Hello there, fearless leaders! I’m back again this week with some more info gleaned from focus groups my team and I conducted with 59 students from all over the country at a FUGE camp in Mississippi a few weeks ago.
Time with God
If you’ve ever wondered how much time your girls are spending with God each day, here’s what we found:
MIDDLE SCHOOL:
1-15 minutes (30 students chose this)
16-30 minutes (6 students chose this)
30 minutes or more (4 students chose this)
No time (1 student chose this)
HIGH SCHOOL:
1-15 minutes (15 students chose this)
16-30 minutes (5 students chose this)
30 minutes or more (1 student chose this)
No time (no students chose this)
It seems that the majority of our sample spends between 1 and 15 minutes with God.
What they read:
In case you haven’t noticed, most students today are not big readers. (It hurts my heart to even type that! I love books.) So when we asked them what they’ve read in the last three months, these were the responses we received:
MIDDLE SCHOOL:
None (listed by 7 respondents)
The Last Song (7)
The Bible (6)
Twilight series (6)
Dear John (3)
Someone Like You (Sarah Desson books) (2)
A Walk to Remember (2)
HIGH SCHOOL:
None (listed by 3 respondents)
City of Bones (2)
Crazy Love (2)
Sarah Dessen books (2)
How they feel about themselves:
When we asked students what their thoughts about themselves are, here’s how they responded:
MIDDLE SCHOOL:
wildly enthusiastic (4 students selected this option)
mostly positive (20 students)
neutral (10 students)
mostly negative (3 students)
pretty scary (0 students)
HIGH SCHOOL:
wildly enthusiastic (2 students selected this option)
mostly positive (10 students)
neutral (7 students)
mostly negative (3 students)
pretty scary (0 students)
Here’s what some of the girls said about how they feel about themselves:
“I know who I am and am happy for the most part.”
“I can be in a good or bad mood sometimes, I’m not always one thing.”
“I have my flaws but people think of me as pretty smart, popular and good so it makes me more confident about myself.”
“I used to be very self conscious but I’m getting a lot better.”
“I like just about everything about me but I have a few things I would change.”
Check back next Thursday when I'll post even more information on their thoughts on their youth groups, families, and the pressures they face at school.
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