Comments on: “Young Punks” – you heard it here first!

By: Staying Hip | dave miers dot com

Staying Hip | dave miers dot com — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:04:03 +0000

[...] month. Stay tuned for some fresh gear in 2012. In the meantime this vid will help you stay hip with young punks [...]

By: Rice Rally // 20th August 2011 | dave miers dot com

Rice Rally // 20th August 2011 | dave miers dot com — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:16:37 +0000

[...] Rally is back again this coming Saturday. God has brought many young people to himself through this ministry over the last 10 years. I wasn’t able to make it last year, [...]

By: UNASHAMED // 19th August 2011 | dave miers dot com

UNASHAMED // 19th August 2011 | dave miers dot com — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:40:53 +0000

[...] is being gained at the grass roots level that is helping to fuel discipleship and evangelism among teenagers. Here on the Northern Beaches we have a combined youth event coming up on August 19: [...]

By: Pray for Steve Chong. Now! | dave miers dot com

Pray for Steve Chong. Now! | dave miers dot com — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:16:31 +0000

[...] Chong (from Kirkplace and RICE) is preaching to 7000 young punks at the Newday youth festival in England. I want to invite you to pray for him this week. Pray that [...]

By: Youth Ministry Papers: Commitment is Counter-Cultural | dave miers dot com

Youth Ministry Papers: Commitment is Counter-Cultural | dave miers dot com — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:50:50 +0000

[...] Young punks today are scared of commitment. Mobile phone companies are aware of this, so they’ve lowered the commitment bar: no longer is it the norm to lock-in to a 24-month contract, but 12-month, 6-month and pay-as-you-go options are all now available. If you’ve tried to run an event via “Events” in Facebook, you’d know how difficult it is to get people to commit to your event. If they actually respond to the invitation they’re more than likely to click “maybe” just so they can leave their options open. If you say yes, you limit your options if a better offer is made closer to the event. Why do you think people are afraid of making commitments? How might this make youth ministry harder? [...]

By: To Live is Christ by Trip Lee | dave miers dot com

To Live is Christ by Trip Lee | dave miers dot com — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:51:18 +0000

[...] Check out the following vid from Trip Lee. It’s based on Philippians. It’s from a Reach Records project/album thirteen letters – each track summarises one of Paul’s thirteen letters from the New Testament of the Bible. Might help as you teach young punks. [...]

By: davemiers

davemiers — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:20:21 +0000

@calum: yeah – good call on the generic ‘guy’ – i think i use that one too.

@sostenuto: thanks for your input. i’m not sure if you actually suggested what to use? and if you don’t use a collective noun, how do you address a group?

—-
“friends” is another one, but i don’t like it when i hear preachers use it.

By: Calum Henderson

Calum Henderson — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:51:03 +0000

I’ve use students when at school, campers on camp, teenagers at church.

When actually talking to a group of teenagers, the generic “guy” works for me.

By: Sostenuto

Sostenuto — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:42:05 +0000

Collective nouns might be a bad idea altogether.

The young men around here call each other ‘bros’, but you sorta hafta earn the right to do that. The chicks have a whole wardrobe of words for each other, because they are sensitive to which word is exactly right for a particular person/time/situation.

If you mean ‘righteous’, you can probably say so, despite its alternate meanings and associations. If you mean ‘sinners’, it might be honest to say so, even if your audience may not like it. If you mean ‘people’ (without religious classification), you can call them that. I

Any of the terms you have listed can sound patronising.

‘Punk’ has bad historical associations and alternate meanings for many people. ‘Teenager’ seems to make teenagers squirm. ‘Student’ is an imposed role (like ‘slave’) which many young people would like to escape or forget. Youth, Kids and Children are words that inevitably imply power/authority/credibility differential which is irritating, at best, to many kids. The ‘I-Gen’ is a marketing term, so it focuses on big spenders, and again, it is used by aliens (outsiders).

Before you use a term with young people, it might be prudent to check it out in urbandictionary.com – just in case it has other meanings.

By: davemiers

davemiers — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:09:32 +0000

phew! haha

By: Kate

Kate — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:01:51 +0000

haha – yeah i think we probably can still be friends

By: davemiers

davemiers — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:46:57 +0000

@duke – glad equipt went well.

@joel – i still use “punks” to refer to criminal action.
underager – do you use that one when they ask for alcohol?!?
see a little bit of a discussion on the encouraging young punks to step up on this post: http://davemiers.com/2009/11/07/mark-driscoll-gives-a-smackdown-to-boys-who-can-shave/

@tim – i reckon it’s not the best for girls. and depending on the crowd, they’ll say ‘don’t you know that a dude is a camel’s penis?!’

@kate – i think we can still be friends. yeah?

@ben – i think this is your first ever comment on dmdc – welcome!! good call on only using kids for oldies!! it’s probs flattering for them!

By: Ben Short

Ben Short — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:37:41 +0000

Hey Dave, interesting post. It is important to think about. I often use the term ‘kids’ to refer to any group of people (my parents, church leaders, social friends) and I have been using it in youth group. But they youth kids HATE it. They complain when I use it, so I have stopped using it for youth, and only use it for oldies now.

That’s a helpful tip. Respect the youth.

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 07:30:58 +0000

i agree with your list except for ‘young punks’. i hate it. sorry. probably a girl thing. glad it works for you and your posse though

By: Tim Goldsmith

Tim Goldsmith — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 06:24:48 +0000

What’s the mail on the generic use of “Dudes” ?

By: Joel A Moroney

Joel A Moroney — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:19:52 +0000

I don’t like to use punks, mainly cause we call the young men who we’re having legal/criminal problems with punks. I use young people, young uns, teenagers (though the twelve year olds always seem to misunderstand this one). One of my favourites is Underager, which I got from a Legion of Superheroes comic.
I’m really against calling the highschool aged guys kids or children. Part of it is that if you want them to step up and be men and women who are solid in Christ, don’t keep lowering the expectations with your words. If you call them kids, they will act like kids. Call them men and women and they’ll rise to it.

By: Duke

Duke — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:23:48 +0000

I’ve been saying crew before hiphop was popular in aus. So its def a coastal thing.
I don’t really have a singular form, I just say one of my crew.

EquipT was fantastic, really great to see so many leaders there to be encouraged and trained. Def keen to make it happen each year. Also might get one or two more volunteers for scripture at Barrenjoey High.

By: davemiers

davemiers — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:21:22 +0000

Ah yeah. I forgot that one. I use it a bit too, I think it’s the coastal beach culture thing… Or maybe the hip hop thing!?!

It’s difficult to have singular form of it though. Any one word suggestions?

How did your training session go on Saturday?

By: Duke

Duke — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:04:43 +0000

I use crew a lot, especially when talking about discipleship. So I say stuff like “Pray for your crew” Hang out with your crew” “Get to know your crew”

By: davemiers

davemiers — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:59:34 +0000

a few more via facebook:

“youngsters”
“young ‘uns”