2018 Beach Retreat Leader Manual

UNDERSTANDING THE
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT
The high school age is a difficult stage in life of an adolescent.
It is an awkward age where the student is expected to
act like an adult in many ways, but is not treated as one.
Without a doubt, these years are the most pivotal in the life
of an adolescent. All of the values and beliefs that a high
school student has formed in his or her earlier years will be
challenged during their years in high school. The choices we
make during these years determine the kinds of people we will
be the rest of our lives.
That is why this Beach Retreat is so important. You will have
the opportunity to spend a week with students who have
many important decisions ahead of them. This could be the
only week that many of these students will ever be exposed
to the Word of God and such great examples of Christ. It is an
awesome responsibility but also a great privilege.
Today’s high school student is surrounded by enormous
pressures to conform, to mature, to adjust, and to fit into the
framework of an increasingly cold and impersonal society. Here
are just some of the forces in our society that are influencing
our youth today:
THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE
TRADITIONAL FAMILY
In our society, the traditional family used to be stable and
trustworthy. Now statistics say that 35 percent to 75 percent of
the adolescents in any group are not living with both of their
natural parents. Without a firm foundation of trust, it is hard for
a high school student to cope with many of life’s pressures.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF
MORALITY
The question of right and wrong is no longer black and white
in our society. We are living in a world of gray areas where
there are no longer any moral choices - now there are only
“personal” choices. High school students today are drowning in
a sea of confusion because they are not sure which decision
to make.
THE WORSHIP OF TECHNOLOGY
In our “virtual age,” we believe that we are making our world
a better place to live. Unfortunately, our increased technology
has decreased important qualities in many of us. It has
decreased our spontaneity, individuality, moral sense, and our
ability to think and make meaningful decisions.
THE IMPACT OF CONSUMERISM
Not only is our society obsessed with material things, but we
have also begun to treat each other as things. Many students
believe they can find happiness in these material things, and
commercials tell us that we can. Unfortunately, the more we
get, the more we want, and it becomes an endless search for
things to fill the void in our lives.
THE WORSHIP OF SELF
What is in it for me? Our society is a selfish society that
does not focus on the concerns of others. In the same way,
adolescents try to make themselves the center of the universe.
This involves an obsession with self-fulfillment, a loss of
perspective and an inability to empathize. All of which can
lead to the destruction of an adolescent.
THE LOSS OF MEANING
All of the pressures and struggles that youth experience
because of our society have caused students to contemplate
the real meaning of life. As adolescents desperately try to make
sense out of their lives, the teen suicide rate increases, feelings
of insignificance are created and the search for meaning and
happiness continues.
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