I began my writing career having been inspired by this quote back in 1990 from film director John Waters (Cry-Baby, Hairspray) from a backpage article for the special edition Newsweek issue to kick off the last decade before the Twentieth Century. 

“Sex, drugs and rock and roll all seem so old hat. Who would have ever thought you could die from sex? It was much more fun when you only went to hell. In the old days, the most curious rebels took drugs to think more; now the stupidest ones take them so they don’t have to think at all.

“…Stop being so rebelliously lazy. Here’s how to horrify me so it will work. Start off by making it cool to be poor again, the only way left to be un-American. You shouldn’t want to be rich, you should want to embarrass the rich. Don’t move to New York or Los Angeles; stay home and scare the neighbors. …The uncoolest thing in the ’90s will be racism. My generation will pretend to be liberal, while still thinking the same stupid racist thoughts. Expose us by reversing the usual negative cliches and watch all the phony, politically correct parents see red. …Since you can’t have promiscuous sex anymore, consider yourself lucky. No sex makes you more nuts and that’s good. Besides, you didn’t get to think up sex in the first place, so why bother? …Yeah, yeah, yeah, they took drugs in the ’60s. So what?! Then they all became alcoholics and addicts. And now, even worse, you’ve got to listen to how they overcame their addictions.

“See? It’s easy to get a rise out of us old farts. You’re finally on to something new–a dawn of devious teen behavior to mock the millennium. Get moving!” 

So many thoughts 35 years later.

Now we are legalizing marijuana. (I have strong thoughts about that.) Teens and young adults are having less sex but only because of the increase of porn, which can so easily be found on our devices which are with us 24/7 and which were only a Star Trek-reality back then. Racism did continue through the 1990s, 2000s, change started happening in 2010s, and then 2020 happened. (Changing racism is a marathon, not a march.)

What has happened to our teens since then?

“And it’s so destabilising for children when adults don’t have strong convictions. I think it makes young people nihilistic. What else can we do? We have nothing to fight for or rebel against. We don’t build anything because for that you need a foundation of beliefs. We can’t even believe the opposite of what our parents believe because they don’t really believe in anything. How can you rebel against a Void? …We aren’t revolting because we were restricted by too many rules; we are revolting against too much freedom. When everything is permitted, the only rebellion left is to give up on it all.” –Freya India https://www.freyaindia.co.uk/p/the-need-for-adults

Read the rest of that article and hear a Gen Zer begging for adult guidance. I believe she is prophetic.

The Void is what we’ve left our next generations because…well, read the article because everything is called out. This is on us.

Guidance, teaching discernment, imparting wisdom, protection, passing on values, saying clearly “this is wrong,” restrictions is what she is asking for backing it up with proof of the brokenness they’ve grown up in. All things parents can supply, grandparents can supply, and the Church can supply. Let’s not back away from this opportunity any longer. Jesus does declare some things as wrong.

Our young people need to hear this. From us. From adults. From adults who care about them.

This is why I support intergenerational relationships in church in every way possible. More of this please.

Yes, we may be canceled or some other form of “rebellion” in the process with their 16-year old brains. It sounds like the risk will be worth it. We are in a larger story here. Our end game is not pleasing a 16-year old.

“Children are crying out for more protection. They need reassurance that there is a right and wrong. They need adults to define and defend it. And to hold them to a standard. Because when there’s nobody around to judge, there’s also nobody around to ground, or to guide. Nobody to be harsh but also nobody to be honest. Nobody to get in your way but also nobody to get you out of your own way. I really believe my generation is anxious today because we had so few adults in our lives to feel confident in.” –Freya India

You can count on me, dear 20something, to make these brave faith decisions to stick with you throughout. And to find other adults to join me.