irreverant class

[Anonymous UserParticipant]

I have been in young women’s in my current ward for about 3 years. I can not have a spiritual lesson with my girls and wonder if anyone has some advise. Everytime I try to get spiritual that is when I lose them. They are good girls but not very focused. any help?

[Jenny SmithParticipant]

Now that I’ve been a YW leader and a YW, I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I’ve been the irreverent youth *confession* and the leader trying to teach gospel principles. As a youth, most of the lessons during which we were irreverent had nothing to do with the lesson or material — it often had something to do with what had happened outside of class. I don’t think we leaders can help that, but there are some things that we can do when we discover a class is being unruly.

One of the things I found that worked best with my girls was an explanation at the very beginning of the lesson — kind of a “here’s what to expect”. I’d explain to them that we were going to cover very important material and that I really needed thier attention and comments to help me get through. I might even tell them I felt the Spirit while I was preparing the lesson and that I hoped they would feel it during the lesson as well. Sometimes I even had a brief discussion on what the Spirit feels like, and instruction that when we feel the Holy Ghost prompting us, we should act. Then finish the lesson with a reference to the Holy Ghost again and a challenge for the girls to act on any promptings they had.

I wouldn’t suggest that you do this every week, however, or the youth will tune this message out. I do believe in priming the pump, however. Talk about how excited you are about the lesson, or the things you learned while preparing it during your introduction. I found when the girls knew that there was good material coming, they were more receptive. When I took a public speaking course, they said you “tell’ em what you’re gonna say (introduction), say it (content), and then tell ’em what you said (conclusion).”

Another tactic I’ve used is when we have a writing activity, I’d explain that we were going to have a writing activity, and that I didn’t want anyone to change their answers or not write thier true feelings because they were afraid someone might look over thier shoulder and read their thoughts. Then I’d ask the girls to separate — split up and leave at least one chair between them. (Most of the girls appreciate this–it’s rough to have your neighbor reading your self-analysis.)

If you have an advisor, invite her to ride herd while you’re teaching. She can ask the class to be quiet and sit between girls as necessary. Yes, it’s a little bit Primary, but I _was_ teaching a class of a dozen, sometimes more, Beehives.

There’s a system I used to use in Sunday School, too — called Random Rewards. It’s some sort of child psychology, but I can’t remember where I read about it Basically you explain to the class one Sunday that you will be giving treats when your desired behavior occurs — ie, when they bring thier scriptures or are revererent, but that you won’t bring them every week. Explain that you’ll just bring them occassionally, so the class really needs to perform the desired behavior every week to earn the treats. You may even want to ask what kind of treats the class prefers, so that the treats are even more desirable. For the first 5-6 weeks, I brought treats every week (except fast sunday). After that, I started skipping around, and even started giving them out at different times during the lesson. It worked very well for that class. It got to where the boys were racing to the library to get their scriptures before class every Sunday.

I’ve heard of youth speakers inviting classes to do Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, too.

You could try singing a hymn, or invite a particularly noisy student to help you present the lesson.

Lean on your class presidency to set a good example and brainstorm for ways to encourage reverence during presidency meeting.

It’s always a good idea to call girls at home ahead of time to ask for thier participation. Tell them you need their help during the lesson and would like them to share their testimony or read a certain scripture or quote. Sometimes a little sneak peek of the lesson helps people be more excited and receptive.

Our stake YW presidency came one time and did a little skit where they demonstrated a bad class presidency meeting (people were late, gossipy talk, no plans made, cutting up) and a good one (everyone on time, agendas, planning with a purpose, etc). You may consider doing this same thing with the girls’ parents or your branch presidency or bishopric. Explain to them the situation and ask them if they might come and do a little skit for your class. After the demonstration, ask for feedback on why the second classroom’s participation was more inviting to the Spirit and rude to the _volunteer_ teacher. Invite the class to commit to behaving in a way that is more conducive to the Spirit.

Of course, pray, pray, pray!!! When you were set apart in your calling you received the ability to receive revelation that applies to the needs of those in your class. Use it!

Good luck with your calling! Working with the youth is so challenging, but really it should be, considering the eternal consequences. God be with you!

Jenny

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