Taking a look around

“Youth is not a universal category of biology. Rather, it is a changing social and cultural construct that appeared at a particular moment of time under definitive conditions.” p.375

Adolescence did not always exist. For most of history, there were only two phases in life, childhood and adulthood. Today, adolescence is one of the most confusing questions of culture. One of the interesting debates that Barker brings up is on the “homogenization of youth culture”. Some people believe that there is a global youth culture, that all youth partake in similar cultural norms and attitudes. Other people maintain that youth culture is scattered and chaotic, representing the hybrid nature of global culture. As a youth minister, it is my job to better understand this ever-changing phenomenon in order to share the Gospel in appropriate ways.