Comments on: Seminary and Youth

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:30:44 +0000

Early morning seminary in our part of the country can be more than a reasonable sacrifice. The weather is frigid, the roads slippery, and the distances significant. I was a home study seminary student myself in this same area and loved it! I learned the scriptures much better than the majority of students today. The social aspect of early morning seminary is overrated in an area like ours. There is a lot of conflict, and too many students sleeping. I fail to see how this helps our children move ahead.

By: Betty la Seawright

Betty la Seawright — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:05:25 +0000

I attended early morning seminary in a small New York branch (our class had up to 8 students depending on activity) and graduated, but I can guarantee that I would not have made my 80% attendance if my parents did not make me. I had little to no interest in seminary and if I had been enrolled in home study wouldn’t have done it at all. That said, I think my seminary experience was a rewarding one that really does help a lot of youth not feel so alone in areas with fewer LDS (myself included).

Regarding scouting, I thought the church was starting to distance itself from the program but judging from the number of scouting related announcements in my ward it doesn’t seem to be the case. My husband and I have been talking about how we feel about it and ideally would choose not to include our future sons in scouting- but it is so closely tied with any kind of social activity. What to do what to do…

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:30:36 +0000

I am from England, and graduated from Seminary in the Summer last gone. I tried home study for 2 weeks, and i just didn’t have the time to do it. On the other hand, doing early moring seminary is the only way most of us have the time to do seminary, as we don’t have it at school. It is also better to do seminary with other people, and not by yourself. I found I got a lot more out of it that way. Seminary is valuable in England – for many it is the only time to study the scriptures during a busy day.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:53:06 +0000

Home study about the worst way to study the scriptures. For those of us who decided to not take seminary the first half of our 10th grade year (namely me), home study is not the best way to learn the gospel. Seminary is not my favorite part of my day always, but sometimes it is nice to gain a religious education, even if it be by some of the… “greatest” people the church has to offer. This is not to demean seminary teachers at all. I admire them greatly but I can’t stand some of them.

By: jab

jab — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:27:44 +0000

Norbert,
65 kids in primary is small as compared to the other 2 wards in our town. We have the smallest number of youth (maybe 5 boys and 5 girls), but in order to increase those numbers, we’d have to have a larger primary. We’ve tried combining with other wards, but then it places a large burden on families having to drive back and forth btwn the two buildings in our town depending on whether they have a child in scouts, Activity Days, and YM/YW. Not all of those were combined and they were at different times so we ultimately decided that it was better for the families to hold everything on our own. There’s also something to be said for individual attention from the leaders and no cliques b/c there’s not enough youth to have a clique. :)

I grew up in a small branch; they do exist in the US! – at one point we had 5 youth total (a brother and sister, myself, and my brother and sister). Our branch encompassed 5 high schools in 4 counties. We couldn’t do early morning logistically. I think they tried a few years after I graduated, but again, it was a social thing; with so few kids there it wasn’t really fun and everybody hated it. On the other hand, growing up in a small branch can give a youth more experience than in a large ward. I was branch organist and a primary teacher before I graduated.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:08:56 +0000

Growing up, we tended to do a mix of early morning and home study seminar. During sports seasons, we’d do home study, and we would go to early morning during the other weeks of the year. I liked early morning seminary, but the problem of student exhaustion is very real.

What bothers me somewhat is the expectation that you finish seminary in order to attend BYU. At one point, there was some thought in our ward of assigning grades for early morning seminary. Thankfully, it didn’t happen.

By: bbell

bbell — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:01:55 +0000

I think the LDS program works pretty well. Outside researchers tend to agree.

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/10570/mormon-teens-cope-best

By: JA Benson

JA Benson — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:00:07 +0000

#43 John We have observed the same. If a kid is doing scouting he does DTG. Those who do not do scouting don’t usually do DTG either.

By: John

John — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:30:05 +0000

Having lived in the same small community for most of my life (‘cepting mission and education) I whole heartedly agree that family has the most influence on continued activity in the church. Generally, the same families that were active when I was young are the same ones that are active now.

Released time seminary didn’t have much an effect either way for the most part. The same kids I saw in seminary, I saw in class, I saw at MIA, I saw on my own street, etc. Like I said, small town.

Plug for Scouting:

If the Church (in the US) has decided that the Boy Scout program is the activity arm of the Aaronic Priesthood, then that is what it is. It’s an imperfect program, doesn’t cover all the bases, and is hell to run in two or three short years (I don’t really call Varsity and Venture programs scounting programs in the church, the way they are currently run.) It provides a sense of “quorom” when many deacon quoroms don’t. It gives kids a chance to achieve goals, etc. It gets kids outdoors (away from the computer, video games, etc) at least once a month. It creates common and shared experiences that will last a lifetime. Granted, some are sour on scouting because of those experiences.

But what about Duty to God program? I was stake YM president during the implementation of the new Duty to God requirements. A HUGE improvement over the old requirements. A chance for every boy to strive toward worthy goals. What happened? The wards that had good scouting programs had good Duty to God programs. The boys that are doing good in scouting, do good in Duty to God. The parents that support scouting, support the family activities required for Duty to God. Kids that don’t have encouragement in scouting, generally don’t in Duty to God.

Just my observation.

By: John Mansfield

John Mansfield — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:25:12 +0000

A little anecdote: Last year, because of some scheduling quirk the details of which I don’t quite remember, my wife assigned her early morning seminary class an in-home assignment one day. That day, instead of coming to class, the students were to 1) study the scriptures for a half hour at home before school, and 2) call Sister Mansfield that day to report their study. Zero out of nine students reported in, and that was the last time that sort of thing was attempted.