We just had our home teachers switch this past week and now have a 16 year old as one of them. Keith (hubby) is a High Priest. Our children are gone, married with their own children. Our other home teacher is the same age as our children with very young kids and is only a High Priest because he is a councilor in the bishopric. I don’t have a problem with a young man home teaching us although he sat very quiet and non communicative the whole time through the lesson. Keith did say it was because I never stop talking enough to let others have a turn.. ha ha to him.
But my concern or question is why are young men allowed to go home teaching? If I was having marital problems I certainly would not be discussing it with my home teachers when one of them is a child. You could say that they need them as there are not enough Priesthood holders. Well we don’t have enough sisters but the young women never go out visiting teaching. I tried looking for reasons on the church website but I didn’t see anything there that answered my question so either there is no reason or I was looking in the wrong place.
I have heard others say it is because they hold the priesthood and it is one of their responsibilities. I don’t buy that. I worry about the levels of confidentiality telling a young teenager about something serious only to have them turn around to their friends and say hey you should hear what I just heard.
I would be very interested in hearing some feedback on this. The way I see it is if the boys are allowed to do so then the young women should as well.
Teenage boys go home teaching because that’s part of their priesthood responsibilities as Teachers.
but why? What is the rationale behind it other then because? But then why not assign them to Elders?
From what I have read about boys (raising them, educating them) the idea that teenage boys respond well to a mentoring situation is common. I assume there is some research backing it up. There is certainly history to back it up. Teenage boys learn to be men from other men in a mentoring situation. They used to learn their professions that way.
I think that the church hasn’t seen any reason to change it.
Because that’s the responsibility of the office of Teacher and Priest (see D&C 20:46,53). When Teachers and Priests were first called in the church, they were usually grown men. It wasn’t until the last century, that standard ages of 14 and 16 were used for their advancement. No revelation has been given since D&C 20 to say teachers and priests shouldn’t home teach.
FWIW, I have had four priests as hometeaching companions over the years, and each of them has held the conversations we’ve had with our families with the utmost respect. We would discuss together privately ways we could help our families work through their problems.
Having an adult hometeacher doesn’t ensure a lack of gossip. Our previous hometeachers (both adults) gossipped about us.
Sally in my experience what the leaders in a Ward try to do is put the young men with the best possible companions. We are an aging population in many wards and often it will be the High Priests, the guys who have gone through a Bishopric and other stuff, who are the best mentors, more important who are more likely to actually DO their hometeaching.
I can see no reason why young women shouldn’t go out Visiting Teaching as well, I kind of like the idea, though we do seem to have a fairly strong divide between Young Women’s and Relief Society. On the positive side however it is clear that the transistionf from Young Women’s to RS can be quite disrupting and quite difficult for young women, having been VT companions would be a positive way to ease that transition.
I wouldn’t imagine a home teaching visit would ever be a good time to discuss marriage problems, since home teachers visit the whole family. It’s about giving a spiritual message and finding out how they can serve the family….and it’s a priesthood responsibility.
Visiting Teachers are really much better to talk to about issues since they’re assigned just to visit you.
Young men need strong role models. Research has shown that males would grow up with our any or little male contact tend to be ill disciplined as well as other unsavoury problems.
Do you have examples of this research, J?
J I disagree with you. My husband worked out of town the strong majority of the time we were raising out children. Our 4 sons have not grown up to be ill disciplined or have unsavory problems. Kim what topic are you talking about that you have had to re-read it?
Yes, I would also like to read some examples of this research please!
Mum, what are you disagreeing with J regarding? That young men need strong role models or that research exists that indicates males with little male contact tend to be ill disciplined?
both.. J is implying imho that only boys need strong role models.. like young women don’t? and that only males with little male contact tend to be ill disciplined? Does that mean that females with little female contact grow up ill disciplined?
I don’t see how he implies any of those things in his comment.
He says ” Young men need strong role models. Research has shown that males would grow up with our any or little male contact tend to be ill disciplined as well as other unsavoury problems.”
He doesn’t say youth need strong role models only young men
To be fair, he also doesn’t say, “Young women don’t need strong role models.â€
Even so, I wonder if the research he claims exists indicates a need for young women to have strong role models.