Back to School, Back to Faith-Culture Collisions
Some teens have already begun to hit the classrooms for the 2007-2008 school year. For most, that means back-to-school shopping and for many, another year of cultural pressures.
Retailers are expecting a 5 percent increase from last year in back-to-school shopping to $27 billion – more than half of which is expected to be spent on clothes, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.
In the midst of all that shopping, one youth culture expert warns parents not to let that get in the way of preparing their children for a year of social and cultural pressures.
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"As your kids are preparing for going back to school, don't let the busyness of shopping for new jeans and school supplies make you miss the incredible opportunity – and responsibility – you have to prepare your teen spiritually and emotionally, too," advises Dr. Walt Mueller, who recently released Opie Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Where Faith, Family and Culture Collide.
"Our kids always face cultural pressures, but once they are back in those school buildings, they'll be spending more time immersed in a peer group that is extremely powerful," the author said in a statement. "As a parent and a youth worker, I must know what the culture of the peer group is about."
In his new book, Mueller points out that the innocent good old days are not only gone but never existed. In an ever-changing culture, he challenges parents and youth leaders to "joyfully embrace the struggle" as faith, family, culture and life collide.
"The pressures kids face today are more frequent and intense than those that parents or even today's youth workers faced," Mueller said. "We wish we could protect our kids from harmful influences, and we'd like to escape those influences ourselves. But I don't believe God has called us to that. We aren't here to escape from the world; God has placed us in the world at this time to live out the kingdom in the world – without adopting its ways."
The author's words echo that of other youth leaders who do not encourage parents to shut their children completely off from television, the internet or other cultural influences but rather to get to know their kids and their friends.
Mueller says that being back in school routines provide parents and youth workers greater potential for getting to know their kids' friends and the chance to converse and have more input in their children's lives.
"What a great opportunity to not only be salt and light in our world, but to teach our kids to do the same," he said.
Opie Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Where Faith, Family and Culture Collide is a collection of blogs and essays in which Mueller reflects on life events.
