Helping our Kids Explore their Identity

Exploration is a prerequisite to having a settled identity. For parents with kids unsettled and exploring, this can be a frightening time. What role do we play in the exploration process? In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kathy Knochel and Brian Sutter will help us sort it out.  Show notes:  Identity:  Is the sense of self – Who I am and who I am not.   Identity Formation:  Starts with exploration and ends with commitment.  Exploration is trying, investigating, experiencing, researching.  Commitment is being settled, resolved and grounded.  Identity Culture in "the west":  It is constructed individually. This means that the community has a limited influence on placing an identity on an individual. Rather, the individual has the ownness of discovering and embracing their identity.   Challenge:  Our young people are saddled with the task of sorting out their identity for themselves.  Angst:  Watching young people explore their identity.  Opportunity:  Support and guide exploration in community.   As possible, try not to rigidly force closure on those in the exploration phase. Rather, have dialogue that prompts healthy exploration. Thoughtful open-ended questions, and critical thinking prompts are necessary to guide wise investigation.   Have patience in the process with a goal to maintain relationship.  Fear:  Suppose an unwise identity is chosen?  Remember: Where there is life, there is experience. Where there is experience, there is exploration. Where there is exploration, there is hope yet for a good commitment.