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I was shopping the other day. Checking out of a store, a young man waited on me. He had a beautiful tattoo on his forearm, black eyeliner under his eyes, and for some reason a tight-knit cap on his head. It was 85 degrees, so the knit cap caught my attention. He was most personable. I asked him if he had graduated from high school; he had not. There were problems in his family, and he had never been in one place to finish his education. "Well," I said, "you will have to go and get your GED." "Yes," he said, but I have to make money to live."
It was a difficult moment; every sense in my mother’s body wanted to wipe his eyes of the mascara, change his black clothes, get something more comfortable for him, and take the cap off his head. He had personality, was courteous, and had a broad smile. Why did this person elicit my attention? Why did the need for care come to mind when talking to him? To be honest, he is one of many youths I see who seem so lost and need direction, in short, help.
I have been reading Charles Taylor (1931-), a Canadian philosopher/Social Scientist. He has written a very interesting but dense book called “A Secular Age” (2007). He has studied social history, and some of his comments are enlightening. In the book, he talks about teen culture. One of the things he notes is that there were no teenagers in the past. Everyone was born into a family where the children, when they were old enough, about 8 or so, had to help the family survive: farm chores, household work. Many were apprenticed to tradesmen to learn a trade. If you were wealthy enough, you had to be educated at the right schools and were groomed for either family management of the estate, a Church vocation, or public service in government or the military; there was no teen culture.
Teen Culture came about after WW2, when the economy shifted toward commercialism and the growth of items that made people strive to be happy or, at very least, look happy. The economic boom after the war developed into a system of stock growth and world dominance by American companies. America was the cutting edge. We, unlike Europe, were not devastated by war. Suburbia became the ideal of the American family. It was a "Leave it to Beaver" world, if you recall the TV show. The middle years of childhood to adulthood were developing into a culture all its own. One of the effects of the new economics was the growth of the teenager as a market. This new culture was driven by an economy that had cash as extra income, allowing the culture to grow. This, along with the new technology that came into the community after the war- television and transistor radios. These items were just some of the powerful drivers of this new teen market. It was here that parental control was weakened and youth were eager to follow the latest trend or fad delivered by the encouraging media. I think you can draw your own conclusions as to how this has affected our own day.
Youth culture has become its own entity. This young man I was talking to at the checkout counter was the collateral damage of consumer want. He had no clue as to who he was, what his potential was, and least of all that he was a child of God. The youth today seem to be driven by wants. It is for many young people today, by acquiring stuff, things with the right logos, that show us that they are worthy of our attention.
What I found in this young person I was speaking with was deep loneliness. As I was talking with him, I could feel that my attention to him as a person was appreciated. He needed care, not so much for the body but for his soul. The five-minute communication had no conclusion. But I had been a voice. I can pray for him. May God touch his heart and give him an understanding of his worth. As an old teacher of many years, I am saddened that the young people I see do not know that they are more than just a consumer. They have potential for goodness and greatness. They do not realize their dignity as a human person and as one loved by God.
I ask you, do not shy away from the youth you meet, but speak to them with respect. See their loneliness and confusion, fill them with your kindness, concern, and prayer. Witness to the love of God we have as Christians.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. Praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." -- Psalm 139: 13-16