How to Take Teens on a Christian Outing
As a Christian parent of teenagers, you have an important responsibility in helping your teens grow in their faith and experience healthy Christian fellowship that strengthens their witness. By taking your teens and their friends on Christian outings, you give them the opportunity to socialize with other Christian teens and help them figure out how faith fits into their daily lives. Keep in mind that in addition to working out the logistical details of the outing, you'll need to provide adequate supervision to ensure that your group of teens does not have the opportunity to violate the morals and ethics of their faith on your watch.
Instructions
Select a location or event that is consistent with the values of the Christian faith. Whether you and your teens go to a museum, amusement park or concert or organize a service project, you want to ensure that all aspects of the experience support the teens' growing faiths and closeness to God. Set an example of how to choose good, clean fun that encourages a Christian lifestyle rather than entertainment that contradicts Christian morals and standards. Recruit other parent helpers if you are taking a large group of teens on the outing. Or, give some of the planning responsibility to the teens themselves to help them develop leadership. Tasks to delegate can include researching the location, the hours of operation and the cost, as well as communicating this information to everyone involved in the outing. You might also have the teens create, distribute and collect permission slips and medical information. If your outing includes meals, decide whether the teens are bringing food. If you plan to buy food, clearly communicate whether you are paying or if the teens should bring spending cash. Distribute a list of activity-specific things to bring such as drinks, hats, sunblock, swimsuits, coats, blankets, gloves, outdoor equipment, umbrellas, raincoats, sunblock and bug repellent. Conduct a pre-trip orientation with all the teens and parents to talk about the rules such as modest dress, the buddy system and letting the adults know where they are at all times, check-in times or signals during the event and separate accommodations for boys and girls for overnight outings. Cover any event-specific concerns as well, such as the event schedule. Ensure that you have at least two adults for every 10 teens for proper supervision, suggests the Orthodox Church in America website. Explain to the adults that for safety reasons, they should never be alone with a teen who is not their own child. Arrange transportation and notify participants of any related cost, such as contributing toward gas or paying for public transportation. If volunteer parents are driving to an event, do not assign more passengers to a vehicle than there are seatbelts. Collect insurance and driver's license information from each driver. Provide drivers with directions to the site and have the drivers exchange cell numbers in case someone gets lost or breaks down. Give each driver the medical information for the teens who are riding in his vehicle. Create a check-in sheet for all participants with emergency contact information -- and ensure that everyone who is going on the outing sign the sheet on the day of the outing. Designate a central gathering place for your group when everyone arrives at the destination. You might want to arrange times to reassemble at the gathering place at various points during the outing for head counts, meals, announcements and departure. All adults should have cell phones for easy communication. The visible presence of authority figures ups the odds for safety and conformity to the Christian moral code in all behavior. Take another roll call and head count before you leave the site or event. When you return home, remain with the teens until all are picked up or dropped off with parents or approved caregivers.