Episode 13: Happy Birthday, ‘That’ Oscars Moment & Peer Evangelism

It is officially one year since Youth Updates was launched, so it only seems right to do a throwback and see how trends have moved on. We’re also chatting about ‘that’ moment at the Oscars, our treasured word of the month and the importance of peer evangelism in youth culture.

TRENDS: 1 Year On!

In our first ever Youth Updates, we chatted about three things. We looked at how skinny jeans, side partings and laughing emojis were no longer trendy (which has held up…the shops are full of wide-leg jeans now!). However, we also looked at Instagram’s up-and-coming platform for under 13s and emerging from the pandemic…

We spoke about the expected launch of Instagram Kids for under 13s last year. However, in September employees for Meta (formerly Facebook, which owns Instagram) said that they had paused the creation of this platform due to concerns and backlash they’d had. This was particularly after research was leaked showing that Instagram made girls’ body image worse (amongst other things).

Our final point of discussion was around emerging from the pandemic…which in hindsight feels a little pre-emptive. We were indeed emerging from the final lockdown, but we all know COVID is very much still around. At the time, stats showed that young people were struggling with loneliness and isolation in regards to their mental health and we are still seeing the implications of this now.

Sources: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58707753

HOT TOPICS: ‘That’ Moment At The Oscars

The news of what happened between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars has been widely circulated but in case you were unaware…Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. The joke was about her hair (she has alopecia) and, in response, Will Smith got out of his seat, hit Chris Rock and then returned to his seat and continued to shout and swear at him.

There’s been a lot of discourse online around the incident with people having varying views on who was in the wrong and who was in the right and what was a justified action. It provides a great conversation starter with young people about how to handle conflict and how to respect others.

FAITH & SPIRITUALITY: Peer Evangelism

In previous Youth for Christ research young people stated that family, teachers and friends were their top faith influences and indeed those who know the world of young people best are young people.

When asking if they knew any Christians 63% of young people said yes, and of those, they said 44% spoke about their beliefs and faith in Jesus to them. Furthermore, 51% said that what their friend shared influenced their thoughts on God. This means that statistically each time a young person shares their faith with two friends, one of them is influenced. We know stats don’t work out quite like this in practicality, but it’s certainly an encouragement to Christian young people that their words make a real impact.

Word of the month:

Bestie = Abbreviation of bestie. Not always used for actual best friends.

For example, “Hey Besties!”