Evangelicals have designated September as "Teen Awareness Month" and popular trends with young people are giving Christians more reason to join a “cry” against the negative influences of pop culture.
As the National Association of Evangelicals and Teen Mania join in a wake up call to reach out to the projected 96 percent of teens "in danger" of being nonbelievers, more young people are being exposed to sex, abuse and drugs through a growing industry of literature on adult subjects.
One popular teen book tells of an average high school student, Joe, who falls in love with Candy – a prostitute with a heroin addiction. In Candy by Kevin Brooks, Joe risks both his life and his sister's to save the one girl ever to look at him twice. Other teen literature has made issues of homosexuality and premarital sex more natural.
"These books are acceptable now, and the authors are treated with a respect those first writers couldn't get," said Jennifer Brown, children's reviews editor for Publishers Weekly, according to The Denver Post.
As such books have caught the attention of today's teens, more of the young generation are falling into a trend that Paul Wylie, director of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's Dare to be a Daniel, labeled as "tween kgoy" – kids getting older younger.
"There's no question that you hear more and more about young kids behaving like older teens," said Judy Bulow, book buyer for the Tattered Cover, according to the Denver Post.
Bob Waliszewski, a media specialist with Focus on the Family, said he is not opposed to teens learning about heavy issues through literature, but popular series of “chick-lit” books like Gossip Girl and A-List have been largely criticized for their inappropriate content of sexual exploits, glamorized teen behaviors and superficiality.
Bulow expects a change in teen literature in the next year – books that present a model for teens. And Christians are coming out with literature popularly read by today's youths.
Vicki Courtney, the creator of a Christian "maga-book" called Teen Virtue, plans to come out with one for pre-teens. With the feel of a contemporary, grown-up magazine, Between conveys the message: "Be Tween. Don't be ashamed. Don't want to grow up too fast," Courtney said.
The National Association of Evangelicals designated September National Youth Awareness Month as part of a resolution to engage and empower a young generation. The resolution was passed in Mach 2006 to double the size of church youth groups and Ron Luce, founder of Teen Mania, was chosen as a point ministry for the effort.
Lilian Kwon
Christian Today Correspondent
