By Danny Minton

Oh, how the language of teenagers has changed from generation to generation over the decades.

My Grandparents:
The egg really knew his onions showing off as a cake-eater when he got the glad rags to attract the cute girl.

My Parents:
The anchor clanker was doll dizzy with a pocket full of clams and ready to go cook with gas.

My Day:
He had to beat feet and burn rubber before the ankle-biter ruined his night with his girlfriend at the passion pit.

My Children:
My girlfriend said it was so grotty you could gag her with a spoon, but I told her it was totally tubular and to take a chill pill, but whatever!

My Grandchildren:
IMHO ATEOTD, I don’t understand him. RME

One of the most challenging times in life comes with the growing pains of being a teenager. During those years, there is the search to discover yourself and what you want in the future. You see the generations before as not being “up with the times” and failing to understand the new world, the one in which they are growing into young adulthood.

We have all gone through those years. Our parents and grandparents went through them. We all had our rebellious groups: Flappers, Zoot-Suit Brutes, Beatniks, Hippies, Punks, Ravers, and Hipsters. We struggled with our parents understanding us and felt they didn’t understand our world. Growing up, we did things we knew we shouldn’t have done, and now we live with regrets for our mistakes and immature actions. 

My dad used to tell us stories of growing up as a teenager in the 1930s and 40s. He told us how they would put razor blades in the mud slopes of the swimming hole to keep out those they didn’t want around. He shared how the teenage boys would wait until after midnight on Saturday night in Van Alstyne, Texas, then go and lift the side of the jail to let the drunks out. I remember stories from my generation of boys putting “cherry bomb” fireworks in the bathroom toilet. One of my classmates stuck a knife in a 22 shell in class and caused it to fire. We were not all bad kids, just teenagers who sometimes did some “stupid” things.

Society tends to put labels and groups and lump everyone in that group into the same mold. If one person in a group does something wrong, there is a tendency to label the entire group the same way. It happens in all forms of life. We make generalizations and place everyone in a group under the same heading. “All men are,” “All women are,” “All Republicans are,” “All Democrats are,” “All boomers are,” “All teenagers are,” and the list goes on and on. One group member acts or feels a certain way, and everyone is thrown into the same mold.

When it comes to today’s teenagers, remember, “Teenagers are people, too.” They should not all be thrown into the same mold because a few become rebellious. I sit in worship service on Sunday mornings and see scores of teens in middle school, high school, and college who love God and want to make the world a better place. As in any generation, there are a few rebels, but they are in the minority. 

It would be interesting if those of us who have waded through those early years could take a selfie of our past and see how we acted and reacted to our parents, older folks, and society. As I showed above, our language has changed. Our music, fashions, hairstyles, likes, and dislikes are different. There were things we liked that our parents couldn’t understand, things each generation questions about those generations before and after our own. The times we live in have changed. My grandparents and parents lived through world wars and a great depression. Many had to grow up faster; however, they still went through the same growing pains as teenagers of each generation. My generation, the boomers, grew up in a new America, one recouping from the war when life was beginning again. We faced the same teen issues as others but still lived under the clouds of the Korean Conflict and the war in Vietnam. We talk about how today’s teens have it easier, and they do, but that’s what each generation before has wanted. Each generation has wanted things better for their children and grandchildren. 

It’s not easy being a teenager or the parent or teacher of a teen. It’s nothing new. Just ask King David, Adam and Eve, Jacob, and several other parents in the Bible. Learn to be supportive and try to understand them and their feelings. Like us, they will make mistakes. Like us, they will struggle with life as they mature. Like us, they are people, too.

Learn to be less critical and more understanding. Let them see Jesus in those of us who have passed through those years. Parents should take to heart the words of Solomon, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  (Proverbs 22:6) Notice how the verse says, “When he is old.” Youth is a time of learning, maturing, and growing. If we place the principles of Christ in the hearts and minds of our children, no matter what they go through in their growing years, they will return to the foundation they are taught.

Teenagers are people, too. Treat them with love and respect, and they’ll treat you in the same manner. Never forget, “Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40:30-31 (NASB)

Danny Minton is a former Elder and minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ