We are beginning our new series Click. This Wednesday we will start with the thoughts of being accepted. Schools have groups in them known as cliques that are made up of a certain type of individaul. Cliques have a remarkable power to make you feel like you have the world on a string or feel like you belong on Mars because you dont fit in anywhere on earth. They can lead to extreme happiness or intense depression. Since we're starting on accepted we'll be discussing the positive impact of acceptance and the dangers of having to be accepted to feel like you belong. I'm not sure why we decided to call the series click instead of clique, but what they hay.
Be For Each Other
1. Think of a moment when you were accepted by someone or something that meant the world to you.
2. Why did it have such a significant impact? Focus on the feeling it gave you.
Follow Jesus
1. Think of all the friends and intresting people He met. Was there anyone he didn't accept?
2. Why is this?
Look Beyond Ourselves
1. Remember back to that amazing feeling of acceptance back in the first question? How can you give another person that amazing acceptance.
2. Remember we are no better or cooler than anyone else. In what way's can you remember this when faced with an opportunity to accept or reject?
Reflections
1. Since John's talk last week have you come upon a tough experiece that cause you grow and mature?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
17 comments:
I really like this discussion and I think it will help with some of the cliques we have in our group right now. Also at their age cliques are such a big deal and a big thing and I know that some of the girls are maybe haveing some issues that that might talk about some in this lesson!
~Cauble
I think this discussion really shows what a lot of middle schoolers in sixth and seventh grade go through. I remember getting to the middle school and seeing how everyone eventually split up into their own groups. Not saying it's at all as bad as you see on TV or in movies, but I think that there definitely different cliques that start in middle school. Hopefully this talk will help the kids open up and maybe be more conscious of how they treat people outside of their immediate group of friends, and be able to befriend others as well. I feel really lucky because my small group seems to be a really close group of girls, and there aren't any cliques within the group. But for groups where there are, hopefully this talk will bring the girls/guys closer together. Hope everyone is having a good weekend! See you all on Wednesday!
-Holly M.
Cliques are such a big part of 6th and 7th grade. It is so funny, because I remember 7th grade as being my worst year, ever, because of cliques. I felt so left out. It was always about who was the funniest, who had the cutest clothes...ect. Such a hard year for me. But, it was one of those things that humbled me. The Lord worked through me in my pain. I was lost, and trying to be someone for people who did not care...so really it helped me find myself. I went into my eighth grade year so much happier with myself. I found a group that was trustworthy, and who loved me for who I was. It's chasing after those people who are clique and judge you that really can break someone apart. Nowadays, I try NOT to strive for anyone who I am not comfortable enough to be myself with. If they don't love me for me, I usually won't become very good friends with them, just merely aquaintances. Because life isn't worth wasting your time on chasing after people who don't appreciate you for what you are.
-Kristin Groth
I like the questions. They all seem very answerable for seventh graders. I kind of remember the cliques in 7th grade. Luckily, they faded away a bit as everybody got older. I'm going to tell my kids that cliques might seem like a big deal to them now, but later on they matter a lot less.
I think this topic will really hit the spot this week. Everyone in 6th grade is new to middle school so people will want to fit in. By having the church and its leaders tell the 6th graders about cliques it well help them make the right decisions about the cliques. It will help them to feel differently about cliques. Like your an outsider looking in on reality and seeing what a clique really is and it will show them how to be inclusive and why its important. This will be a good week for us to open up.
-Tommy Tyson
This is a very good subject. It is important students realize the negative aspects of cliques. 7th grade through the rest of middle school is where cliques are the biggest. They later fizz out nearing highschool, but cliques can leave kids devastated and its a good idea that we talk about them and learn the best ways to deal with them, and mainly, what the bible says about such things.
-Graves
I think this discussion will bring out more personal stories than any other topic so far. I would bet that everyone in my group has a story that will show more of their personalities to Jesse and I. Like Alistair said cliques mattered alot more to me in middle school than they do now in high school. Not only are people left out of cliques but people who get into them change alot and lose track of who they are.
I love this lesson because almost everyone can relate to it. As kids are getting into middle school, they are finding more cliques. Like the lesson said, cliques can be good, but unfortunately when cliques form, many other people are excluded. Hopefully this lesson will help the kids realize that they should try to include those who don't have many friends.
-Alisa
I think that this is a great unit,yet I can see how it will be hard for groups to sometimes reach outside of their comfort level. I really like what KRISTIN G. said. And TOMMY had a good point too. I will try to tell my girls about SENIORITIS, which is when people start to break out of cliques and become friends with others they normally wouldnt hang with. Hope fully try to prevent cliques that will just be broken later. This will be a hard lesson to take outside of group and put into action. I think also the word POPULAR needs to be redifined.
I feel like this will be a great discussion and get everyone's minds turning. It will be good because the most cliques are usually in middle school and all of the leaders should be able to relate to them really well because we have all gone through times with cliques in one way or another. I can't wait! See you all tomorrow!
im thinking that im going to really enjoy this series. especially with my group of girls who are so socially diverse... I think that this will really break down social barriers between my girls in my small group which would be awesome. Because if they can learn to love and accept everyone in their small group no matter what their status is, it will only bring them closer to God. wow im excited! I also know that this will probablly be pretty awkward for some groups who have people who are ignorant to the whole popularity scheme, so i encourage leaders to remind their students that in the small group, we are open and honest with one another.
crap that was by Erin Kelly... sorry
I feel this is a great topic for the kids. In 6th and 7th grade especially people are beginning to figure out where they feel they belong and a lot of cliques are formed. I think the main reason for cliques is kids are often very hard on eachother and judgmental at this age so the formation of cliques helps them find security. Yet this usually just further provokes the problem. I think this should be a great topic and cant wait to see how the kids respond to it.
I think that the "Click" series will be one of the most influential series this year. I remember that I struggled with cliques most during my 6th and 7th grade years, and church was one think that really helped me work through it. I even can see some cliques forming within my small group, so I really hope that this series will make a difference- I think it will. I think the kids will find this lesson really powerful, and I'm excited to lead it. Acceptance is something that is really important to kids during their middle school and high school years, so I think it's good to start talking about it asap. I really hope I can help teach my girls to strive to be true to themselves and their values, and not worrying so much about how others see them. See you tomorrow!
-amanda maenner
this week's topic is going to be really good i think because the girls in my group have talked previously about struggles they've had with they themselves accepting others. i think it will be good to get them to examine themselves and times that they have felt left out or even accepted by someone they didn't expect. it's been exciting to see my group try and really make a change to go outside of their group of friends recently and it will be nice to talk about that tonight and check up on how that is going. also, i'm kind of curious to see how the girls will talk about it honestly becuase i know that my group is split into two seperate groups a little bit. hopefully tonight will be a good way to continue to break down that barrier! can't wait to see all you people tonight!
Three thoughts:
~ As the father of three daughters, I have seen how destructive cliques can be for MS girls. Not only do they keep others out, they can be used as a "comfortable" base to launch attacks at outsiders. Seems to be much more impactful on girls than on boys.
~ Elevate draws beyond just Edina schools, so lets use this topic to make sure school cliques aren't forming inside our own Elevate groups. A 6th grader from EP or Bloomington schools can feel very intimidated when faced with an all Edina group. (Same could be said for Valley View / South View / Private school groups.)
~ Are there really no more cliques in high school??!! How nice is that?! Wasn't that way when I was there (I know, a long time ago.) As leaders, let's make sure we don't have blinders on to the cliques around us that just seem "normal". Live the Talk!!
First off, I really like the questions this week. Also I think this topic is really applicable to most middle school girls. I know everyone around this age has had atleast one rough time not just with cliques but with being accepted by other kids & dealing with the pressures of social situations. This is going to be an interesting discussion tonight!
Post a Comment