Pressure for Success
Gen Z students are stressed about many things but success in school, sports, music, theatre, and all the other things seems to top the charts. Identity becomes intertwined with these stressors. Failure in one means “failure at life”. Where can students find hope? Where can they be grounded to see the truth of their identity? (hint: a relationship with a loving Father)
Check out this parent guide from Axis.org and see what your students have to say about failure.
An excerpt: “In his homily, The Life of the Beloved, Dutch priest and theologian Henri Nouwen said we tend to believe three primary lies about our identity:
1. I am what I do.
2. I am what other people say about me.
3. I am what I have.
If these lies are internalized, not only do they completely shape how we view ourselves, they also give an identifying power to things that shouldn’t identify us. The things we do or have and the opinions of others would become the primary ways by which we understand our value”