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Ignite Summer!

By Will Cumby, Fuel Networks National Director 

Hot summer temperatures can lead to hot-tempered teens making terrible choices—but you, as leaders, can make a significant difference.  

During the summer, according to researchers, there is a 35 percent increase in juvenile crimes. 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NLT) says, “Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for ‘bad company corrupts good character.'” Often, it is not the wrongful intent of the teens but the influence of those around them. I believe God has placed leaders like you in urban communities across America to lead them to positive choices.

Summertime can be challenging for urban youth, with the lull between school years often leading to a rise in boredom, mischief, and even violence. But fear not. We’ve got your back with these practical tips.  

10 Tips to Engage and Inspire Youth: 

  1. Show them a future worth dreaming about. Reach out to former students who work in popular areas of industry or attend a local college/university. Have former students lead your group on a tour of their workplace or school. The difference between having a recruiter and a student leading the tour is the connectivity of having someone from your community share their honest story. Our hearts hold on to what our eyes see. It is truly inspirational when youth witness someone they know or look like doing something they want to do.
  2. Use water to stop the whine. Schedule splash days to give your youth something to look forward to and a way to cool off. Take typical youth group games and add water. Spoon race with water balloons. Play capture the flag with water cannons or over/under with a drenched water ball. Engage in water balloon dodgeball, or hide an object in a kiddie pool and have them fish it with their toes.

CLICK HERE to see my Amazon cart of splash day ideas!  

  1. Painting with a twist! Consider repainting a room in your youth area with a mural design. Order canvases and allow youth to paint freely while other students perform music. Then, do an art show on a separate day featuring other students performing music or showcasing their talents. Color your community by cultivating an abandoned garden and beautifying your surroundings.
  2. Engage community competition. Get moving with a weekend or multiweek sports challenge. Each week, feature a different sport with brackets for a championship. Multiple sporting events allow students to be more comfortable in certain sports. Do a community competition in a creative sport like dodgeball, 60-second competitions, or competitive Bible trivia. Consider reaching out to two or three churches and community groups in your area and having a creative prize that is more about bragging rights than the trophy.
  3. Press toward the mark. Encourage your youth to take advantage of Planet Fitness’ High School Summer Pass, a free summer program for students. Research shows that 94 percent of American teens admit they struggle emotionally and mentally, and it’s proven that working out is also beneficial for mental health. 
  4. Embrace history. Check out your city’s museums and see which days are free to visit. Museums help to explore cultural heritage while deepening understanding and pride. Consider doing a Bible study based on a particular exhibit or talking about the remembrance stones in Joshua 4:1-8 and how that relates to museums and how we preserve history.
  5. Attend a conference or city event. Typically, many conferences, concerts, and special events take place in the summer. Organize your youth to attend a youth conference or concert at a community church. Attend a holiday parade or event. I encourage you to contact your city council member or government representative to see if they have complementary tickets to help with costs.
  6. Be the change you want to see. Partner with other organizations, ministries, and businesses to address a local issue or community cleanup campaign, instilling a strong sense of civic duty and community engagement. Select a particular street and reach out to everyone along that street or section of the road to partner for a day of cleaning. If you contact your city waste program, they may donate trash bags to help with your cleanup efforts.
  7. Dive into the digital generation. Offer podcasting, video production, photography, and social media campaign workshops. These opportunities can unlock a world of tech-savvy possibilities.
  8. Spark entrepreneurial spirit. Workshops on financial literacy, business planning, and product development can ignite the next generation of urban innovators. These opportunities can inspire and motivate urban youth to explore their potential in the world of business and innovation.

Remember, the key to igniting urban youth during the summer slump is to meet them where they’re at, celebrate their unique identities, and empower them to shape their futures.  

Let’s make this summer one they’ll never forget! 

 

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