Teens, Proms and Graduation

Posted Tuesday, May 12, 2009, at 8:16 AM

How exciting it is for upper high school students at this time of year! So much is happening! Memories are being made that will last for life. Emotions are running rampant. During this time of excitement, students are in the spotlight and can feel really special. They have a sense of pride of their accomplishments. Both students and parents are feeling apprehension about the future and are possibly feeling some fear. It is also a time of testing--perhaps the biggest test they have faced so far in their lives.

As the parents and students work together to get the best possible clothes, get hair fixed, and make plans for these last days of school, the teens are basking in the attention they are receiving. As they walk across the platform, hear their names called, and receive the handshake, it is a moment they have longed for and dreamed of. The audience is clapping and there is a real sense of accomplishment. The teens are feeling "on cloud nine"!

After the graduation ceremony, the celebration is a test. Will the students celebrate in a socially acceptable way, or will they throw away some of the principles that their parents and teachers have tried to get across? We've all heard stories of seniors who get killed in car accidents caused by drinking. We have to question if those students were really ready to become responsible citizens upon the completion of twelve or more years of school and even more years of training in the home. Project Graduation is an effort to give students an acceptable way of celebrating. Hats off to those who work so hard to provide this activity and to all those who donate to help the cause, but wouldn't it be even better if it were not needed? In some cases perhaps it is simply something nice that is done for seniors. I would like to think that this is always the case. Reality tells us otherwise.

Many parents may spend some sleepless nights after graduation, wondering how their children will behave. The old saying that young people must "sow their wild oats" seems to excuse bad behavior. Those people who hold to this philosophy are perhaps forgetting that the Bible says, "Be not deceived, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." (Gal. 6:7) It might be well to remind young people of this verse.

It is so important to instill real truths and desires in children when they are young, so they can pass this test at graduation and the many other tests that await the graduates. Again, there is a verse from the Bible that applies: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." (Prov. 4:23) A child whose heart is right will not want to act in a wrong way. Actions come from what is truly in the heart.

Train Up a Child

By Pat Lamb

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"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 Pat will have comments and suggestions about raising children based on her training and many years of teaching. Pat first began teaching Sunday School while in 7th grade at Verona, Missouri, where she was born and raised. After high school graduation there, she attended Missouri University and graduated with honors with a degree in Vocational Home Economics. She later completed training and received certification for elementary teaching in New Mexico. She has taught Home Economics (including child care), kindergarten, second grade, and substitute taught at several schools at all grade levels. She was awarded the Missouri Distinguished Adult Basic Education Service Award for distinguished leadership and dedication in all aspects of Adult Basic Education in the community, region, and state. This award was given to one GED teacher in the state. She was also invited to be included in "Who's Who of American Educators" in 2007. She was listed in Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who Among American Business Women. Pat has recently written a book titled, "Let the Children Come" which will be released in the spring. In addition to classroom teaching, Pat has taught in churches and Sunday Schools through the years. She served as Acting Children's Director at First Baptist Church in Albuquerque, NM. She also directed an Office of Navajo Economic Opportunity preschool on the Navajo reservation. She currently teaches GED at Gibson Vocational Technical School in Reeds Spring and taught GED classes for 15 years at Blue Eye and Shell Knob. Pat and her husband, Keith, who presently serves on the Reeds Spring School Board, have four grown children and three grandchildren. They are approaching their 50th wedding anniversary. "Our children and grandchildren have taught us a great deal and are still teaching us," Pat says. "I look forward to sharing some of this information with readers. I don't claim to have all the answers, but perhaps my comments can be of some help. It is not easy to raise children in today's world where they are constantly being bombarded with temptations and varying ideas of what is right and wrong."

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