Annette came across this excellent article=> Redefining Relevance. I highly recommend it for parents, youth workers or anyone involved in teens' lives.

Here's a few choice quotes:

"When adolescent culture began to splinter into its endlessly expanding collection of sub-genres, each with its own music, look, language, attitude, and rules about how to wear your pants, I must admit that I reluctantly gave up."

"I've discovered an important little secret. The students I serve are far more responsive to my willingness to listen to what is going on in their lives than in my franticness to try to keep up with what is going on in their world."

"Do you want a ministry that's cutting edge relevant? Start replacing some of your radio listening time with time spent listening to your kids. Start watching them in their families instead of only watching MTV. Start reading their relationships instead of Teen People. That's where true ministry relevance is found."

However, the article is much better than those three quotes... so take 5 minutes and click here to read it.