Tough Issues High School Curriculum: Bullying

Last Wednesday, we ended our Tough Issues curriculum with a focus on bullying.  In some ways this was an easy topic to tackle because we all know that bullying is wrong, but in some ways it was difficult because... we all know that bullying is wrong.  Schools and independent non-profits have been raising bullying awareness for years now, and rightly so.  So many students have be hurt and have even lost their lives as a result of bullying.  There are many ideas to help stop and prevent bullying.  But, many of these ideas skip a very important step - they do not take much time to focus on the why of bullying.  Why do bullies bully, and why should we not involve ourselves as the bully or even the bystander?  

In Northbound on Wednesday night, our leadership team helped shine a light on the bullying that we all have taken part in in big and small ways.  We were reminded of the hurt caused by sub-tweeting (a 140 character or less message written on the social networking site Twitter visible to all who follow (or subscribe to) the author's account that is clearly in reference to someone without directly identifying the person(s)).  Attention was called to the hurtful nature of gossiping, belittling another's abilities within particular interest groups (art, drama, band, sports, etc), and ostracizing persons from peer groups or social activities.  There are so many ways that we are bullied and take part in bullying.  

When we begin to see the world as God sees it and understand that each person is a child of God created in His image, we are able to understand fully the harm of bullying.  No matter the reason for bullying, none is so great that it excuses the intentional harm caused to one of God's children.  

As you talk with your student about bullying, think about the ways that you might perpetrate "micro-aggressions" on others.  What example are you giving your children?  Do you typically talk about and treat others (no matter how frustrating they are or how right you feel) as children of God who bear His divine image?

Bullying stops when we each individually decide to stop bullying others.  

Tough Issues High School Curriculum: Body Image

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

We are bombarded in our culture with the message of health and fitness. It is a $27 billion industry and consistently growing. Yet, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports one in every three American adults is obese and two of three are overweight.

Where is the disconnect?

Being healthy by eating properly and exercising regularly is important. When we are not healthy, we cannot live up to the full potential of God’s purpose for our lives. However, many of us have a skewed view of health and beauty. Both guys and girls have a poor understanding of body image. 

The media plays a large role and it is an easy target to place much of the blame. It pushes the image of washboard abs, broad shoulders, defined chest and sculpted arms as the perfect guy. Media tries to sell us there is a perfect look for the girls with certain hair, lean bodies with perfect thighs, backside and chest. It uses tricks like plastic surgery, light tricks and Photoshop to remind us how perfect models and celebrities. No doubt media deserves a lot of the blame but there is plenty of blame to go around.

Each of us have bought into the “lie” and added our personal vanity into the problem of self-image. We want to look better than others and we’ve somehow made it into a competition. We think, “If I work out just a little more, I will be thinner than her and so-and-so will notice me.” “If I bulk up a little more, she will see that I am better looking than so-and-so.”

So why do we do this to ourselves? We somehow believe we do not measure up…measure up to God and with others. Yet, when he created Adam and Eve, God noticed that his creation was VERY GOOD. God created us with a certain body type. Within this body type, we should moderate food and exercise to stay healthy. We should constantly remind ourselves God loves us without any conditions. When we do this, we live into who God created us to be a little more at a time. This is a life-long journey.

This past Wednesday night, we talked through this message with our high school students, and we heard from one of our young adults and former students, Jessica Phillips.  Jessica shared her journey with our students of really discovering her identity on the other side of struggling with our culture's version of reality.  

Body image does not always drive us to unhealthy diets or obsessive workouts, sometimes it means that we have low self-esteem and poor relationships or that we compensate by being the life of wild parties.  The way we see ourselves directly affects the way we live our lives.  A healthy and whole body image is one that begins with the understanding that each individual is a very good creation created bearing the Image of God, and how we treat God's creation (ourselves) matters.