Religion values young people and life
So, two thumbs up for the Latter Day Saint LDS Mormon Young Women's values program. I give this 9 out of 10 stars.
My 17 year old daughter thinks that Church is stupid and that going to her youth group is a waste of time. We went with her to what they call "New Beginnings" Where the girls welcome the 11 year old girls into the program so they will know what it is all about when they turn 12. With youth being lost inside cell phone city constantly this program gets them involved in the community if for but a few hours a week.
I, not knowing much myself decided to pay attention. The leaders took some time to explain what they have been working on and that the girls should also be working on these project on their own and with their parents throughout the year as well as in class and the weekly activity.
The main areas were then explained by the girls themselves and I made up my mind to see if this really was a waste of time or not. For the boys they have been doing the scouting program which I am not real keen on although I feel it can be a great program when ran properly with good leaders.
So, they started out explaining that all the activities that they do are geared on the focus areas and that the girls are to decide on their own projects that will quality to help them meet their goals. It takes about 10 hours to complete a project and there are 8 areas so there are eight projects or 80 hours.
The leaders explained that if a girl is in a school play she can count the practices for that or if she is on the swim team she is bettering herself and that counts so anything worth while seems to qualify. Their activity this week is a combined activity with the boys where they will go ice stating. They are encouraged to start healthy relationships with group dating when they are 16 and this helps lessen problems if they will limit time they are alone with boys and do things in larger groups.
Many of the youth don't follow the guidelines but those that do seem to be more on track with their school work and their personal progress charts. A recent graduate just received several scholarships for college and seems to really have her life put together well.
The values they are working on do not just apply to religious people but it seems to all people and that a young person that participates in a program like this will be far more prepared than someone who does not. Each value has a color associated with it and they earn ribbons and finally a medallion at the end. It does not seem to be equal to an eagle scout although it does seem quite practical.
1. Faith - White 2. Divine Nature - Blue 3. Individual Worth - Red 4. Knowledge - Green 5. Choice and Accountability - Orange 6. Good Works - Yellow - 7. Integrity - Purple - More than just honesty 8. Virtue - (I don't know the color since this was recently added)
So I was expecting a bunch of religion and there was some although all of these principles are positive. A non religious person could adapt this program quite easily yet having the religion these seems to integrate it smoothly. Teaching these girls their worth and to stay away from drugs, sex and alcohol for the right reasons seems to be an awesome program but my daughter thinks it is lame. I bet when she is 30 and has kids she will look back and regret not participating and if she does not have her girls in something like this I am sure she will regret not doing it. The girls also do activities having to do with cooking, the proper manners and way to eat, serve and be served in a restaurant. All of these adult leaders volunteer their time willingly.
I was expecting a boring presentation and what I got was "Interested". I commend the LDS Church for their great program on concentrating on the positive in life and helping the girls mature into women. Women that are strong women with values, women that demand respect from men. Women that know who they are and place their priorities in line with these values.
So, two thumbs up for the Latter Day Saint LDS Mormon Young Women's values program. You can learn more about it on lds.org Also kudos to Christie Spencer, Sister Haggard, Sister Burris and the other adult leaders that put so much time into this program to help it to work in our area.
https://www.lds.org/youth?lang=eng