What Do I Say When…?
Worth Your Time!
Resource Recommendations to Help You Parent and Mentor Most Effectively
This Week's Recommendation:
"What Do I say When...?
A Parent's Guide to Navigating Cultural Chaos for Children and Teens"
Book by Andrew and Christian Walker
Buy It Here.
“If you aren’t discipling your children, we can be sure that secular classrooms, peer groups, and social media will.”
Why It Matters
In the introduction, co-author Andrew Walker says that one of the most frequently asked questions he gets when he speaks around the country is, “How do Christian parents equip their children to face the cultural challenges in front of them?” This book attempts to answer that question in an “accessible, trustworthy, and age-appropriate” way.
The book covers the hot-button topics of human dignity, abortion, sexuality, gender, homosexuality, identity, transgenderism, technology, political engagement, and hostility and persecution.
How to Use it
Each chapter includes 4 sections: an introduction to the topic, an explanation of what the Bible says about each topic, a relevant memory verse, and truths about that topic to share at 3 different age levels (approximately ages 4-8, 8-12, and 12-16).
Each age level includes “conversation starters” - a series of questions to spur conversation with a child or teen. If you’ve read Worth Your Time for a while, you know that I’m a huge fan of questions that cause teens to think and that draw them out in conversation (which is typically far more effective with teens than lectures). The conversation starters are a highlight of this book!
The authors want this to be “both a defensive and offensive resource.”
You can either use it systematically as a teaching tool, or you can turn to a specific chapter when a topic comes up that you’re not sure how to biblically respond to.
The authors forthrightly acknowledge that there is not nearly enough space to cover everything the Bible says about each topic. If you want to go deeper on any topic, there is a list of “recommended resources” at the end of each chapter.
While the target audience is parents, this book could be useful for any adult who engages with youth.
Note: This book definitely comes from the historical Christian point of view, which some Worth Your Time readers may disagree with partially or completely. Nevertheless, this book may still be useful, especially the conversation starters. Regardless of what someone believes, these are important, culturally relevant topics worthy of thought and discussion with young people, and it can help you have those conversations. ct that to happen here at an even faster pace.
Buy It Here