The Other Side
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At our new, after school, Pokemon Club |
Grade 8/9: lots of games and fun, building
trust, meeting parents.
Grade 10: life isn’t as simple as they
thought, things are harder, friends are hurting
Grade 11: mental health, family,
life/death, drugs, sex and sexuality
Grade 12: next steps, graduation, they’re
alive, we celebrate that.
After going through a full high school
rotation with some teens, it has been interesting to see where they come out on
the other side. Some don’t need me at all anymore, and that is a very good
thing. It means that they are starting to experience a healthy life;
emotionally, socially, spiritually, intellectually, and physically. Not
everyone gets to this point though. There are three young men in particular
that I have continued to walk with beyond high school.
One has grown a lot and is exploring faith
with us each week, unknowingly becoming the “religious” person he spoke so
harshly against 4 years ago. Now he is attending a weekly faith gathering
(Spiritual Life), watching sermons, and talking about Jesus. I love it and
smile at the irony.
Another is someone I have definitely
written about over the years and now that he’s finished with high school and
moved out, he is experiencing life for the first time…and is starting to act
like a “teenager”. He never had the chance to be a kid at home and now that he
has some safety and stability, he’s finally starting to experience the things a
normal teenager would. His environment closed him off emotionally and I don’t
blame him. I noticed a few years ago that he was able to connect and feel
things through film. So now we are learning how to interact with emotions
together by watching movies. Since he is in a safer part of life, this seemed
like a great next step for him to start reconnecting with himself and
others. We go twice a month and dig into
the how and why these different thoughts and feelings come up while watching
different things. It is fun and I’m so glad that he made it to this point and
gets to see the other side of things after school.
Another looked like he was doing well but
after two years of schooling and jobs falling through, life seems to be getting
hard again. Mental health that was thought to be under control comes sneaking
back.
It is a privilege to still be in these young
men’s lives and I look forward to discovering what being a youth worker looks
like on the other side of this stage of as well.
Thanks
for journeying with me,
Jon
Pue
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