Another annoyed vent

This may seem silly- but it's not.

Our church has a middle school youth ministry, and a high school ministry. The rant is about the middle school ministry- the pastor in particular. I am NOT happy with how the program for the middle schoolers has been run this year. We have a BIG problem with "wanderers"- kids who just walk the halls while programs are going on. Or worse yet- show up before there's any kind of supervision. Which is a situation you do NOT want with middle schoolers.

There was a problem about a month ago. We invited our neighbor's kids- kids that have problems of their own and NEED to be in church. The 5th grader will take stuff- like someone's glasses, then run away so you have to "catch" her. Why? I have no idea. Well- this wonderful child ran off with an 8th grader's hat.

The 8th grader came from this apt complex across the street. It has some rough kids in it- again kids that NEED to be in church. The big kid caught up to her- and could have seriously hurt her- but thankfully a friend of mine saw the entire incident and called in the pastor before something serious happened. This happened in the time before the kids were even supposed to BE there. But you know kids don't tell parents what time to be dropped off- or they just show up "whenever" b/c they just don't want to be at home anymore.

We have all talked to him about this problem. And it's not just my neighbor's kids. There's other kids out there as well that "wander". Told him he NEEDS to send out a letter saying "Youth group starts at 6:15- kids are NOT to be dropped off before then." Has any letter gone out? Nope. I think he thinks the kids are gonna tell their parents. Yeah- right. I found a notification for a fundraiser at school. A fundraiser that happened 2 MONTHS ago- I never saw it b/c it was shoved in the bottom of her bookbag. Do you really think the kids are going to remember to tell parents stuff?

And he can't say it's because church isn't letting him send out postcards. Because dh and I sing in choir, and we got a whole bunch of them reminding us of different rehersals for the Christmas production.


Well- tonight there IS no youth group. I had no clue until dd told me this morning. She thought I knew. Um no. There was NO postcard sent home, NO notification in the Sunday bulletin. And- for that matter- just how many of these kids actually SHOW UP on Sunday morning? Not all of them.

So I told dh that dd had no Youth group tonight. And that he told the kids on SUNDAY that there was no youth group. And he said "Great. We'll have 20 or so kids show up at church with NO supervision at all".
This man does NOT take critisizim (sp) well. Just gets mad. SIGH.

If my kid didn't have so many friends in youth group- I would have pulled her out long ago. And looked for another program somewhere else.
I'm not looking for advice, because I just don't know if there's anything we can do. Just thanks for listening. Even if the kids are pains in the butt- they still need to be cared for and loved.

My husband and I are buckling in for the bumpy ride when our daughter starts middle school.

Maybe you could send out a note asking for parent volunteers to come early and keep an eye on the early kids. If enough parents sign up, nobody would have to do it too often. Otherwise, it will take somebody getting hurt before something is done.

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

My husband and I are buckling in for the bumpy ride when our daughter starts middle school.

Maybe you could send out a note asking for parent volunteers to come early and keep an eye on the early kids. If enough parents sign up, nobody would have to do it too often. Otherwise, it will take somebody getting hurt before something is done.

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I know. Thank heavens that my friend was out there,(it was Operation Christmas child collection week and she was at church all day) and saw the kids chasing after "A" in the first place. Heaven knows what could have happened if an adult hadn't seen what was going on :-(

I wish it was as easy as that. The parents that do volunteer try to get there as early as they can. But many of them eat dinner before at church- that's not finished until 6 or a little later. And if they're in the gym eating, and the "wanderers" are outside the gym- they can't exactly supervise. Or they work and come straight from work to help. Not to mention that there aren't enough volunteers to begin with.

And I know- I could volunteer. However, I chose to sing in choir for the time being- until my school commitment gets too much. That meets at the same time as youth.

I hope I didn't offend you or sound harsh. If I did- I apologize. The PARENTS need to step up. As always. They need to find out what their kids are doing- and with who, why and when.

It frustrates me to no end when parents just don't give a rip about what their kid is doing. I drive mine NUTS- I'm constantly on them about who their friends are- and stuff that goes on in school.

And then the nation wonders why 30 some odd teenagers were dropped off last month during the "safe haven" fiasco out west (don't remember what state it was in).

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

My husband and I are buckling in for the bumpy ride when our daughter starts middle school.

.

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Oh and BTW- middle school isn't as bad as some people make it out to be. My girls have had their fair share of "drama" (and let me tell you, I am OVER the drama in the 6th grade ). And my oldest got picked on by a "mean girl" for 2 years, 1 of which she had almost all of the same classes (and I wanted to do the whole "mama bear" thing and have a chat with her and her mom- but resisted).

But my oldest survived, and is actually having a much better time as a freshman in high school.

Cheryl