Shaping youth...

Yesterday, I was out on a family friends patio sitting with my parents, and some family friends, while they were taking a walk down memory lane. The radio was on, and it was one of those mainstream hip-hop stations. While we were sitting on the patio, there were two girls upstairs, resting, and listening to music after the fun day they had. The girls were 11, and 13 years old. A song came on the radio…And many of you probably already heard this song by Eminem and Rihanna, it’s called  “Love the way you lie.” Although the cuss words were bleeped out, I still couldn’t help myself in going upstairs and turning down the music, and explaining to the two girls that the lyrics in the song didn’t describe a healthy relationship. This was almost like a reflex for me, and that quiet honestly surprised me. I tried to find the right words to tell them why I was talking to them about this song, and why it was important to me. I think I did the best I could in that moment. I explained to them that the song described an unhealthy relationship, and that when they grow up they don’t need to have relationships like that. I explained to them that even though we sometimes look up to celebrities, which I know teens in that age group do, we don’t have to idealize them, because they are imperfect human beings. After that, I went downstairs. A couple of minutes later, the two girls wanted to go to the park, so I went with them. They were playing with a frisbee, and I was sitting down relaxing for a while. Then, the girls started talking to me about some of the problems that they were facing in their lives, and what was important to them. We talked about boys, being betrayed by friends, confidence, problems that they face in their schools, and staying away from the temptations of deviant behavior. While I was talking to them, I realized a lot about myself too. The reason why I wanted to help them, and talk to them was because at their age I felt completely lost. Although I had family members, at that age I wanted to do anything but to talk to family about the kinds of problems I was having.  I thought to myself, if I had a mentor at that age, someone outside my family, someone I looked up to, and someone who could listen to me, I probably wouldn’t have felt completely lost. Recently, I changed my major from Public Relations to Sociology, but now I know more about what I want to do. With talking to these two girls, I had a moment of clarity, where I realized that I want to work with girls in this age group. I want to empower girls and let them stay innocent for as long as they can, while we live in a society that pushes them to grow up too fast. I want them to know that their problems are important, and give them a listening ear when needed, and help them boost their confidence in any way I can. I feel that this is something that I need to do, not just a career path, but almost something that I'd not feel alive without doing. That night when I was going to bed, I felt more satisfied then ever. Eventhough it was not a big deal in the greater scheme of things, it was important to me, and I just wanted to share it with all of you.