Teens aren't wired for sound judgment

This article is a must read - "Scans of Brain Suggest Teens are not yet Wired for Sound Judgment" for youth workers, parents, teachers, volunteer leaders, senior pastors...everyone!

Here's a quote that gets the article rolling, "...new brain imaging research indicates that teens sometimes act the way they do - making bad choices, failing to see consequences and acting impulsively, because their brains are simply not finished growing. It may not be that the devil made them do it, but maybe that their frontal lobes and white matter did "

This article got me thinking about how necessary it is for youth workers to be continually challenging our students toward developing critical thinking skills in their minds. What's more, our greater challenge is to get them thinking critically from a biblical perspective. So how are we doing? Sundays orWednesdayss...whenever we are meeting, is there a clear call to our students that is grounded in the Word of God and forcing them to look at this world critically. Are we sharpening their minds? With what? Are we taking real life examples in the world from the news and teaching them how to look at the world through the lens of Scripture?

Student ministry can't be about behavior modification. We can't force them to "look the part" anymore! We've got to start with the head and heart and work from the inside out!