Come one! Come all! It’s a new academic year – and with that, it’s time for a brand-new season of Youth Updates. We unpack our beloved word of the month and take a gander at some trends, topics and tips from over the summer.
TRENDS: Look At How We Craft Our Topic Title… Very Demure, Very Mindful
You might have noticed recently that the phrases ‘very mindful’, ‘very demure’ and ‘very cutesy’ have been uttered at a much higher frequency than usual. The cause behind this? A TikTok that went viral.
It all began when someone talked about how they do their make-up for work and they utilised the words ‘mindful’ and ‘demure’ spoken in a particular cadence, which caught the internet’s attention and led to thousands of videos referencing anything from their outfits or the way they walk to school as being ‘very demure’. It eventually trickled down into other spheres too. For example, ‘Northumberland Zoo’ used this trend as part of their advertising whereby older workers were told what to say by younger ones (which has now caught on as a trend itself!). And even more recently, Holly Willoughby on Strictly Come Dancing referenced the very demure, very mindful trend.
It’s a reminder that youth culture in the online space often influences the way people market their brands or the way that the media attempts to try and engage the younger audience. However, it’s often the case that by the time people ‘catch on’ with these things that it’s almost too late and its usage is on its way out; it is no longer seen as ‘cool’ or ‘relevant’ thus continuing the cycle of trying to be relevant but being a step behind.
HOT TOPIC: A Fresh Take On Freshers
If you were to play a game of word association with the term ‘fresher’s week’, many people would probably think of ‘students’, ‘drinking’ and ‘parties’ or perhaps ‘clubbing’ and ‘bars’. However, there’s been a trend over the past few years that has really culminated this year – that far less students are choosing to go out drinking and are instead opting to do more ‘hobby based’ activities instead.
For example, the University of Bristol had a choice of 101 alcohol-free activities this year that ranged from drum and bass boxing to frisbee in the park. In a similar vein, Aberdeen hosted a virtual murder mystery night and Disney movie screening amongst many other options. Meanwhile Glasgow invited students along on charity shop crawls and houseplant sales and Edinburgh organised video games nights and anxiety management workshops.
A rise in ‘hobbies’ has been fairly notable over the past few years amongst teens (possibly spurred on by social media and the pandemic) and we are now seeing young people’s preferences on how to spend their free time influence the way they want to start their university experiences.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9wkr4qx8q0o
FAITH & SPIRITUALITY: Summer Worship
Summer is a time when young people from across the nation gather to head to events, festivals and weekends away. For many of them, it’s a space where they can engage in worship in a unique environment. We asked two youth-facing worship leaders to chat to us about what they noticed about youth engagement in worship. Note: their words have been redacted – to listen to the full statement, please listen to our podcast.
Lucy Taylor (from Taylor & Co worship)
“I found that they [young people] just want Jesus. The ones who’ve experienced Him; they’re hungry for that spirituality but they don’t the extra fluff or adults getting in the way with their opinions. They want the raw truth of Jesus. Perhaps because they’re starting to lack that authenticity in life with social media and AI increasing in popularity, they want that direct connection with Jesus. As a worship leader, I’m looking to create that space in which they can spend time in His presence.
We found that the songs that went less well were wordy songs or ones that required concentration; ones with Christian buzzwords. For those newer to faith or not used to that language it can make it feel inaccessible. They want honest and emotional songs that use words and language they use every day. If we use specific vocab from the Bible, then it’s helpful for hosts or worship leaders to explain that context and what those words really mean.”
Jack Jones (led worship at Thrive summer camp)
“It was great to lead them [young people] in a space where they engaged with God. What I noticed is that they loved upbeat lively energetic worship. We had a praise pit where young people got to jump around, shout out to God and praise together, but we also had times where it was really reflective and about declaring God’s goodness and power in a place of reflection and response.”
Word Of The Month: Skibbidi Toilet
Skibbidi Toilet – a nonsense word often used as a filler or for novelty/comedy factor. It’s meaning can be varied depending on the context in which it is used.
Eg. ‘That’s so skibbidi’ ‘I want some skibbidi pizza’ or (After scoring a goal) ‘SKIBBIDI TOILET!’
Confused on the origins? It comes from a YouTube video (search skibbidi toilet) of a computer-generated head singing out of a toilet, using the word skibbidi as part of their lyrics.