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In spite of all the technological advancementsmade to expand and improve ways of communication,some found it harder than everto understand and relate to more technologicallysavvy groups. Parents and older generationshad difficulty when it came to connecting withyounger generations who had been saturatedwith improving technologies and media.In an attempt to help bridge this cultural gap,The Institute of Church and Family and TCMagazine started a program called SYNC/SWIM,which was designed to inform and educate adultsabout the world that teenagers lived in.The main purpose of the SYNC/SWIMprogram was to help adults get in tune withteens and in turn help them travel down theright path. Brandon Tittle, assistant directorfor The Institute of Church and Family andone of the three members that comprisedthe SYNC/SWIM team, recognized the needfor better communication between older andyounger generations.“We just know that a lot of parents aredisconnecting from their teens, so we try tohelp them connect,” Tittle said.The SYNC/SWIM group traveled to differentchurches and conventions to show movieclips, commercials, explain social networkingand text messaging to help adults understandthe teenage world. Laura Edwards, managingeditor of TC Magazine, said that to preparefor each presentation, the group gatheredinformation in advance from students in thearea that they would be visiting. This ensuredthat the information they presented to adultswould be relevant to their own kids.“We use interviews and surveys from studentsand then [incorporate] that information [intothe presentations],” Edwards said.On the weekend of Sept. 19-21, theSYNC/SWIM team went to Hiram, Ga., foran international conference. These seminarstypically lasted around six hours.“Our weekend seminar with the SYNC/SWIMteam was an eye opener for those generationsremoved from our teenagers,” said Glenn Organ,a Nichols Street church of Christ elder fromBay City, Texas. “Their presentation depictingthe world teenagers live in today was factual,revealing and even shocking to those who don’tlive in their world. The challenges presented toparents, grandparents, elders and ministers werecarefully and well documented.”The SYNC/SWIM group hoped that understandingthe type of world that teenagers livedin would give parents and older generations anopportunity to help guide teens.“Youth workers and parents want to builda wall around teens, but we’re trying to helpthem understand pop culture so that they canhelp teens navigate it,” Edwards said.SYNC/SWIM sought to provide informationfor parents and older generations as theystruggled to reach out and influence the youngerpeople in their lives.“They can’t help if they’re oblivious,”Edwards said.The feedback that SYNC/SWIM receivedindicated that they accomplished their missionto enable more effective communication acrossgenerations.“Anyone raising teenagers or concernedwith their survival in an alien world will profitfrom SYNC/SWIM,” Organ said.Katie Fittz and Emily HauptliConnecting148 leadership