What you see is what you get when it comes to kids

I am very grateful for our youth, our younger population who have limitless opportunity available to them.

I am not sure how I would like to approach this topic so I guess I will just begin writing. One disadvantage today’s youth has is the negative slant put on them through the media. As usual the media finds it necessary to focus on, report and exaggerate the negative aspect of our youth. This negative slant makes it difficult for our youth to focus on anything good about themselves when they are continually faced with a barrage of what’s wrong with them, which of course will only lead to more of the same. We become or gravitate toward what we spend most of our time thinking about.

This reminds me of an incident back when my kids were just entering their teenage years. They were actually afraid of becoming teenagers. They thought as soon as they hit the teenage years they would become bad people all because of what they heard through the media. No wonder we have problems with some of our youth. This however has not been my experience with our younger population and I have dealt with quite a few teenagers and young adults. I have found them to be a very positive force. The kids who come through my studio are bright intelligent kids with goals, as are the ones who associate with my kids.

Recently I attended a black belt promotional evening. The majority of recipients were between 13 and 25 years of age. Three of the young adults received the promotion to Renshi. To attain the title of Renshi is no small feat. You must be at least 4th degree black belt, have been teaching for a number of years, and consistently contributed to your art above and beyond what is expected of you. Speaking of what is expected, as with anything we get what we expect or are looking for.

If in general you believe kids are bad or dysfunctional then guess what you will find? Expect the best from kids, treat them with the respect they deserve and they will respond with their best. Our kids are awesome and need to be told often in a way that will encourage them and give them hope for their future for they are the next creators of our universe.

If you know of any youth who is in need of help planning their blueprint for the future have them drop me a line, premierblueprints@gmail.com