"We all do not know exactly whether each of us needs help or not because we all live in different situations. One thing we all do know is; "We only need help when we have no answers to our questions, when there is no one to answer them for us, when we have done things wrong and believe we can not turn them around" Many of us have alot of questions and answers that we need to know to help us understand why things happen as they happen, where has all the help gone.?"
This was the post of an african youth on Unicef's Voiceofyouth.org on the 12th of this month which i found particularly interesting because i have found in it a prove for this piece i'm about to share.......(will have to do this notwithstanding the mood swing some of my essential keypads are experiencin now..lol)
Someone once said "if you do not take time to ask and wrestle with some life's questions, you run the risk of others answering them for you" Cultivating an inquisitive mind is an important skill in life and not settling for an easy answer are habits and discipline that should be developed especially in kids and young adults. It actually seem to come naturally for kids in this generation but it fades out as they grow into the teen years and parents now are the ones pestering but they often get the one-word answers.
The earlier generations apparently didn't do a lot of questioning....(i definitely can speak for mine), it was unconventional for young people to talk when adults were conversing and family times did not encourage such questions as well....you did not want to be shut down or punished for 'being rude', so it was better to soak it all in!
Questions express problems, define task and provoke thinking and learning.....amazing how Jesus used questions to tackle the mindset of the pharises during time (Oh yes!...he was a young adult too!). Asking questions for oneself can help us find answers that give a conviction that cannot be easily influenced.
Teenagers are a group looking for answers (obvious by 1st paragraph here) but the shortness and reducing amount of questions they ask their parents, school teacher, sunday school teacher may be due to the reaction received from those from which they seek answers.....now this is scary because when your teen stops to 'question you', it may just be an indication that they no longer trust or look up to you for guidance.
The whole point is questions are great tools for connection and communication and even though you may not have all the answers, use them to your advantage and create a common ground and a relationship with the young people in your life.
A good way to deal with not having the answer to a certain question or viewpoint is to admit that you havent given it much thought yourself but encourage the discussion to provide another opportunity to dialogue and find answers together but you will have to be committed to it.
So are you going try this or what?!
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