Animal Kingdom

After being involved in middle school and high school ministry off and on for roughly 25 years (yes I started when I was three!), some new perspectives have come to light in recent years. Although I’ve been trained and educated to work with and minister to students in these age groups, there are some lessons that simply took longer to “click” in my brain. I guess it took having my own kids in these age groups to really get to the core of some things. I thought I had a strong understanding of students, but “living in the trenches” with them has taken me to a deeper level. And many days this deeper level has taken me back to the mud and muck of middle school and high school all over again. 

My “great” insight: Middle school students are like dogs and high school students are like cats. (Maybe not a huge insight for you, but huge for me.)

Over the last two months I’ve watched the interaction of middle school and high school students, both male and female, at basketball games, cheer competitions, middle and high school worship, birthday parties, student retreats, Sonic and other assorted restaurants and student hang outs. The middle school boys and girls often remind me of our dog, Boomer. Boomer can bark and act tough, but the first time someone reprimands him he cowers under the harsh criticism. He wants to be right in the middle of everything with our family. He is always right under my feet in the kitchen or on someone’s lap on the couch. It is obvious that this dog needs to feel accepted and loved.

Much like a middle school student, Boomer needs to connect with at least one person in the room. And like a middle school student, he responds well to praise and of course treats. Think about it, what happens when you provide some snacks to middle school students? They will show up to just about anything like a hungry pack of dogs.

Other dogs might bite back when hearing an authoritative tone from a human. But those dogs that we care for and treat well are very receptive to discipline done in love. Sound like any middle school students you know?

High school students, on the other hand, appear to be more sophisticated. Like a cat many high school students can circle around assessing the situation. They will observe the environment, calculate their options, and wait a longer period of time before they respond (or pounce). Maybe it is the disappointments and heartbreaks they’ve already experienced, but many high school girls have the tendency to guard themselves and are less trusting of others when compared with their middle school years.

Can you picture your cat or the pet cat of a friend sitting on a cushion slowly and methodically bathing and primping? Now put the face of a high school girl on that cat! How many high school girls need to hear that they are beautiful? How many are obsessed with their appearance? Although I don’t know any cats with eating disorders, I’ve seen plenty that are picky about their food.

One other observation is watching those middle school girls transition to high school. It is not easy to morph from the dog world to the cat world. Think about the differences and changes girls experience as they leave middle school to enter and live out their high school years.

What do you think? Are middle school students like dogs? Are high school students like cats? If any part of my observation is right, it is rough living in the animal kingdom. And even more difficult to leave the animal kingdom and become human (think about the senior and college students you know). And what happens if the girls in our girls’ ministries do not transition from the animal kingdom of middle school and high school into the human world?