Are kids the same everywhere? I've heard this said, mostly in passing, by people who do missions and such. Since those folks do work in other cultures, I thought it was true.
It's not.
Kids vary a great deal from one region of the U.S. to the next. In Texas kids are loud, feisty, and outgoing. Vermont not so much. The kids are reserved, cautious, and quiet. While neither is a bad thing, it does mean my tactics have to be different. In Texas I could just do a "hype-up" of some sort and the energy of the room would reach a peak without much effort. Mostly, new visitors just jumped right in. Here in Vermont, I expect new kids to come in and be overwhelmed at first and need some TLC. A "hype-up" might be to much for them. To be successful, I need to know my crowd.
Some of you may think that since you are native to your area, you instinctively know what to do. While that may be true, understanding your culture on a more intellectual level will open your eyes to what cultural pitfalls your kids are prone to fall in. It allows you to instill the values and skills they need to overcome the shortcomings in their culture. In Texas kids tended to be "saved on Sunday, heathens on Monday". In Vermont, kids tend to cling to the apron skirts of their parents and when they are "cut loose" from those strings, they often don't have the backbone to resist temptation.
My home culture as a dutch boy from Michigan? Don't get me started.
Oh, and every culture has shortcomings... even yours. I've seen them in Texas culture and Vermont culture. I've seen them in mine own. Be willing to criticize yourself and your culture. It will enable you to more easily step into a Biblical world view instead of attempting to place the Bible into your cultural world view.
So here's my question, do you know your crowd (culture)?
