West Hills Friends Youth Group

08/13/2021

"During the Covid-19 pandemic, depression and anxiety in youth doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to the research. One in 4 adolescents globally are "experiencing clinically elevated depression symptoms, while 1 in 5 youth are experiencing clinically elevated anxiety symptoms."

Youth depression and anxiety doubled during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels, a new study found. Levels of mental illness symptoms are higher in older children and in females.

01/18/2021

The next episode of "You Will Understand When You're Younger" has been released this afternoon! For this episode we invite Dr. David Peyton on as our guest. Dr. Peyton is a professor of chemistry at Portland State University and a long time member of West Hills Friends.

In this episode, we lean on David's expertise in developing a drug for malaria and ask him about the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine. We also hear David talk about what it is like to be a person of faith in the science world.

Our young people talk about what has unfolded at the Capitol and remember fondly the days of sharing food together during potlucks!

Give it a listen and if you are enjoying it, give us a 5 star review!

‎Religion & Spirituality · 2020

01/16/2021

12/18/2020

The youth group has a new podcast! Created by our teens, the podcast attempts to bridge generational gaps by inviting adults from our community to answer five questions and in turn the teens answer five questions from the adult.

Our first episode is live!

https://anchor.fm/understandwhenyounger?fbclid=IwAR0BIPyPb-CXvvorbZv6X_F_FWfXrSTcwwpuT0X_AGWf9HUNsWRSu90h30g

Adults are often terrified of teenagers. Teenagers are often intimidated by adults. Cross-generational communication and connection is hard. The most common question our young people here from adults is, "How is school?" It would seem that an adult often only knows one thing about a teenager they ar...

06/22/2020

Jaclyn Corin had gone through active shooter drills and classroom evacuation plans. But she was still shocked when one of the deadliest school shootings in history took place in her own community.

05/26/2020

Even though this is obviously written for a younger audience, I think it is helpful for us to recognizing all the ways stress might be showing up for us, especially our younger Friends right now.

03/12/2020

How are we helping our teens navigate this?

Adults can help by making sure adolescents don’t overestimate the dangers or underestimate their ability to protect themselves.

12/04/2019

Teenage activists like Greta Thunberg are uncomfortable reminders that the grown-ups have failed the next generation.

11/23/2019

'Cause shade never made anybody less gay.

11/21/2019

There are many things missing from this list...and it puts a lot of blame on parents and teens. I think we need to acknowledge the environment in which we are living and point out toxic and soul-sucking forces present in our culture that are forcing many of us to make difficult choices in order to survive. Our children need to see us acknowledging and fighting against systems that equate our worth with our financial success, and who blame those who are struggling for not working hard enough. It is going to take courage for us to stand up and work towards another way.

We've created an environment that fosters anxiety rather than resilience.

09/05/2019

One hour of living requires ten minutes of sifting. Tonight we talk about simplicity at youth group. We will use the attached video as our guide.

What many of us long for more than anything else is a simpler life; we feel overwhelmed by our responsibilities, schedules, commitments and obligations. This...

08/09/2019

Painting project!