Teenagers, etc.
Since I have three myself, I think I can comment on teenagers if I want to!
Don't like:
The ones portrayed on TV who think adults are at best, the enemy, and at worst, complete idiots. These observations usually proceed from the mouths of creatures who cannot generate enough energy from rubbing two brain cells together to ignite an intelligent thought. Unless one considers profanity, cheap sex jokes, lyrics to rap songs, or codes to video games intelligent thoughts, that is.
Do like:
Teens who are fun to talk to and like to discuss issues. Teens who are fun to shop with, take on trips, and especially, to watch as they grow and mature and change. Teens who are intelligent, creative, have interests and therefore are interesting, and have oftentimes surprising insights. Teens who have a strong faith/belief system in place. I often watch teens portrayed on movies or TV and think they are completely soulless. That's a scary thought!
Sorry for all the sentence fragments there; they just fit into the "do like" list.
We spent last Wednesday through Saturday attending a homeschool speech and debate tournament in Monroe, LA. Our children participated in speaking and in team policy debate. There was a large group of attendees from around Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Parents are expected to serve as judges periodically over the course of the tournament, and so we get to see first hand the quality of students that are out in the world. Lest one thinks that homeschool students are nerdy, social misfits, let me assure you this is not the type of teen we saw. These are intelligent, witty, attractive, and fun kids! The league we participate in is a Christian league, so we were fortunate to be among, (for the most part), kind, considerate, and spiritually maturing kids.
This is my kids' first year of real competition, so we are still learning how it all works. None of ours progressed to semi-finals, and thus, finals. They did receive good feedback on their presentations, for the most part. My son has rather long hair right now, which is often commented upon by the judges to be "distracting". In our home, the hair is not a problem, because his behavior is not a problem. He's usually polite, helpful, obedient, fun and funny, and so we see no need to create conflict over his hair at 16. However, he knows in order to do well at Speech/Debate, he will probably have to go with something more conservative. Like it or not, it's affecting his scores. I think he enjoys the whole process enough that he's about ready for a new 'do. My older twin, (they're 13), is a little punky. She likes to wear black, and her dress clothes are not very girly, unlike her sister. Again, I don't have a problem with this. We have specific boundaries, such as modesty and crude t-shirt sayings. Also, she doesn't wear punk/goth makeup or dye her hair, or pierce or tattoo herself (not MY 13 year old!). However, all this is to say that we completely forgot about her black fingernail polish! That didn't go over too well. Also, she has long bangs which at least one person found distracting. She forgot to remove her 50 or so black rubber bracelets, so we pushed the patience of some of the more conservative judges! Sigh.... Again, I think you have to weigh the positive aspects of being involved and try your best to fit their view of how the dress code should be expressed. I want them to be judged on their speaking ability, not nitpicky details about their appearance. The one situation that frustrated us was a parent complaint about her dress at the Friday night social. She wore jeans, her black "Im the Evil Twin" t-shirt, and black converse. Horrors! I just know in Christian circles, there are so many subtleties about values re: dress, TV, movies, music, etc. We find the t-shirt funny at our house, because sometimes it is true! We are not in any way implying she is "evil" in the true sense of the word! We tried to reassure her that people have varying viewpoints, and we just have to pray we are not causing anyone to stumble, as scripture says. On the other hand, I think we as Christians have to be careful about insisting that everyone view things exactly as they do in areas that are not specifically outlined in scripture. Ugh!
Overall, it was a really good experience. My son, who has been really wanting to go back to school (we've only homeschooled 4 years), was excited enough about the event that he is pretty well content with the idea of homeschooling next year as well. This is pretty much a miracle, in my book! We try really hard not to assume that each child will need the same things, even the twins, and that each school year from now on must look like the last. We are not of the camp that thinks homeschooling is unquestioningly the best answer for everyone everytime. We try to approach it with an open heart, in case God wants to lead us in another direction.
Whew! That was long enough for one day. It's almost time for music lessons and church, so I'm outta here!
Don't like:
The ones portrayed on TV who think adults are at best, the enemy, and at worst, complete idiots. These observations usually proceed from the mouths of creatures who cannot generate enough energy from rubbing two brain cells together to ignite an intelligent thought. Unless one considers profanity, cheap sex jokes, lyrics to rap songs, or codes to video games intelligent thoughts, that is.
Do like:
Teens who are fun to talk to and like to discuss issues. Teens who are fun to shop with, take on trips, and especially, to watch as they grow and mature and change. Teens who are intelligent, creative, have interests and therefore are interesting, and have oftentimes surprising insights. Teens who have a strong faith/belief system in place. I often watch teens portrayed on movies or TV and think they are completely soulless. That's a scary thought!
Sorry for all the sentence fragments there; they just fit into the "do like" list.
We spent last Wednesday through Saturday attending a homeschool speech and debate tournament in Monroe, LA. Our children participated in speaking and in team policy debate. There was a large group of attendees from around Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Parents are expected to serve as judges periodically over the course of the tournament, and so we get to see first hand the quality of students that are out in the world. Lest one thinks that homeschool students are nerdy, social misfits, let me assure you this is not the type of teen we saw. These are intelligent, witty, attractive, and fun kids! The league we participate in is a Christian league, so we were fortunate to be among, (for the most part), kind, considerate, and spiritually maturing kids.
This is my kids' first year of real competition, so we are still learning how it all works. None of ours progressed to semi-finals, and thus, finals. They did receive good feedback on their presentations, for the most part. My son has rather long hair right now, which is often commented upon by the judges to be "distracting". In our home, the hair is not a problem, because his behavior is not a problem. He's usually polite, helpful, obedient, fun and funny, and so we see no need to create conflict over his hair at 16. However, he knows in order to do well at Speech/Debate, he will probably have to go with something more conservative. Like it or not, it's affecting his scores. I think he enjoys the whole process enough that he's about ready for a new 'do. My older twin, (they're 13), is a little punky. She likes to wear black, and her dress clothes are not very girly, unlike her sister. Again, I don't have a problem with this. We have specific boundaries, such as modesty and crude t-shirt sayings. Also, she doesn't wear punk/goth makeup or dye her hair, or pierce or tattoo herself (not MY 13 year old!). However, all this is to say that we completely forgot about her black fingernail polish! That didn't go over too well. Also, she has long bangs which at least one person found distracting. She forgot to remove her 50 or so black rubber bracelets, so we pushed the patience of some of the more conservative judges! Sigh.... Again, I think you have to weigh the positive aspects of being involved and try your best to fit their view of how the dress code should be expressed. I want them to be judged on their speaking ability, not nitpicky details about their appearance. The one situation that frustrated us was a parent complaint about her dress at the Friday night social. She wore jeans, her black "Im the Evil Twin" t-shirt, and black converse. Horrors! I just know in Christian circles, there are so many subtleties about values re: dress, TV, movies, music, etc. We find the t-shirt funny at our house, because sometimes it is true! We are not in any way implying she is "evil" in the true sense of the word! We tried to reassure her that people have varying viewpoints, and we just have to pray we are not causing anyone to stumble, as scripture says. On the other hand, I think we as Christians have to be careful about insisting that everyone view things exactly as they do in areas that are not specifically outlined in scripture. Ugh!
Overall, it was a really good experience. My son, who has been really wanting to go back to school (we've only homeschooled 4 years), was excited enough about the event that he is pretty well content with the idea of homeschooling next year as well. This is pretty much a miracle, in my book! We try really hard not to assume that each child will need the same things, even the twins, and that each school year from now on must look like the last. We are not of the camp that thinks homeschooling is unquestioningly the best answer for everyone everytime. We try to approach it with an open heart, in case God wants to lead us in another direction.
Whew! That was long enough for one day. It's almost time for music lessons and church, so I'm outta here!
posted by BethandCo @ 12:42 PM
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