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What Teens Live For?


What do teens live for today? Acceptance, fun, themselves, getting high, getting drunk, a good time, friends… and the list goes on. Trying to make sense of it all can be overwhelming, but knowing their inner motives is crucial to understanding the young people in your life.

After a closer look, three common trends emerge that will help you connect with teens in ways you weren’t able to before.

The next several issues of The Voice will feature articles in the series, What Teens Live For. Each article will explore one of the following areas:

The Experience: Every young person lives for the experience. Whether it’s at the skate park, on a screen, or with friends, it’s all about the “moment.” They’re always looking for excitement and a bigger “wow.” Life is supposed to be exciting and boredom sneaks up fast, so they have to stay on their toes and never stop moving. Teens today live and breathe action. What does this mean for your youth ministry?

Community/Social Life: An experience isn’t really an experience unless it’s with friends. Teens always surround themselves with people and are never out of touch. A young person is rarely alone in or out of school. If they are, never fear—a cell phone is always within reach. Why are they like this? How can this strong desire for social interaction be used to advance the Kingdom?

Something Deeper—The Spiritual Side: Teens today are in touch with their spiritual side as well as their God-given desire for truth. 58% of teens consider religion or faith to be one of the most important parts of their life, and 65% want a close relationship with God. They long to know more than what the world is telling them and understand their place in the universe. This is an amazing opportunity for youth ministry, but if we don’t act quickly, the spiritual questions teens ask will lead to wrong answers.

What do you think teens live for? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Fill out our brief reader survey.

Each article in this series will include snapshots of what youth leaders and teens across the country have to say.

Stay posted for a closer look at each of these topics. As we explore what teens live for and gain a deeper understanding of who they really are, we’ll also uncover powerful keys of effective youth ministry. The war for the hearts of young people is on, and it’s up to us to expose the Truth they were born to know. To do that, we need to understand their lives and the reasons they live the way that they do.