How long...

I am privileged to be able to minister to the most amazing youth in the Latrobe-Greensburg area but it is not always easy. No matter where you go, what generation you came from, you always will hear things like…

"What do these kids have to worry about?"

"Kids these days, they have it so easy!"

"Well when I was a kid I had to ________!"

I am here to tell you that being a teenager in today’s world is not so easy. So often I hear someone say, "If I had that when I was kid…" Everyday there are technological advances and new gadgets are created to make our lives easier but yet each year teen suicide is rising. If teens have it so easy then why are the suicide rates rising? In fact I believe these technological "advances" can add stress, anxiety and depression that lead to suicide.

For example the computer, it is the biggest technological tool young people use but it can add stress, anxiety and depression. We live in world that believes you have to achieve and strive for perfection but that is just impossible. Now do not get me wrong trying to be the best at what you do is not a bad thing, unless it takes over your life. In our school system we put so much pressure on the students to achieve and I have heard parents say their kids, "How could you be getting that grade, if I had the internet when I was kid, well I would have had straight A’s."

Another way a computer can add stress, anxiety and depression to our youth is the media that is displayed on it. I receive friend request from porn websites constantly on Myspace and each one of them has a very attractive female as their photo. In other ways I will see advertisements that have sculpted guys selling their product. There is so much pressure on our youth to look a certain way and it is just getting worse.

To make things clear I am not saying the computers are evil or the devil or anything ignorant like that, yet I am just recognizing how the devil can use them against us. Honestly I do not know where this blog came from. I came on to blog about healing but this came out…I guess that will be used for another day.

I would like to leave you with one last point. Two thirds of all teens suffering from depression, the leading cause of suicide among teens, NEVER SEEK TREATMENT! That sounds absurd, if someone was hurting bad enough to kill themselves why would they not say something? Maybe it is because you told them they had it so easy. How long will we close our eyes to the youth?