reader's Digest.

Historian Friedrich Heer:
'Around 1800 young people of both sexes could reckon on being considered adults as soon as the outward signs of puberty made their appearance. Girls attained marriageable age at fifteen... Boys could join the Prussian army as office cadets at the age of fifteen. Among the upper classes entry to university or to a profession was possible at the age of fifteen or sixteen. The school leaving age, and consequently the end of childhood, was raised during the nineteenth century to fourteen.'

George, David and Clara examples of people given responsibility at a young age p31-32.

adolescence literally means - 'to grow up.' Not a problem but...
'The modern understanding of adolescence literally allows, encourages, and even trains young people to remain childish for much longer than necessary. It holds us back from what we could do, from what God made us to do, and even from what we would want to do it we got out from under society's low expectations.

America In So Many Words:
'In the first part of the twentieth century, we made a startling discovery. There were teenagers among us! Until then, we had though of people in just two stages: children and adults. And while childhood might have its tender moments, the goal of the child was to grow up as promptly as possible in order to enjoy the opportunities and shoulder the responsibilities of an adult.'

Entire industries - movie, music, fashion, fast food - and countless online services revolve around the consumer habits of, you guessed it, teens.

With all this money and attention focused on teens, the teen years are viewed as some sort of vacation. Society doesn't expect much of anything from young people during their teen years - except trouble. And it certainly doesn't expect competence, maturity, or productivity. The saddest part is that, as the culture around them has come to expect less and less , young people have dropped to meet those lower expectations. Since most of us have grown up surrounded by these low expectations, meeting them is like breathing to us - we never give it a thought. And we never realize what we've lost.

As one education expert put it, "Our current ceiling for students is really much closer to where the floor ought to be." p36

Twelve year old David was expected to successfully return a ship, its captain, and its crew to the United States. We are expected to return our pillows, sheets, and blankets to their proper place on the bed. David succeeded. Did you this morning?

Studies have been done on the power of EXPECTATIONS:
Teachers were given two classes of randomly divided students. However, the teachers were told that one class was made up of the best and brightest students at the school and that the other class was made up of the slower to average students. With that, the teachers began to teach. And guess what happened?

All of the teachers' interactions with the students were tainted by their expectations. When the teachers worked with a student in the 'bright' class, they persisted with the student until he or she found the answer. But when a student in the 'slow' class didn't find the answer right away, the teachers moved on to another student. When a student in the bright class struggled, the teachers brushed it off saying that the student was just having an 'off day.' But when the students in the slow class struggled, it was just because they were slow.

Henry Ford, , founder of Ford Motor Company 'Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right.'

Isn't it ironice that many teenagers, though fluent in multiple computer languages (we're considered trendsetters and early adopters), are not expected to understand or care about things like personal finances, politics, or our faith? We're not even expected to be capable of carrying on an intelligent conversation with an adult. p41

1 Corinthians 14:20 'Brother, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults." Our culture says 'Be mature in evil, but in your thinking and behaviour be childish.'p43