Watch the video above and talk about it with a group or mentor. Learn more
If you want to be successful as a parent, you need to understand the stage of parenting you are in and what you should be focusing on in each stage. Stage 1 is really all about the parents whereas stage 2 and 3 incorporate other people. All of the stages are important with unique goals in mind.
Stage 1: Active parenting (Ages 5-11)
This is where the parents are the primary mentors for their kids. The primary learning environment is in the home with the parents as the main influencers.
Stage 2: Get a Mentor (Ages 12-14)
Kids are starting to get more involved in activities outside of the home where friends and socializing with peers becomes more important. At this stage, it’s great to find a mentor for your kid that is a few years older. This is usually done in a student group setting, still using student topics from pursueGOD, but with a “cooler” older student as the mentor.
Stage 3: Be the Mentor (Ages 15+)
This is the stage where, if you feel like your teen is ready, can be empowered to be the mentor for some younger kids. Again, using topics from the student page, your teen can now walk alongside other kids to help them in their pursuit of God.
Recognizing what stage you are in can help you to get the right things in place. Although parents will always have the loudest voice in the lives of their kids, getting mentors involved will only help to strengthen your role as a parent. And, eventually empowering your teen to be the mentor will help them to mature them in their faith
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- Identify what stage you are in with your teens. What could you do to find a mentor for your teen? What could you do to find some younger kids for your older teen to mentor?
- In what ways could a mentor help to support you as parents?
- What are the benefits to empowering your teen to be a mentor?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
