The youth ministry blog "Confessions of a Human Being" offers up a series of posts with some excellent tips for leading a retreat with your youth. Here's one I particularly like:
Ban Personal Electronics - The two major factors of most every retreat are building community and getting away from the hustle and bustle of life. Anything that requires headphones will automatically cut a person off from the group, and cell phones, PDA’s, etc. being present are not getting people away from life’s bustle. Do not allow students to bring anything that falls under this category, or you will be fighting an uphill battle the entire trip.
Read more here.
--Brian
3 comments:
It's so true! I have always had such a hard time keeping my youth from bringing phones, ipods, etc. and keeping them put up all weekend. The worst part is that no matter how much I explain it, my adult chaperones don't understand why these rules are in place and hence don't enforce them, so I end up looking like the cell phone nazi. You can really tell a difference in the experiences of the youth who follow those rules and the ones who don't.
Rather than turn in to the cell phone nazi, I would suggest a covenant of conduct that adult volunteers, youth, and the parents sign that allows you to not come out looking like the "bad guy." Emphasize the covenant part, that you are making promises to one another, etc. Make sure that parents have clear infomation about where you can be reached and other chaperones they can contact by phone and generally they are a little more understanding.
In our youth ministry, we are so fond of shaking the electronics that we have a cell phone offering at the beginning of every Sunday morning and Sunday evening gathering. We help the youth to understand that this is their offering for a short time and they seem to dig it.
Cell Phones are a serious issue that we are addressing in our own youth group. There seems to be an issue of respect, or lack there of...my kids text the night awa, not paying attention to the devotion, adult talking, etc. Any suggestions on how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated.
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