First o f all, this T.V. Genera tion demands teachers and lead ers who know and understand as well as love Teens for what they are. As perhaps in no generation o f the past, teaching and work ing with this gang means 90% teacher. The need is for teachers who have heart, teachers who have soul, teachers who are com mitted ! Further, this present T.V. gen eration is looking for 1969 mate rial, with 1969 illustrations and applications. It must be attrac tive, personal and motivating. It must be readable, instructive, in formative, and contemporary. It must give the Teen answers that he can discover for himself, an swers to his problems and phi losophies. Also, there are changes that must be made within our Young Teen or Junior High departments and classes in the Sunday school. The 1960 model is a thing o f the past. The opening exercise o f Birthday Banks, long talks by adults, etc., must be forgotten. A new format o f beginning together must be instituted. This format must provide for participation in skits, talks, dialogues, debates, and other challenging beginnings by the Teens themselves. Within the c l a s s r o om , new teaching concepts must be used. Things such as “ lead-ins,” “ Talk- ables,” “ Discovery,” “ Y o u de cide,” can be used to make the class time enjoyable, exciting and informative. Teens today are both reachable and teachable, in spite o f their T.V. influence, but we must rec ognize who they are and how they respond. We do have the power ful Word o f God, as well as the Holy Spirit, who can make the truth so real, so powerful, so ex citing, that any spiritual experi ence or happening will offset the influence o f T.V. in any Young Teen’s life. Rev. C. Chester Larson is Western Di rector of Christian Education Exten sion for Scripture Press, Fullerton, California.
Christian IDorkers Clinic
by Chester Larson
T h e W o r ld ’s F i r s t T .V . G e n e r a t i o n
I T’S OUR p r e s e n t Young Teen Generation, th e 1 2 -1 4 -y ea r - olds. These have been bom in to a world entirely influenced by television. No one will deny that they are different, yet reachable, teachable, lovable — and chal lenging ! From infancy, they have wit nessed, from the front row of their homes, the drama o f human life. Many times they could not distinguish between fact or fan tasy, but the impressions were made and have been life-shaping. This has caused the Teen today to be both versatile and vocal on many subjects, things, places, and philosophies o f life. Ask a Teen a question. They have their answer. It may not conform to yours or mine, but the T.V. has caused them to come to many conclusions without the help o f Mother, Dad, or anyone else. You see, they have been there! It could be the moon, Mars, assassinations, riots, f r o n t -lin e warfare, murde r s , courtrooms, conventions, inaugurations, A fri
ca, Cuba, Russia. It’s all real to them. They have heard, seen and decided upon answers to the com plex questions o f life and their relationship to it. Whatever their High School brothers and sisters were deciding just a decade ago, these teens are h a v i n g the i r “ thing” today! Frightening, yes — but also challenging! Because o f these life-deciding dec i s i ons , manufacturers, pub lishers, advertisers, etc., have gone all out to label Teens as the “ Kings and Queens” o f our pres ent Space Age . . . and rightly so. Young Teens cannot be treated as children; they are barely Teen agers, and far from being adults, but are reaching out for the privi lege o f growing up. They have left grade school and are looking for something new, exciting, and dif ferent. And they are getting it! But alas! They are not getting it in our churches o r Sund a y schools. What can we do to reach and teach this new and exciting T.V. Generation?
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TH E KING'S BUSINESS
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