Comments on: #564. The 11 people every youth group needs.

By: mwomekwmewo

mwomekwmewo — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:10:24 +0000

you forgot about the kid who is super christian but will most likely end up drinking under age

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:26:18 +0000

the mini-missionary. you know who he is.

By: mike

mike — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:50:49 +0000

How about:
The bull in a china shop kid who broke a chair every time you played musical chairs.

The kid who on retreats showered 4 times a day to keep his hair looking good.

The expounder, he would always expound on the meaning of the verse.

The boy who always forgot to do up his zipper. "wo is me, for I am undone!"

The kid who could quote every scene from the Chevy Chase's "Fletch" movies.

By: Charles Meyer

Charles Meyer — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:41:05 +0000

I was the youth group kid that was at every youth group event and basically the youth pastors assistant. If there was an outreach, I was there. A concert, I was 2 hours early. My t-shirt collection is full of either Event T-shirts or all those small Christian bands that only played 3 shows and they were mostly at your youth group.

One youth group kid I remember is the girl (or guy) that had to always date a member of the opposite sex and had maybe a week break in between break ups. They would show up to youth group every other week because they were at their significant others youth group or house. You knew they had broken up because you started seeing them back at youth group every week. Somehow she ended up going to the same college as I did 2 years later. She hasn't changed much.

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:03:51 +0000

anonymous, I can't speak for anyone else, but I mentioned homeschoolers because I WAS a homeschooler (and a not-so-well adjusted one for the record, so I feel I can make fun of myself). There are well-adjusted homeschoolers and socially awkward ones, just like everyone everywhere else….(interesting how you completely stereotyped "public schoolers" in the process of your comment).
Honestly, can't we learn to laugh at ourselves through some vague stereotypes? I don't think anyone is meaning to judge anyone.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:57:39 +0000

Wow, you all have some serious issues with homeschoolers, don't you? For the record, all the homeschooled kids I know (which are quite a few – it's pretty popular here) are way more well-adjusted and socially adept than the public school kids, who can't seem to break free of their rigid labeling systems.

By: Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:15:50 +0000

A lot of these stereotypes are kinda sad, because Christians are so willing to judge personality, intelligence, and even faith off of appearance. As a pastor's kid myself, I know that my parents got a ton of angry phone calls about my brother's earrings and my tattoos. And because of inaccurate assumptions and hateful comments both to my face and behind my back, I sort of just gave up. I started doing all of the things people already assumed I was doing. I got into partying and drinking and hooking up with a new guy every week or so. And despite my sinful actions, I'd never been so stress-free, because my non-christian friends didn't limit me to a stereotype and then dismiss me as a lost cause. I still don't go to church. I spent a lot of time and passion and energy to church, and made myself vulnerable, and they essentially told me that I didn't matter. I mean, I've even been told that I have the mark of the beast and that I'm going to hell. And I'm only 18. Church is supposed to be a safe haven, a learning environment, some kind of solace from the harsh routine of life. I stopped going because I feel like I can love better without it. I'm less cynical and I don't come home every sunday/wednesday in frustrated tears.

Anyway, all that to say that stereotypes such as these can be accurate sometimes, but mostly they're just hurtful because no one takes the time to learn the ins and outs of the individual.

Youth Groups tend to have an interesting dynamic of closed-mindedness and judgment.

By: Christy

Christy — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 06:16:52 +0000

jadekb-
I was totally the crying girl. My poor youth leaders.

Thank God my hormones finally leveled out.

By: Christy

Christy — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 06:10:48 +0000

One more:

13. The Always-Obsessed-With-Something Kids

Star Wars. Matrix. Lord of the Rings. World of Warcraft. Anime. Twilight. The pop culture may fluctuate, but one thing remains constant...there is always going to be a particular cluster of YG kids who live and breathe for whatever nerd phenomenon is sweeping the nation. The object of these kids' obsessions may change over the years, but that matters very little; they just enjoy being obsessed. (Trust me...I was once one of these kids; my thing was music. Eighties music. In 2003.)

For those who can humor them, these kids are rather entertaining. Talk to them for long enough (say, 4 minutes) and they will inevitably steer the conversation to Lord of the Rings (or Naruto, or Harry Potter, etc.) Any small group or Bible study discussion with them will always yield at least one comparison between Edward¹s struggle to resist Bella¹s blood and their own
struggle against sexual temptation. Whenever the youth pastor teaches a message on idolatry, everyone in the room knows that he's mostly written the
sermon for these kids.

But the true mark of an AOWSK is his or her hair...cut, dyed, and styled to resemble their favorite character. One particular girl I know started out with "Trinity" (from the Matrix) hair in her early teens, which morphed to
"Storm" (from the X-Men) hair in her late teens, until she finally settled on her current 'do...Alice (from Twilight).

By: Christy

Christy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:11:59 +0000

Ha ha...Jon, I love this blog. You are so observant and spot-on. I had a relatively small YG, but we still had every one of these kids.

I'd like to add:
12. The Socially Awkward Youth Pastor's Kid

Oh man, I didn't envy this kid, and I still don't. It's hard enough surviving the teen years as the shy and introverted type, so it must a cruel, cruel fate to also know that most of your peers would rather hang out with your dad than you.
The SAYPK dedicates most of her adolescence to wriggling out from under her beloved pa's shadow. This is mostly attempted by vigorous "friend collecting," (latching onto anyone and everyone who even glimpes her way), and pitiable attempts at trying to be the Youth Group's clown. The SAYPK is especially vulnerable to obsession-prone niche groups (i.e. Trekkies, Anime Kids, Twilight Kids, LOTR Kids, etc.), since these groups provide her an with easy way to define herself as something other than "the daughter of our beloved youth pastor."
Unfortunately, the only way the SAYPK can break from this role is to become a #2 or an uptight #6.