Curiosity
15 02 2011
Curiosity may have killed cats, but it has also harmed many teenagers. Curiosity has been defined by an “eagerness to learn” or a “willingness to pry to find information.” Both of these phrases aptly describe many teenagers around us and in our homes. We have teens that are eager to learn, and are willing to pry to find out information. As parents and individuals who interact with teens we must consider the following thoughts about “curious teens.”
1. We must assume they are curious. Teens are not as apathetic as we think they are. They are curious and they are searching.
2. Their curiosity is the evidence of questions that exist in their life. Any time we see teens searching or experimenting we must remember that there is a natural curiosity within them driving them to find answers.
3. The world is giving our teens answers (sadly many of them are the wrong answers).
4. Some teens are learning the answers to their curiosity questions the hard way (through experimentation). They may learn the answers but there is a baggage that often comes from those answers they recieved the hard way. There are memories, images, experiences, and emotional scars that often accompany curiosity questions that were learned the hard way.
5. Answers from a parent can help save teens from finding wrong answers to their curiosity questions. Most teens will not initiate certain questions to their parents because of the awkwardness that accompanies some questions. However, please remember…the value of right answers to their questions should outweigh any awkwardness we experience. I hope that both parents and teen workers would be willing to initiate the conversations and teach our teens regardless of the awkwardness we may experience.
At the heart of this thought is the idea that we shouldn’t want our teens to always learn everything the hard way! There are scars, and baggage that come with many of our teens curiosity. May we take the message of Ephesians 4;14-15 to heart and present the truth in love to the teens around us.
For the sake of our teens,
P.Ron
