I maintain a group called Human Empowerment over on LinkedIn (a professional/social networking site). You can access that group HERE.
Recently a member raised the following question:
"What are your thoughts on how to empower teenagers?
Their brains aren't fully developed until 25 years of age, they require some guidance for functional develop, but they also need to create distance for their own growth. Thoughts?"
I gave this question some considering and wrote the following reply. I then posted it to my website (www.jonathanevatt.com) and I am also posting it here as I feel it is a topic that is of interest to those people who have a love-for-life.
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Here are a few perspectives on this question...
In what I write here, I will not be attempting to provide specific methods to work with teenagers. Rather it is my intention to elucidate the challenge. In clearly understanding the challenge at hand, the steps to face that challenge will become increasingly self-apparent.
The biggest challenge I see in society today with specific regard to the youth is that they are--increasingly so, and more so than ever before--born into a society that is unconsciously intent on dumbing them down as thoroughly as possible by the time they reach adulthood. This dumbing down starts foremost with the parents who have also been subjected to the same, and to the medical system many parents (for whatever reason) choose to birth their children into.... along with all the toxic chemical injections they receive, the completely disrespectful and unnatural methods of birthing utilised, and so on.
You mention the development of their brains. Already, to me, that level of thinking is starting to suggest a way of approaching Man that is innately dysfunctional and has a partial or perhaps complete disregard to the true nature of these young people we identify as "teenagers". I am well past 25 and I would not for a moment consider that my "brain", or more accurately my "mental/intellectual/intuitive capacity", has in any way reached its peak. It is expanding and increasing every day, and what I have thus far tapped into is just a tiny smidgen relative to the potential that is there. Of course, in a society where the complete disregard for the true nature of Man has been actively and passively played out since any given teenager's conception, those well-intentioned people working with such teenagers are going to have to make do with what they have got... including approaches to these youth that are anything but integral and holistic.
Using a related example... I see this situation with people who have allowed their health to massively deteriorate and who have depended on the medical establishment to manager their diseased state. For many such people switching to a holistic and integral approach to their healing seems close to impossible... and thus they may have to initially rely on dumbed-down medical procedures just to survive, or simply die. The road to being fully weaned from a drug/surgery based medical enterprise can be long and hard... most of all challenging. It will require them to reclaim their power.
In the same way, the road to a teenager weaning him/herself off of the social constructs and conditioning that are based on their being dumbed down so they can fit into a mechanised, materialistic, post-industrialised society intent on using them for its own self-centred and money orientated ends... that too is a tough challenge. A challenge for them, and for those loving people inspired enough to be wanting to assist them in that regard. Of course, I have no idea what your particular intention is as you work with youth, though as you are raising this question in a forum dedicated to Human Empowerment, I am hereby assuming you are first and foremost interested in assisting teenagers to be empowered, liberated, self-defining, sovereign, and socially constructive/creative individuals.
The genius that is innate within Man is all but dead by the time most children reach their teenage years. My observation is that this typically establishes an immense frustration in teenagers. As Jonathan C mentioned... often by this age period they are pushing out in order to find their boundaries. This is an act of establishing self-definition. Yet I think many young people innately know or feel or subconsciously suspect that what they are pushing out into is essentially unreal, unauthentic, and non-fulfilling on all levels. They consciously or unconsciously recognise that the world around them is basically a huge self-perpetuating lie.
I think that all-to-often, the result is that the boundaries they establish... the sense of self-definition that they carve out for themselves... does not accurately re-present who they really are, what they really feel, what they are most inspired by and passionate about, and what it is they are here to create. Their self-definition thus also takes on the quality of being a self-perpetuating lie. They feel that, and in doing so they (the more spirited ones, at least) may inititially find ways to rebel. In my observation, such rebelling is typically (and sadly) fruitless, or at least of very little significance because they are already dumbed down to a point where they no longer feel their Divinity. Without feeling That, the social pressure they are up against (which is massive) is generally the winner when it comes to this battle for their power. Thus, one way or another many youth simply pick up on yet another predefined box into which they can at least feel relatively comfortable whilst deep down being strangers in a strange land.
A challenge if ever I have seen one!
Some keywords that come to mind...
* Respect
* Honesty
* Authenticity
* Open expression of true feeling, emotion, and thought
* Clear, clean, and empowering communication
* Trust
* Sharing and modelling Reality based approaches to life
We are first and foremost models for our youth, not teachers, care givers, or anything else. The youth are first and foremost internalising us (and the false or real world we present them with) as models. Thus it is not so much a question of what you tell them... or even how you tell it to them... but more especially a question of who you are whilst telling them, being around them, being with them, working with them, loveing them, and so on.
I highly recommend you check out the inspiring work of Mikhail Petrovich Shchetinin. If nothing else, it may give you an indication of what WAS possible... what these teenagers you are working with were (and to some degree still are) readily capable of. I say "still are", though I realise that this potential is all but completely obscured and not easily accessible within most modern teenagers today. It would require extraordinary circumstances to draw out their extraordinary potential. I see it as our challenge, however, to be present to the possibility of our youth tapping into that potential despite a brief life-time of it being suppressed and obscured. The first step is increasingly tapping into that potential ourselves... living that, being true to that, and thus modelling that for our youth. How extraordinary are WE as adults willing to be, and thus model for our youth?
Here is a link to some excellent info on Mikhail and the school he co-created with many hundreds of children:
http://www.loveforlife.com.au/node/5173
Note: Updated Tuesday 2nd February 2010 6.40pm Sydney Time.
Love For Life does not support harm doing in any shape or form. However, we are supporters of free speech and post articles, documentaries, etc, that represent a wide cross section of ideas. See the Love For Life extensive research library where over 7000 documents, articles and videos are posted: http://loveforlife.com.au/issues. We clearly see the evidence of the destruction to MAN and the earth that has been caused by ALL religions over the centuries and are therefore not supporters of religions, cults, sects or any group that demands conformity of thought, speech or action, or has rules, regulations or rituals that must be followed. Religions, nationalities and cultural "identities" are formed as a result of the brainwashing we receive from childhood. They are part of the tactics the Establishment uses to keep us all divided from one another and fighting one another.
All religions promote discrimination and division, leading to hatred and even violence and murder. None of them have yet to produce a remedy to all the suffering, poverty, unhappiness and discrimination in the world. If any religion truly had the remedy to all the suffering on earth, there would no longer be any suffering. What have Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, atheism and the New Age done to end the suffering in the world?
The Love For Life website has information from all sides on many subjects, whether about Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Law, health, psychology, mind control, vaccination, aspartame, MSG, Chemtrails etc. There are over 6000 articles, documentaries etc on the website and they are so diverse that we are sure that everyone would be able to find something they loved and something they hated, if they took the time to search. If we removed all the articles hated by everyone, there would probably be nothing left! We are not anti anyone but freedom of speech is freedom of speech and no one should condemn the work of another without taking the time to research the subject themselves. Yes, there are articles by those who have a less-than-rosy-viewpoint of Judaism, but there are also articles on the dark side of Tibetan Buddhism (and it is very dark) for those who are interested in the truth: Tibet - Buddhism - Dalai Lama: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/6271 Should the authors of these articles be abused and imprisoned for daring to challenge the widely conceived reputation of Buddhism as being the religion of peace and love and that of the Dalai Lama as a saint, or should those interested be allowed to study the work and come to their own conclusions? The same applies to all the articles, documentaries, etc, about Christianity, Islam, Freemasonry, New World Order, etc.
The Love for Life website also shows how the Rule of Law, the Bar, the Government, the Monarchy, the system of commerce, the local, national and multi/trans-national private corporations, all the courses and careers on offer from our universities, all the educators, scientists, academics and experts, the aristocrats and the Establishment bloodlines have also done NOTHING to end the suffering in the world. The website maps the insanity of a world where there is no help for those in need, just as there was no help available for us when we were victims of terrible bank fraud: http://loveforlife.com.au/court_case (orchestrated, condoned and protected by an international crime syndicate/terrorist organisation of judges, barristers, registrars, lawyers, politicians, banksters, big business representatives, media moguls and other lackeys who, all together, put up a wall of silence despite our trying many, many avenues. After the family home was stolen and business destroyed we were left close to poverty and destitution caring for 4 young daughters. Three years later not much has changed regardless of all our efforts. Where were all the followers of all the religions to help us? Or do we have to be members of those religions to receive help from others involved in them?
We have been accused of being anti - Jewish because we had posted an excerpt from James von Brun's book: Kill the Best Gentiles! http://loveforlife.com.au/node/6054 in which he blames Jews for the problems of the world. Obviously this is not our view because of what we have stated above. We do not hate anyone, whatever religion they follow. We are always open to talk to any religious leader or politician and meet with any judge, member of the Bar, experts, academics, educators etc to share the remedy we offer that heals all the divisions between MAN and MAN, and MAN and the EARTH.
Today, a representative of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies is threatening to close the website down, because they have decided it is anti - Jewish and that we promote racism. What has the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies done to end the suffering in the world? Can they show that they are concerned with the suffering of ALL men, women and children AND ARE SEEN TO BE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT or are they only concerned with Jewish affairs? If so, they, along with all the other religions that only care for their own, are part of the problem, not part of the solution. The man who rang Arthur today was only concerned with Jewish affairs; he was not interested in our intentions or in anybody else, just as most Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Catholics, etc, are only interested in their own. While we separate ourselves into groups, dividing ourselves from others with rules, regulations, rituals, procedures and conditions, we will never solve our problems.
No matter what we in the Western World Civilisation of Commerce have been promised by our politicians, religious leaders, scientists, educators, philosophers, etc, for the past two hundred years, all we have seen is ever-increasing destruction of men, women and children and the earth. None of the so-called experts and leaders we have been taught to rely on are coming up with a solution and none of them are taking full-responsibility for the fact that they can't handle the problem. All religious books talk about end times full of destruction and suffering but why do we have to follow this program when there is an alternative to hatred, mayhem and death? Why are our leaders following the program of destruction and death rather than exploring the alternatives? It seems that any mainstream politician, priest or academic are only interested in supporting the RULES OF THE DIVIDE, that maintain the haves and the have nots. For 200+ years, 99% of the world population have been so trained to pass on their responsibility for themselves, others and the earth, that the 1% of the population that make up the leaders of the rest of us are making all the decisions leading to the destruction of all of us and the earth. Let's not forget the education system that brainwashes the 99% of the population that we are free and have equal rights while, in fact, we are feathering the nests of those at the top.
At the root of all our problems is self-centredness, an unwillingness nurtured by the Establishment that keeps us concerned only with our own needs rather than the needs of others around us and the Earth. Instead of creating and releasing acts of love for those around us as gifts to benefit them and the earth, we take, take and take, until there is nothing left. The whole point of the Love for Life website is to show people the root of all our problems and to share the remedy. The extensive research library is there to attract browsers and to provide access to information not available through mainstream channels. If the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies can, after careful examination of our work, prove that anything we are saying is wrong, we will be happy to accept their proof. If they cannot, and they are still insistent on closing the website down, they will be showing themselves to be traitors to MAN because they are not interested in pursuing any avenue that can end the suffering in the world.
All religions, corporations and organisations that support and maintain the Western World Civilisation of Commerce are part of the problem because our civilisation is a world of haves and have nots, racism, violence, hatred, poverty, sickness, discrimination, abuse, starvation, homelessness, corruption, collusion, vindictiveness, social unrest, arrogance, ignorance, fear, war and chaos. While we support civilisation, we support death and destruction because ALL civilisations that have ever existed are apocalyptic by design.
If we truly want peace on earth and freedom for all, we have to let go of all that which keeps us divided, and come together as MAN, conscious living co-creators of creation. The Love For Life website offers a remedy to the problems we all face in the form of DO NO HARM COMMUNITIES: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/3641 For more details see here: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/6511 and here: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/3385 - We also highly recommend that everyone read the brilliant Russian books called The Ringing Cedars: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/1125 - The Love For Life homepage/front-page also provides lots of inspiring remedy based information: http://loveforlife.com.au - If you want to be kept up to date with our work please register to the Love For Life mailing list here: http://loveforlife.com.au/content/09/05/14/campaign-mailing-list We usually send two postings per month. Presently there are over 4600 registrations reaching over 200,000 readers globally. The website now receives over 7 million strikes per month with January 2010 reaching almost 7.2 million strikes.
Conscious Love Always
Arthur and Fiona Cristian
Love For Life
17th June 2009