Young Men & Young Women teaching primary

[Sunday21]

My stake president has proposed a new program in which to compensate for the shortage of primary teachers we have both Young Men and Young Women teaching primary. I am not in favor. We have long distances for young people to travel in order to meet up. 2.5-4.5 hours to drive for an activity. If the YW and YM need to report on Sunday then Saturday night activities will be difficult. How else will they meet? I am not keen on giving young men this responsibility at an age where their interest in organized religion is quite low. There are about 10 young women to every young man so this primary idea puts the most faithful young women at a disadvantage. Not happy. What do you think?

[Guest]

I think that if your ward is small enough that Primary classes are only taught during one block, it's not a bad idea. The kids can teach during Sunday school, and go to YW/Priesthood for the 3rd hour. In fact, teaching the fundamentals of the Gospel to primary kids might help the youth learn more themselves. 

[Sunday21]

4 minutes ago, Eowyn said:

I think that if your ward is small enough that Primary classes are only taught during one block, it's not a bad idea. The kids can teach during Sunday school, and go to YW/Priesthood for the 3rd hour. In fact, teaching the fundamentals of the Gospel to primary kids might help the youth learn more themselves. 

Ah...I not sufficiently explained myself. In each ward, we have perhaps 18  young people. 13 women and 5 men. The individual male female pairings do not work at all. Many of the men have serious learning disabilities or are refugees from war torn countries. The young women are mainly very attractive and carefully raised. These individuals are unlikely to pair off. In order to make some matches, they need to drive 2.5-4.5 hours to the next major city. These individuals need to travel to find a pairing. I am sure that pairing will occur but it is unlikely that they will marry someone from their homeward. I worry that these new callings will make travel more difficult than it is now. Travel is already difficult because of a lack of funds. 

[mordorbund]

24 minutes ago, Sunday21 said:

Ah...I not sufficiently explained myself. In each ward, we have perhaps 18  young people. 13 women and 5 men. The individual male female pairings do not work at all. Many of the men have serious learning disabilities or are refugees from war torn countries. The young women are mainly very attractive and carefully raised. These individuals are unlikely to pair off. In order to make some matches, they need to drive 2.5-4.5 hours to the next major city. These individuals need to travel to find a pairing. I am sure that pairing will occur but it is unlikely that they will marry someone from their homeward. I worry that these new callings will make travel more difficult than it is now. Travel is already difficult because of a lack of funds. 

Why do they have to travel? Is it just to teach the class? I don't see that as an issue because the expectation is that they'll already be there, Saturday activity or no.

Is it to coordinate and prepare the lesson ahead of time? They can overcome this by rotating who actually teaches and who plays "enforcer".

I hope the pairing is boy-boy or girl-girl. But that might just be me.

[Sunday21]

3 minutes ago, mordorbund said:

Why do they have to travel? Is it just to teach the class? I don't see that as an issue because the expectation is that they'll already be there, Saturday activity or no.

Is it to coordinate and prepare the lesson ahead of time? They can overcome this by rotating who actually teaches and who plays "enforcer".

I hope the pairing is boy-boy or girl-girl. But that might just be me.

The young women and young men do not need to travel to teach. They need to travel in order to meet potential spouses. The activities at which they meet for social events require a car ride of between 2.4 to 4.5 hours. Canada is a series of very spread out towns and cities. Why am I grumpy about this? Because this is what happened to me. The next town was 2.5-3 hours away, which was were we held dances. I was given an assignment of teaching primary so I could not attend as I had to be back for church. Driving through the night is dangerous so those who attended the dance slept over on someone's floor, attended church the next day in the new town and drove back on the Sunday, ready for school or work on Monday.

[zil]

Maybe you should suggest to the SP that they consolidate wards/branches and/or primary classes within wards/branches.  This would reduce the number of teachers required.  E.g. my brother teaches youth Sunday School for all of them - 12 through 18 - all in one class.

[Sunday21]

6 minutes ago, zil said:

Maybe you should suggest to the SP that they consolidate wards/branches and/or primary classes within wards/branches.  This would reduce the number of teachers required.  E.g. my brother teaches youth Sunday School for all of them - 12 through 18 - all in one class.

This is a brilliant suggestion! Are the results good? Do the primary children seem happy?

[zil]

12 to 18 year-olds aren't primary children.  I have no idea whether the results are good.  He hasn't been arrested for murder, so it can't be that bad.

But you do realize, do you not, that bishops and stake presidents have keys and the right to revelation on this kind of thing, and at the end of the day, hopefully, they'll do what the Lord tells them to do, regardless of how far the youth have to travel to find dates.

And if we're talking 12-18 year-olds, when I was that age, we had a "Super Saturday" once a month where the youth in about the same driving-distance all traveled to the stake center for various activities, ending in a dance.  Why they would need to do this every weekend escapes me.

Edited August 29, 2016 by zil

[Just_A_Guy]

1 hour ago, zil said:

And if we're talking 12-18 year-olds, when I was that age, we had a "Super Saturday" once a month where the youth in about the same driving-distance all traveled to the stake center for various activities, ending in a dance.  Why they would need to do this every weekend escapes me.

I concur.  The point of the YM/YW program is not to introduce hormonal LDS teenagers to their future spouses (that's what Institute and singles' wards are for!).  The purpose of the YM/YW programs are to prepare these teenagers to step up and bear off the work of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom in the OP's neck of the woods needs workers, and here are these teenagers apparently ready and willing to work.  The SP's solution strikes me as a match made in heaven.

[Sunday21]

2 hours ago, zil said:

12 to 18 year-olds aren't primary children.  I have no idea whether the results are good.  He hasn't been arrested for murder, so it can't be that bad.

But you do realize, do you not, that bishops and stake presidents have keys and the right to revelation on this kind of thing, and at the end of the day, hopefully, they'll do what the Lord tells them to do, regardless of how far the youth have to travel to find dates.

And if we're talking 12-18 year-olds, when I was that age, we had a "Super Saturday" once a month where the youth in about the same driving-distance all traveled to the stake center for various activities, ending in a dance.  Why they would need to do this every weekend escapes me.

i want them to be able to attend these monthly get togethers. At the distances they have to travel, they will need to stay overnight. I used to be treated quite badly if I ever missed a Sunday class. I do not want this to happen to this group.

[Sunday21]

1 hour ago, Just_A_Guy said:

I concur.  The point of the YM/YW program is not to introduce hormonal LDS teenagers to their future spouses (that's what Institute and singles' wards are for!).  The purpose of the YM/YW programs are to prepare these teenagers to step up and bear off the work of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom in the OP's neck of the woods needs workers, and here are these teenagers apparently ready and willing to work.  The SP's solution strikes me as a match made in heaven.

No singles ward here. Nearest is 4.5 hours away. No institute either.

[Jane_Doe]

3 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

This is a brilliant suggestion! Are the results good? Do the primary children seem happy?

I had combined classes in primary in a ward growing up, didn't bother me at all.  My friend's ward combined primary/youth with another ward and that is MUCH better than them doing things separately with so few people.

Edited August 29, 2016 by Jane_Doe

[Just_A_Guy]

37 minutes ago, Sunday21 said:

No singles ward here. Nearest is 4.5 hours away. No institute either.

I don't follow.  Your OP talked about the YM/YW, who have no business going to either a singles ward or institute. 

[Sunday21]

1 hour ago, Just_A_Guy said:

I don't follow.  Your OP talked about the YM/YW, who have no business going to either a singles ward or institute. 

What? No singles ward here. No institute. Not enough people. 

Edited August 30, 2016 by Sunday21

[zil]

26 minutes ago, Sunday21 said:

What? No singles ward here. No institute. Not enough people. 

If we're talking about 12-18 year-olds, whether there's a singles ward or institute is irrelevant.  And it has been asserted they don't really need to be out every weekend looking for potential spouses.

If we're talking about 18+, then we're not talking about YM/YW or "youth", we're talking about "Young Adults" and it's a different story - they're considered adults just like the rest of us when it comes to receiving callings.

I think the point is, JAG's trying to figure out the context of this thread.

I would join him except I think our opinions are irrelevant - those with the keys need to seek the Lord's will in this matter, then do it.

Edited August 30, 2016 by zil

[Blackmarch]

9 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

My stake president has proposed a new program in which to compensate for the shortage of primary teachers we have both Young Men and Young Women teaching primary. I am not in favor. We have long distances for young people to travel in order to meet up. 2.5-4.5 hours to drive for an activity. If the YW and YM need to report on Sunday then Saturday night activities will be difficult. How else will they meet? I am not keen on giving young men this responsibility at an age where their interest in organized religion is quite low. There are about 10 young women to every young man so this primary idea puts the most faithful young women at a disadvantage. Not happy. What do you think?

Sometimes things in God's church seems crazy. this sentiment is somewhat similar to views i've heard expressed on when boys first recieve the priesthood (usually a concern i've heard from outside the church). Don't know, but it is the stake president, and i'd be surprised if those just above him don't know about it.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Blackmarch

[Sunday21]

6 hours ago, Blackmarch said:

Sometimes things in God's church seems crazy. this sentiment is somewhat similar to views i've heard expressed on when boys first recieve the priesthood (usually a concern i've heard from outside the church). Don't know, but it is the stake president, and i'd be surprised if those just above him don't know about it.

I did come across a church article about youth teaching primary so perhaps this is a church wide trend. With respect to ages we are talking above and over 18. We previously drafted 18-20s but we are now thinking of doing this more often. We are planning dramatically pushing for under 18s. But yeah, I worry about this approach. With such a sparse population being LDS is very tough here most especially for young people. Young people need friends to share their beliefs. I think the program will make it more difficult to travel and meet those LDS friends and crushes. We live in an area where most lds are inactive. The ratio is 1:5. If you forget about free agency, you would say that the chances of your teen staying active are 20 percent.so yes I worry about them. 

[Sunday21]

Thank you for commenting. I got the advice I needed thanks. I am ceasing to comment on this thread.