We love coming across stories of young people who are making a difference — at home, at school, in their local community, or on the other side of the globe.

This evening we came across a story in the Hernando Times (a publication of the Tampa Tribune) of a 14-year-old rebelutionary named Jordan Baker who — along with his friends — is making a difference in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Baker takes on Washington
By Jeff Schmucker

BROOKSVILLE - Whether it’s debating with members of U.S. Congress, inspiring youth to become involved or establishing call centers for candidates in the 2010 elections, Jordan Baker is ready to make a difference.

His main obstacle at 14 years old — he still needs his mother to drive him.

But Jordan, who for years has harbored an interest in history and debating, won’t let age keep him from speaking out… And if he could find his voice, why couldn’t others?

Jordan called to arms his fellow home schoolmates and this summer formed the Conservative Christian Teens of America, which includes himself, as president, and 29 others.

While many teens enjoyed the outdoors during their summer vacation, [the Baker] living room was filled with teenagers who were discussing government and national issues, crafting arguments and practicing their public speaking.

Read the whole article >>

This past Saturday, Jordan and his friends met for a public debate with a sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The topic? The proposed Parental Rights Amendment to protect the rights of parents to raise their children.

At one point during his speech, Jordan made the following argument:

I know that you are not suggesting to me or my peers that we should not do “Hard Things”. Someone worked really hard at both creating and passing Amendments 13, 15, and 19 so that race and gender would have equal value and the right to vote. Do you not agree that those Amendments were worth fighting for, no matter how long the process took?

Politics is one area where most people don’t expect young people to be involved, but Jordan and his friends are turning those low expectations upside down.

What do you think about what Jordan and his friends are doing? Have you ever been involved in a political campaign to support a candidate or issue that you care about? If you have, what are some ways other teens can get involved?

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After being eaten by a beanbag last month, our brother Josh is back with a challenge about self-control—particularly in the area of electronic media.

We don’t know about you, but his example sounded a lot like us. Can you relate? What are some areas God convicted you about as you watched?

Where have Alex and Brett been for the past few weeks? Based on the activity here on the blog, you might have thought we were kidnapped by aliens, arrested for disrupting the peace, or maybe just fell into a (really) big hole. We didn’t, really.

Actually, the last few weeks have been spent doing lots of school, wrapping up the conference season after DC, working to schedule events for next year, shooting a promo video, and doing final edits for the new book — prayers are appreciated!

Despite the busyness, we have been missing the blog — a lot. We’ve been missing the interaction with all of you. So this post is meant to be more informal: Give a quick update, muse a little, and ask a question for discussion.

Some Musing…

We first read the book The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman back in 2005. In it he contrasts studious, hard-working young people in countries like China and India with complacent American teens. It was one of the things that inspired us to start the Rebelution — “a teenage rebellion against low expectations.”

When we hosted a Rebelution conference in Tokyo in 2007, we had to ask the question: Does this message really translate to an Asian culture? Are there low expectations in a country that trounces America in math and science?

We decided there were — if not academically, then socially (and certainly spiritually). The response confirmed that. One young man came up to us afterward, tears in his eyes, and in broken English said, “What you said…” and pointed to his heart.

We were reminded of this a few days ago, when we got an email from a girl in China. She had read an article about us and Do Hard Things in a Taiwanese magazine:

Hi. I’m a Chinese girl at the age of 15. I’ve read an article about you and “do hard things” from an magazine. It said that you found that teens in countries like China and India were accomplishing far more than those in the US.

But in China, we always think that the education system makes the students’ imagination less powerful, and not do well in Practical ability (forgive my poor English, i don’t know how to translate that into English).

Many teens just do math or physics homework to get a high mark. But when they graduate from high school or college, they can do nothing except homework. We call them “high scores and low abilities.”

Clearly expectations for teens in China are very different, but still low. “High” expectations that only value test scores and academic achievement are just another perversion of the true purpose and God-given potential of the teen years.

A Question for Discussion…

So here is the question: How does the message of the Rebelution uniquely apply in a country like China? How about the Philippines? South Africa? Brazil? The UK?

For rebelutionaries in those (or any other) countries, what do low expectations look like in your country? What are some unique ways that low (or high) expectations for teens manifest themselves where you live? What is your personal experience?

For those of us in America, how do low expectations look different for us? What are some unique low expectations in our church or circle of friends? For those in public school, private school, home school? What about college (secular or Christian)?

Rebelling against low expectations is not a simple, generic formula. It requires wisdom and discernment. Let’s share with one another — and help one another — as we seek to do hard things right where God has placed us.

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