Bridging the communication gap

Group, Nov/Dec 2003 by Neill, Joe

Someone once said, "Your teenage years are the last time in your life that you'll be happy to hear the phone is for you." With that in mind, phone calls may be more appropriate for communicating with kids rather than parents. At the same time, a phone call can be a great way to get to the bottom of something when letters and emails fail to do the trick.

Timing is important, so avoid phone calls during mealtimes and late in the evening (some people have to get up in the morning). If parents answer, be sure to take a moment to talk with them. They'll likely want to know why some strange adult is calling their 13-year-old daughter.

MOST OF MY KIDS DON'T PLAN MORE THAN 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE, SO WHEN THEY LOOK AT A CALENDAR IT'S LIKE GAZING INTO ETERNITY.

THE TRIED & NEW

1. The "info hotline"-This is a tool we just added in our ministry (maybe we're a little slow). Parents and students can call our church phone number and punch in an extension to reach our Youth Ministry Hotline. Callers are greeted by a friendly voice reviewing our monthly activities, including times and locations. It's kind of like calling a movie theater to get showtimes.

If you don't have a voice-mail system at your church, you can add a second phone line and plug an answering machine into it. You can also use the hotline to give remote updates for parents when you don't want all your kids to use your cell phone to call home from Mexico.

2. Instant messaging-I don't know how to say this lightly; you need instant messaging! You probably won't communicate with very many parents this way, and even some kids haven't caught on to this technology. But Web-enabled kids absolutely love it. Today I was IMing with a student who moved to South Carolina and a youth pastor friend in Connecticut at the same time.

It may not be the way to let everyone know about the Six Flags trip, but it's perfect for extended conversations with kids who would not otherwise speak up. Read Kevin Young's article "Web-Savvy Ways to Reach More Kids" in the January/February 2003 issue of group to get all the technical information you'll need to get up and running. That same issue also featured a handy section on deciphering IM shorthand, known as newspeak, and recommended www.transl8it.com as a resource. Caution: If you dive too deep into IMing, it'll be a real time-killer. Maintain the right to say "g2g."

3. Email-Whenever teenagers visit our ministry, we have them fill out an information card that includes their email address. I use this information to send them quick thank you notes and ask if they'd like to be put on our email list. Not all kids have an email address, and few have the same address for more than a few months. This can make maintaining an email list a chore. To keep up, I periodically print out a list and post it in our youth room so kids can update their information.

If you're like me, you don't have time to put together a snazzy newsletter for kids every week. So use the one Youth Specialties provides for free-sign up for it at www.youth specialties.com.