“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” -Luke 14:28

Emerging adults in their 20’s have been the subject of a good deal of examination recently as their lives have taken significantly different trajectories than those of their parents. These are generational observations which are generalizations at best, but they are significantly documented enough to cause us to pause and ask, “What is going on here?” To summarize it in most basic terms, today’s emerging adults are waiting much longer to marry, to have children, and to choose a career path than ever before. Historians in studying past generations have been common to link earlier average marrying age with greater prosperity. When times were good, young men could take on the obligations of marriage and start out on their own at an earlier age. Today we live in one of the most affluent times in the history of the world and yet just the opposite is occurring. So what gives?

Dr. Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at Notre Dame, primarily studies religion, adolescents, American evangelicalism, and culture. His latest book, Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood, is a compelling examination of the cultural forces at work today that are shaping our adolescents into the young adults of tomorrow. We all know a few young adults who seem lost and aimless while their most fruitful childbearing years and career opportunities are evaporating in front of them. Whether they are college graduates who are now waiting tables or who are approaching thirty and are still having a hard time thinking about marriage, these precious years fill parents with great anxieties when they see their children wandering about without any clear direction or sense of purpose. Professor Smith has thought long and hard about these things, and it would behoove us as parents of teenagers to know something of the forces that are acting upon our children to produce this “lostness.” To be forewarned is to be forearmed. I will be taking the next few Thursday News articles to profile the leading causes of this phenomena in the mind of Christian Smith.

One of the first notable shifts in our society in the past several decades has been the growth of higher education. It officially began with the GI Bill following WWII when thousands of young men and women entered college in great numbers. The lure of a professional career became a common pursuit. The cheapening of a high school diploma has also made it almost a requirement to obtain some form of higher education in order to break into the job market. Today’s bachelor’s degree is yesterday’s high school diploma, or almost. As a result, young people find themselves thrown in with thousands of other young people in a university setting where no one has to think much about the demands of real adulthood for four more years. So, let’s party and enjoy it while it lasts. The trouble is that post-graduate education has now also become a necessity for so many careers, and the major life choices of marriage and family are put off even farther. Christian Smith, himself, was in school until almost thirty, a condition he now views as almost insane. It is true that advanced schooling is easier done without the responsibilities of family bearing down. Thus, parents often put pressure on their children to not consider marriage until their schooling is complete. But this can create a minefield for young men and women deeply in love who are told to shelve their passions until graduation that is possibly years away.

I would simply suggest we look long and hard at some of these modern preconceptions regarding education. Simply “going to college” is not a plan for a life. Clear goals for one day entering the job market should come into play before enrolling. A bachelor’s degree in psychology or British literature is a nice trophy for the mantel but a non-starter for feeding a family. And let’s not downgrade the skilled labor force where a plumber can out earn a college degree many times over. Also, marriage and college should never be that incompatible. Two can live as cheaply as one. Plus, my grade point average went up one whole point after marriage. Nothing focuses a man like marriage.

Mercy and Truth, Mr. Moe