Elevate
I just attended a preteen conference in Rocklin, CA called "Elevate," put on by Sean Sweet. It was an interesting gathering, another social outcropping of our burgeoning interest in preteens. A presenter named Patrick Snow did a great talk this morning, using a metaphor of a bicycle for preteens. He said that preteens (ages 8-12) are in the between stage, childhood and adolescence; concrete thinking to abstract thinking; faith of parents to personal faith; blanket morality of parents to personal ownership of values. Our job as adults is to help them in this transition. It is akin to the process of a parent assisting a child in learning to ride a bicycle. First you tell the child about how a bike operates. Then you let the child sit on the bike. Then you walk along side the child and hold onto the bike. But then you let go and keep running alongside, in case the child hits a car, tree, or curb. That is the adult's role during early adolescence, letting go but run