Author: Alaina Kleinbeck

The final section of When Kids Hurt is by far the most applicable and useful for all adults. It is more straightforward than the sections of Clark’s previous book, Hurt. It is where most of the value will lie for readers of Hurt looking for more. The section is simple: ten things we can do to helping hurting kids. Those things can be boiled down even further to a simple axiom: Be aware and get involved. Often when a youth worker steps away from professional ministry, they step away from being involved in the lives of young people. Perhaps this is necessary for personal...

The last four chapters in Part Two of Chap Clark and Steve Rabey’s book When Kids Hurt have a central theme: youth are lonely and stressed. I don’t know about you, but when I feel lonely and stressed, I make bad decisions, am a terrible driver, and usually try to compensate for these feelings with chocolate and treadmill abuse (on a rotating basis). Youth have underdeveloped coping skills. Their solution to loneliness is that which is provided for them in the media: sex and attention.Youth are told by the adults in their lives that their value is based in their accomplishments, furthering...

I asked a group of third and fourth graders yesterday if they ever wanted to just go home and hang out with their parents. A third grade boy looked me in the eye and said, “I just want to play with my dad.”A girl piped up, “We are too busy to relax. It stinks.” On Friday, a mom looked me in the eye and said, “I just want to cook dinner and eat it at as family.” These elementary schools students and mom of young adolescents are speaking honest words about the pace of life we keep in middle class America. They don’t like...