What I want to know is what you think of a church having a coffee bar set up at an activity for teenagers. Scott said they did have hot chocolate and flavored hot milk (both of which he drank), but lots of the kids were drinking coffee. I know, being LDS, we don't drink coffee, so we look at it differently. But still, I don't think coffee is a good drink for teenagers to acquire a taste for (and an addiction to). I wasn't raised LDS, and my mom used to drink coffee. But she never let me have any - coffee was not something you drank until you were grown up.
Is it just me? Am I the only one who thinks that all this coffee drinking by teenagers is not a good thing (disregarding the whole Word of Wisdom thing even)?
11 comments:
I do agree with you, it does seem odd. I've noticed it becoming more and more "accepted" among younger ages for some reason, why???? I also was not raised LDS and my dad was and still is a coffee drinker and the rule always was that it was not ok to have until you were "an adult". Strange how society seems to be on this spiral of sorts... I know I don't like it. It has some to do with coffee shops and them becoming teenage hang outs with such fun drinks like Lattes and such.. makes it seem so exciting and trendy, a bit sad though. That's my take on it..
I was raised very LDS in Utah so coffee shops didn't exist or the chance to even think about it. My friends Dad did drink coffee and she mentioned sneaking some and saying it was awful - so way back when, it was taboo for children. Now, I think it is just trendy and the in thing. For a church to supply it is something altogether different and ... odd.
most of my non-lds friends didn't start drinking it til they were in college. i think it's because their parents had the same rule yours did. i agree that it seems like it should be an adult drink...but it doesn't surprise me that it was being offered.
Most of my friends didn't really start drinking it until college, but now I see teenagers frequenting the cafe in the library all the time. They come back with huge chocolatey coffee drinks.
That's probably another contributing factor. Before, coffee was coffee, right? The nasty stuff people brew at home. Now you can get coffee chilled, with chocolate, heaping with whipped cream, all sorts of things. They probably taste better (they certainly look and smell better) and are more appealing to the teens.
Just blame Starbucks.
Kimberly has a good point. My mom drank coffee black or with cream or sugar. The coffee drinks now seem to be made to appeal to younger people. They are fun.
They are also expensive! I don't know how teenagers today can afford to buy those expensive coffee drinks all of the time.
It did seem a strange thing for a church to supply. But as Robert said, a lot of churches will do whatever it takes to get people to come.
I don't know that, aside from the Word of Wisdom, I'd see a difference in serving coffee than in serving Coke to teens. Nobody would think twice had there been a table full of two liters. Culture makes a difference, too. A friend of mine raised in Louisiana drank coffee-milk in her bottle. Just a touch of coffee, but, like those Frenchies and their wine, the taste becomes acquired early.
speaking as a member of another faith, i have to agree that i think serving teenagers coffee is inappropriate. i don't think drinking coffee if wrong, though, for adults.
Carol, I don't think coffee drinking is wrong for adults who aren't LDS. I, personally, have never liked the smell of coffee, so I wouldn't drink it even if I could! But that's just me! Like you, I think it's an inappropriate drink for teenagers. Maybe it's our age! When I was growing up, kids didn't drink coffee. And I just don't think it's a drink that's very good for them.
when i was a teen, i went on a camp out with a friend from another faith. it was well organized and a lot of fun. i did silently freak out, however, when several youths unabashedly went outside for a smoke...and then silently freaked out even more when some of the adult leaders joined them. i felt like i was in that crazy Pinocchio land where there weren't any parents or behavior standards.
as someone who avoids not only coffee, but caffeinated drinks in general as a matter of personal health, i feel like it is a good idea to avoid serving drinks like that to kids/teens. if they want to make that choice as an adult, that's their prerogative.
Robert is correct about other churches serving coffee. They have a coffee bar set up every Sunday (to encourage people to mingle - kind of like cookies and punch after every Mormon activity), and I think anyone can drink it - kids included. But if you think coffee is bad, look at the energy drinks that kids are drinking these days. The caffeine in those drinks is even worse than coffee, but nobody sees anything wrong with them drinking those drinks. And these drinks are expensive also - just like Starbuck's coffee. Chris (Laurie's sister)
I agree with Chris. Maybe the defining criteria is sugar. Ahhh, sugar, the universal bonding agent!
Post a Comment