Desmond Ravenstone has about the most useful post I've seen on the It Gets Better line of thinking. I've had complicated feelings about that campaign in that I certainly agree that things get better. If life after high school doesn't get better for any given person something's very wrong. But it does seems like a pretty passive strategy, and Ravenstone encourages all of us to seek out some more active participation.
A young adult rights about the experience of being one of the few young adults in a church. I don't agree with everything he says. But I think he makes a lot of valid points.
CC
who as a very young twentysomething in grad school, liked the "a few hundred aunts and uncles" feel of an older congregation, but this dynamic is surely not for everybody and it got, well, old.
7 comments:
Thanks for your comments, CC. Another reason I wrote this post was that we seem to be putting all of the effort on the victims of bullying. We need to see it as a community problem, one which all of us can and should respond to.
As to the second piece ... I can certainly see where the author is coming from. I remember often being the youngest person in a given group, and being treated much the same way as this individual recalls.
CC,
I hate Unitarian Universalism because of the way I am treated as a young adult. My theology, my experiences, my life has been filled with Unitarian Universalism for 100% of my life. Yet, my opinions have less value in UU congregations because of my age.
I respect your feeling of having hundreds of aunts and uncles, but have to disagree. I feel pushed to perform when attending a congregation. And I don't think that's the way to promote our faith, retain our young adults, or experience Unitarian Universalist theology.
Well, I'm not a very young twentysomething, or indeed a twentysomething at all, at this point. And I certainly degree that the Aunt and Uncle feel isn't for everybody.
It's a weird paradox in that if there's a critical mass of young adults, one doesn't get that feeling because individual young adults no longer stand out. But getting a critical mass of young adults is very difficult when you don't have very many and everyone feels that they will stand out.
CC
Thanks for sharing the link on young adult viewpoints. It was very candid and every board/congregation should read and consider it. It also gave me some insight about how my sons (both young 20's) must feel about the advice they get, and probably feel isn't relevant to them either!
Cinti mom
You wrote "rights" where you meant "writes".
Hi - I am the young adult who writes the Thoughts On blog that you linked to. I just wanted to say thanks for linking to me even if you don't agree with everything I said. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts. You can email me at andyleighcoate-at-gmail-dot-com if you feel so inclined. Again, thanks for linking to me and I hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks CC - I'm late to the conversation here, but I have noticed similar things in several of the UU churches I have gone to. My son is 15 and I have yet to find a home for him at any of the UU churches near me. Of course, he is welcomed and loved, but there are no high school groups that he can feel at home in.
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