When you think of how much talent and creativity young people have, isn't it a shame that the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society has done absolutely nothing for the development of young people?
They can print a'Young People Ask' article on the use of cellphones, they can produce a video on how to make friends, and they can release a glossy tract about what will youths do with their life, yet they do nothing to promote 'youth' in the organisation.
Generation after generation of young people are subjected to 5 boring meetings a week, an endless supply of doors to knock on and an endless amount of literature to read, study and mediatate on.
I'm not sugessting for one moment that all JW youths/young adults are miserable and bored in the organization. Some seem to have gone through life with ready made friends in their congregation, no bullying at school, steady jobs and some sort of 'career' in the organization, whether it be pioneering or Bethel service.
But there is a saying that ignorance is bliss and this is true of the religion a lot of us were raised in.
How may churches do you know have services for young people? How many churches organise days out for youths?
Ask yourselves these questions...
Does the society ever encourage education to get a career?
Does the society encourage education for pleasure or personal interest?
Does the society have 'youth awareness days' or organise any activity for young people?
Does the society promote creativity and talents of young people?
Does the society encourage charitable works for those in need, such as helping the homeless, feeding the poor?
Has the society organised children's days, as some corporations do?
All the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society can do is keep beating young people with the Do-More Stick. Do more, go out on Saturday, and Sunday, keep up with your daily Bible reading, go out after school, don't go to college, don't mix with non-JW's, do reach out for full time service.
Is it any wonder that many of the JW youth rebel against the system?
Unable to reach any kind of potential, many JW youth are bored silly by meetings, by people that are afraid to be themselves, or are afraid of 'stumbling' each other.
How can a young person ever really develop and grow in an organization that stifles creativity, competition, talent and potential?
Congregations today, rarely sponsor any kind of youth activity. In our congregation, we used to have picnics and talent shows. This has been replaced by 'we can't announce any congregation gathering because people might sue us if there is an accident'. Lame indeed, they rarely did anything in the first place.
If you go to a Kingdom Hall, does your congregation ever organise ANYTHING for young people?
When was the last time you went to a congregation sponsored 'gathering'?
The result of this permeating negativity against anything other than field service has resulted in a loss of closeness between congregation members. In my old congregation, young people frequently went off by themselves or in their own cliques. Never being encouraged to mix together, you either found your own friends or became a loner.
Such is the JW youth of today.