Engaging Your Teen's World

David Eaton

Description

"Netflix and chill," "broccoli," and LGBTTQQIAAP+. If you don't know what these words and phrases really mean to your teen, you are not alone. The verbal terrain of today's youth can be difficult to navigate, and sometimes requires a guide--a culture translator to help parents of teens decipher the codes and unlock the doors to an ongoing conversation about faith and life.David Eaton and Jeremiah Callihan provide just that in Engaging Your Teen's World, teaching you how to maintain open communication about everything from relationships to technology and media in order to help teens grow in their faith and successfully deal with difficult issues. Eaton and Callihan bring a wealth of frontline experience, sharing a big-picture view of your teen's world and how to interact with it, followed by more specific information on · what your teen is thinking, doing, and watching· conversations about sex, gender, porn, sexting, and drugs· being a missionary to your teen· and much moreDespite the many challenges facing teens and their parents, this frank, insightful, and practical book offers a hopeful view toward the long-term goals of your relationship with your teen and for their relationship with the Lord.

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 18 août 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493425273
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Endorsements
“Are you struggling to engage with your kids in an era of smartphones, hectic schedules, and cultural confusion? David Eaton and Jeremiah Callihan are here to help. With great wisdom and a genuine heart for today’s teens, they offer keen, biblically based insight that parents will find invaluable.”
—Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family
“David and Jeremiah understand the next generation. And they are passionate about helping you parent well. So listen to what they have to say! And allow them to serve as your coaches on connecting with teenagers today. Better parenting starts now!”
—Brad Lomenick, founder of BLINC and author of The Catalyst Leader and H3 Leadership
“I love this book. Engaging Your Teen’ s World is a positive, practical, and powerful book. Since it is written by parents and youth culture experts, this book will help you better understand student culture today and equip you to effectively engage the teenagers in your life. I highly recommend it.”
—Sean McDowell, PhD, associate professor at Biola University, speaker, and coauthor of So the Next Generation Will Know
“Say good-bye to guilt, frustration, and sullen silence. Engaging Your Teen’ s World is a game changer in understanding your kids and engaging them through curiosity and common sense. David Eaton and Jeremiah Callihan from Axis are trusted ‘culture translators’ who demystify teen culture with proven, practical advice.”
—Jeff Myers, PhD, president of Summit Ministries
“In this culture, every parent of teens needs an offensive game plan to guide and protect their teens through one of the most dangerous seasons of their lives. Eaton and Callihan’s book will empower you with the vison, courage, and wisdom you need to disciple your sons and daughters to become mature and productive followers of Christ.”
—Dr. Dennis Rainey, founder of FamilyLife
“This book is full of clarity and practical—really practical—advice. Parents, youth workers, grandparents, and anyone with a teenager in their life would do well to absorb the wisdom here.”
—John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center and coauthor of A Practical Guide to Culture
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2020 by Axis
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-2527-3
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Scripture quotations identified E S V are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016
Scripture quotations identified M E S S A G E are from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Scripture quotations identified N L T are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified T L B are from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Cover design by Brand Navigation
Dedication
To my parents. —David
To the reason God put me here to care about having one lifelong conversation: Nehemiah, Elijah, Jonathan, and Mari. To the one helping me have that one lifelong conversation: my amazing wife, Kim. —Jeremiah
To the parents and grandparents courageously raising the rising generation.
Contents
Cover 1
Endorsements 2
Title Page 3
Copyright Page 4
Dedication 5
Introduction: We Know You Care 9
Section 1: Why Engaging Your Teen’s World Matters 11
1. You Are a Third-Way Parent 13
2. The Most Important Conversation 23
3. Your Wisdom, Their Wonder 37
4. Conversation: The Hunger for WITH 51
5. Translating Culture 58
6. Missionaries Cleverly Disguised as Parents 72
Section 2: How to Engage with Your Teen 77
7. Cultivating a Heart Connection 79
8. Two Types of Conversations 88
Section 3: Topics You Need to Engage with Your Teen 97
9. The New Sex Talk 99
10. Smartphones 107
11. Video Games 120
12. College 139
13. Depression and Anxiety 156
14. Drugs 168
Section 4: What Now? 177
15. You Can Do It! 179
Recommended Resources 195
Acknowledgments 198
Notes 201
About the Authors 207
Back Cover 209
Introduction
We Know You Care
If you’re cracking open these pages, you care about a teenager. You are a parent, grandparent, teacher, coach, student pastor, mentor, or youth worker. Perhaps your greatest tool in shaping the soft clay of their lives is the simplest tool you wield: You care . You care enough to worry about them, have hard conversations with them, invest your precious time into them, discipline them, pray for them, and pick up a book like this one to learn how you can help them. And if you don’t actually do all those things, you want to.
Chances are that someone cared for you as you navigated your turbulent and insecure teenage years. Perhaps a teacher spoke vision into you, a coach challenged you to dig deep, a parent reached past your destructive behavior, or a grandparent made you feel like you were worth loving. A moment of care or belief can change everything! We all need someone to care about us and believe in us when we are young. Care is vital, but unfortunately, it’s not enough. You’re going to need more tools in your tool belt.
Teens have a bad reputation. Too often we talk down about them. We have low expectations of them, and many times they live up to that low bar we’ve set. You had better believe they pick up on our lack of confidence in them. Many of us have believed lies that teens are full of problems, and that we just need to wait it out so they can limp into adulthood. Youth expert Sharon Galgay Ketcham says, “We problematize teenagers and use significant resources to try to fix them. This narrative evokes fear and, in loving response, parents are desperate to keep them safe. . . . Teenagers are more than problems to be solved—they have potential as human beings.” 1 Our Axis team of culture translators and parent research assistants agrees!
Teens are also battling massive issues. There are apps, troubling videos, sexual images, and cyber bullying entering their world through smartphones. There are opioids, Adderall, marijuana, and vapes entering their bloodstream. There are mental health, depression, and anxiety issues welling up inside their brains. They live in a noisy world clamoring for their attention. Your blood pressure is probably rising as you read this. You probably wonder how you can talk about God, the Gospel, the church, and the family in a culture crowded with these vices. Keep reading. We’ve got good news!
We want to make our motives clear; we want you to move from a caring adult in the life of a teen to a confident influencer of your teen. Our Axis team helps tens of thousands of parents understand teen culture every week, and we want to equip you to join the teens you care about on their journey into lifelong faith. Think of us as your research assistants. God put them in your life and you in their life on purpose. We believe in you, and we want to help you. We want to watch your confidence and passion for discipling your teen spike like it has for tens of thousands of parents. We want to help you engage your teen’s world.
Our team creates a lot of content, too much to cram it all into this book. We organized the book into four sections: Why Engaging Your Teen’s World Matters, How to Engage with Your Teen, Topics You Need to Engage with Your Teen, and What Now? We share practical knowledge and next steps, but we only scratch the surface in some areas. Don’t worry, at the end of the book, we recommend resources to dig deeper into many of these topics.
We aim to encourage and equip you for the role God has given you.
Thanks for letting us into your journey with the teen you’re crazy about.
—David Eaton, Axis president and cofounder, and Jeremiah Callihan, Axis CEO and cofounder
Section 1: Why Engaging Your Teen’s World Matters
1 You Are a Third-Way Parent
Young people are open and at a place where caring adults are still important in their lives—something that seems to hold true across all studies of youth and adolescents.
Daniel White Hodge, Center for Youth Ministry Studies 1
Tell your children about it in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation.
Joel 1:3 NLT
The average adult says they only have about one spiritual conversation a year.
The Barna Group 2
In 2007 Steve Jobs walked onto a stage in San Francisco wearing his iconic outfit; jeans, a black turtleneck, and gray New Balance shoes. The crowd waited with bated breath, anticipating his announcement. “This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two and a half years. Every once in a while, a revol