Lessons In Life For Middle School Boys At Dallas Conference
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DALLAS (CBS11) - The tweens and teens gathered around the motorcycles with wide eyes-- engines raring, of course. Just call it 'boy bait.' But, the real lessons wrapped around those motorcycles involved safety and sound choices.
"If you have a friend that says, 'get on my bike-- I'll teach you how to ride', don't do it!" warned conference volunteer Derek Woodson.
Other volunteers hosted sessions dealing with drugs, discipline, social media, sexting and respect as the second annual Save Our Sons Conference delivered an on-point mixture of fun, and how-to-be-a-real-man information for middle school boys.
"Having respect for others, taking responsibility for my actions, and just loving others and doing the right thing," rattled off 13-year-old Cameron Williams. Williams said a friend invited him to the first conference hosted at Dallas' Concord Church last year. He came back, because he says middle school is tough-- for even the good kids.
"It's hard because there's peer pressure, people trying to get you to do things," said the Mansfield middle school student. "But, you just have to keep your mind focused."
Williams said he's an athlete and a leader at his school; but, he enjoys the conference because it helps keep him focused-- and reminds him that there are other good kids also working to make good choices.
"These kids are the best of us," said Concord Youth Pastor Kevin Bennett.
According to Bennett, the serious topics addressed in the sessions are coming right on time-- because like it or not-- life is already coming at these middle school boys, fast.
"The truth is that absolutely they are confronted with these issues everyday," said Pastor Bennett. "We must do what it takes to make sure we're informing them about things like sex, about making wise choices, about setting goals, about drugs--because we don't want their friends to be their primary influence and their source of education about these things."
As a youth pastor, he believes that a child is never out of reach. However, he also says that middle school is their best opportunity to make positive impressions on still impressionable young minds.
"We just believe that if we can install in the mind of a 6th grader that God has called them to do and be a great man, that when they are 17 and 18, they'll make the right decisions to put them on that kind of trajectory to be great," said Pastor Bennett. And then quickly adding, "greatness doesn't happen by accident. So we're going to do what it takes to invest in them."
Volunteers representing careers in everything from law enforcement to technology shared stories and strategies for becoming real men.
"This is just a springboard," said Pastor Bennett. "We think our boys will look back on this 6, 7, 8 years from now and remember: there were some men that I met when I was a 7th grader, 8th grader, and that made an impact on my life-- and they will do same."
That message of community service and concern for the next generation an appropriate tribute, supporters say, to the teaching of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"It's the best way to celebrate MLK's birthday," said Williams, "to come back and learn about him and how to be a man."
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