the Monday Morning Debrief: Talking to Students about Current Events

One of the things I remember growing up was watching the Evening News with my dad.  I didn’t always like watching it.  I’d much rather watch reruns of my favorite shows, but I was glad that I got to see some of it because it kept me in the loop of the real world.

I also remember watching the very beginning of the 1st Persian Gulf War in the early ’90s with my youth group.  My Youth Group leader changed all that we were planning on doing that night and we watched some of the news then prayed after.  That was one of the few actual Youth Group meetings I specifically remember going to.

Why do I bring up these 2 instances? There is a lot going on in the real world today and students are hearing about it.  You just have to turn on the news on TV or the radio and you’ll hear everything about Syria and why we should or should not bomb it.  This weekend was also the 1st weekend of the NFL and considering football is almost a religious experience in America, discussing how your team did or what your star athletes are doing is noteworthy.  I’m not talking about discussing the gossip that happens with certain people, but sometimes things happen in their lives that are really noteworthy and worth talking about.  For instance, a few years ago, a popular NFL player for the Redskins, Sean Taylor, was killed in a robbery attempt that impacted the Washington, DC area for quite some time.

So the question is, what do you do with current events?  Do you ignore them in your time with students or do you process them together and help them deal with real world issues?  I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer here but I do think that if we overlook current events in our ministries as if they are not happening, we miss opportunities to speak into the lives of our students.

Thoughts?  Experiences?  Post a comment so that we can all benefit and learn from each other.