Why The Campus?

By Chuck Klein • Campus Alliance • San Diego, California

There is no place in the world like the high school or middle school campus.
The campus is what we would call the marketplace or the hub of youth culture. The school campus is like a magnet in a community, gathering people together like no other institution. For teenagers, it is where the exchange of ideas, the forming of values, and the shaping of lives take place. The average teenager will spend over 9000 hours of their life on campus. This powerful culture is shaping students every day – for better or for worse. For a lot of teens, life makes up its mind at the school campus.

It’s the last time this generation will be together.
Think about this: where are most teenagers on any given Monday through Friday, August to June? The answer is the local school campus. And it is the last time this generation of teens will be together, shoulder to shoulder, in one location at one time… After high school everyone will scatter in a thousand directions, making it much more difficult to connect with them personally. Christian youth leaders and their students will likely never have greater time to influence other students and introduce them to Christ in all their lifetime.

Youth Leaders Only, in its 38th year, helps youthworkers in thousands of churches be aware of the music their students are listening to, use all forms of music in their ministries, and equip their students to make wise choices about the music & media they have in their earbuds 9 hours every day. A membership costs less than the price of a pizza each month! The theme of the current YLO is “Evangelism: Making The Most Of Every Opportunity.” Click here to get it!

It’s our opportunity.
If our mission is to help give every person the chance to know and follow Jesus Christ, there will never be a greater opportunity than when students are in middle and high school. This is why the influence of Christian students, youth leaders, churches, parents, and educators is so vital on campus during the middle and high school years. Young people under the age of 18 are more likely to respond to the message of the Gospel. As a youth leader, church pastor, or concerned adult, think of the influence you can have by taking a step of faith and reaching out to students and schools.

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