Let me be so bold as to say, "Never fear! Your churches are here!"

Hey parents, is your middle school mo-jo workin'?

Hey sixth, seventh, and eighth graders, is your middle school mo-jo workin'?

What in the world does that mean? Well, to tell you the truth, I don't

really know myself, except to be a way to get us thinking about a very important

subject - middle schoolers and parents and life.

Maybe "mo-jo workin'" means that things are going pretty well,

parents and middle schoolers are feeling good about each other, and no major

problems are causing "wars and rumors of wars" (that's a quote

from the Bible, you know).

Dear parents and middle schoolers, I hope and pray that your mo-jo IS workin'!

But I have two concerns: prevention and cure.

A few years ago a study by the research organization Child Trends revealed

that while parents are trying very hard to do the best for their children,

as children move from elementary into middle school, their parents become

less and less involved in their lives and activities, and this low level

of involvement is one sign that neither the students nor the parents are

doing "well".

The study also offered the "disquieting message" that the peer

culture in most American schools is working in opposition to most goals parents

hold for their children, including academic success and avoidance of harmful

behaviors such as smoking and drinking.

Now, we're not blaming our schools here. It is simply a reality that with

less parent involvement in their children's lives, children are less likely

to do the good things their parents want them to do. That makes sense, doesn't

it?

So, what about Prevention and Cure? How do you, as parents AND as students,

keep this bad time from happening? How do you, as parents of middle schoolers

who may already be showing signs of drifting from your influence, bring things