System Messages - A Message from Fr. Fred Scinto, Spiritual Animator
The generation of young people in our school system today is a very interesting and challenging generation, unlike any other previous one. Researchers call them the millennial generation or Y generation or mosaics. For our purposes, think of them as those born after 1981.
Research indicates that they strive for self-reliance and independence, understanding that success is up to them. Being driven to achieve, they value education so that they can be self-competent. They think and learn in interactive ways and through exploration and personal research, especially on the Internet. Relationships are essential for them, more so than for past generations; generally they do not look to famous role models as past generations did and hence their heavy emphasis on relationships. In all this they do value family.
Millennials gobble up digital media, becoming in the process more scattered and less personally unified than previous generations with the consequence they tend to be less reflective. Much more than their predecessors, they value diversity and tolerate all kinds of beliefs, displaying often a bias against institutions (including the Church). Millennials are spiritually hungry but not necessarily for religion. Furthermore, our culture has made them consumerist; they are doing much more part-time work for wages than any previous generation and advertisers know this! Finally, unlike some past generations, millennials tend to be hopeful rather than cynical; this is often expressed in their being service-oriented.
Our young people face a number of challenges and life-tasks at this time in their development. They need to develop their personal identity at the same time as they need to develop and re-define relationships. They are also faced with developing a serious meaning in terms of work or profession or future occupation. And, very importantly, they are faced with the need of developing a spiritual and religious life; every previous generation questioned their faith as they did this but today’s young people also are faced with new challenges never seen before, as we saw above.
It is the great privilege, honour and responsibility of our school system to lead our young people to Christian discipleship as we educate them for tomorrow’s world. We know we cannot do this by ourselves as a system – we know the truth of the African proverb that states it takes a whole village to raise and educate a child. So we appeal to parents, all members of our Catholic Faith Community, and all members of our society to join us in our mission; whether you have children or not in education now, please help us to do this beautiful work of the Risen Christ. At the least, please pray that we will succeed as Catholic/Christian educators. God bless you all!
Father
Fred Scinto, C.R.
Spiritual Animator,
Waterloo Catholic District School Board
fscinto@rogers.com
