There is likely about 18 million directions I could take that question. How young is too young to; get a job, babysit younger siblings, ride a bike, have responsibilities around the house? How young is too young to date, go to a party, well you get the idea…
I wanted to focus today on how young is too young to invest in someone. Stick with me here. This past week I was talking with a young man, who for the time I’ve known him, about two years, I could tell he was going to go places. Heck, he was already places, but I knew he’d continue to go further and he was going to do it faster than most of his peers.
I’ve also been thinking about high school students and the place many of them are at today. At 15, 16, 17 years old, the types of life-directing decisions we put on them at times, seems a bit overwhelming. Let’s be honest, some adults would crumble under that type of pressure to decide things. So for them how young is too young to be asking them to make these decisions.
Then I thought, that’s not the right question to be asking. High schoolers, typically are capable of making all the decisions. However, we have to set them up for the best chance at success in making them. We must stop making assumptions that every young person is wired the same and should then pursue the same path forward.
What do you think happens when we put resources and tools in front of them, give them all the options and then say; “what do you want to do next?” It becomes a game changer, for them, for us, for the world. When we can for lack of a better phrase, put the right butts in the right seats, as early (or young) as possible - everyone wins. As adults do we not make better decisions the earlier we begin to research and the more information we have in front of us?
So, is it too young for a pre-teen young person to be making intentional investments in his path forward? Or, is it too young to be giving middle and high school age youth opportunities to intentionally think through what they should choose next in life? Heck No! We want better for them so it's important we give them all the information and resources we can as early as they're ready for it.
So instead of asking how young is too young, let’s start asking our youth when they want to learn more about their passions and how we can help equip, empower and encourage them to be the best version of themselves. When we do this, it changes them. It changes our world.