I don't know whether you've noticed, but "youth' is getting larger. I'm not talking about the obesity epidemic, but I'm talking about the fact that children are becoming adolescents earlier, and adolescents are becoming adults later. The number of years a person is considered an adolescent is growing.

In recent years it has been observed that the age of menarche (the onset of menstruation) has been steadily dropping. Girls are becoming women sooner in life, at least physically. This early-onset of puberty has not been overlooked by advertisers. The advent of the "tween' as a new target market has seen many primary school students grow up much faster than they otherwise would. Eight and nine year olds are now starting to look and live like teenagers.

However, as the beginning age of adolescence falls, the ending age of adolescence rises. A person becomes "legal' at age 18, receives the key to life at their 21st birthday, but doesn't really possess adult maturity until around 25. To reflect this, many sociologists now talk of "late adolescence' as the age from 18 to 25.

What this means is that our society continues to place the burden of adulthood upon the shoulders of teenagers who are increasingly less equipped to bear the weight of that responsibility. We ask school-leavers to make decisions about life and career that affect the course of their life, yet we often fail to help them think carefully through those decisions.
It is for this reason that the growing trend of a "gap year' should be increasingly recognised as a beneficial and profitable rite of passage. Such "finishing schools' provide a number of benefits to students and churches alike.

However, not every "gap year' program is the same. Think carefully about what you want the year to achieve, whether you're choosing it for your child, for a youth group member, or for yourself.

Here are four things that an ideal gap year should provide:

Firstly, they should provide support. The ideal year will provide an environment in which the student is supported as they make decisions about career and life. Older adults can provide an environment of nurture and structure.

Secondly, they should offer opportunities for service. The gap-year students can provide a ready-made army of ministry as they provide a Christian version of national service!

Thirdly, they should provide supervision. The idea of backpacking around Europe for six months sounds glamorous, but the gap-year highways are littered with the corpses of Christians who have fallen away as they "see the world'. It is much better to provide at least a low-level of supervision in this critical transition year.

Finally, they should give students the opportunity to continue in study. A year without opening a book might sound attractive, but a far better option is to reduce the load significantly"”but not entirely. Why not use the year as an opportunity for some introductory theological study?

So where will you find such an ideal "gap year' program? Unfortunately, I am terribly biased. The new Year 13 program at Youthworks College provides all of this, and has already shown itself to be loads of fun.

But, other options are out there as well. Make sure you do your homework and choose wisely. Our adolescents need all the help they can to move to full-blown adulthood.

Jodie McNeill is a Youth Ministry Trainer and Year 13 Director at Youthworks College. Contact him at jodie@jodiemcneill.com