I found it very interesting, yet I am left wondering if it is completely accurate and if it is what is the impact on my life and the lives of the students in my ministry.
The article is actually an overview of a book entitled "microtrends" by Mark Penn. The trends that I found to me most interesting are trends such as mothers in their mid thirties being the largest group of video game addicts, the resurgence of knitting among teens and the fact that most people who are tattooing themselves these days are upper and middle class. Tattoos are no longer for the inmates and deadbeats. Because of these changing trends in America the face and shape of America is changing. Kids are over the video games and are trying to find new things to do, people in general are reinventing themselves. Americans today are no longer willing to be put into boxes, they are stepping out and trying new things. Why is this happening? What has caused this change in our culture, society and way of life?
I think that it really all boils down to a statement that Penn made regarding the rise in left handedness in America. He says that the rise in left handedness has occurred because of the fact that we are allowing student to be who they are. We are no longer forcing them to be right handed. We are no longer forcing them to always conform to the rules, we are allowing more freedom.
"The result, writes Penn, is a more permissive culture. “A society that tolerates people working with different hands is also likely to tolerate a lot of other freedoms.”
Looking at our culture over the past few years we have become more permissive and now "tolerate a lot of other freedoms", but at what cost? What has this tolerant culture done to us and our kids. What is the result of tolerance on Society at large?
I am not saying that we shouldn't be loving and accepting of others, but at what point do we stand up and say,"that is enough". I think that the line has become blurred. The line of acceptance and non acceptance is no longer visible and it is affecting not only us, but the youth and children of today. They are confused and are looking for definition in their lives. The growing acceptance of the past few decades has caused our youth to actually go the other way. We have seen a resurgence of the past with people in the mid to early twenties. They have been going back to traditional mindsets of family and society. Not to say that this is the right way to go, but a balance needs to be found. We need to decide where the line is, our kids need definition and we need to help.
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