C I O F S LIST

PRE-ADOLESCENTS (I)

Introduction

Introduction

The boy or girl whom we are considering as pre-adolescent presents these features (with different grades, rhythms and expressions for boys and girls):
- the need for adventure;
- the sense of a "band" or exclusive group of persons of the same age;
- wanting to face up to reality (which is expressed through adventure and the band);
- the demand for consistency, justice and absolute loyalty;
- the need and the search (with the tendency to be indiscriminate) for models;
- the affective need, different from the preceding, precisely to seek the other sex, but also swinging from love to hate;
- besides, on the religious plane, the acceptance of a concrete Christ (historical and personal, not doctrinal), with whom the boys want to "do something" and the girls want to "share his company".

The responses are given on a gradual journey, marked by stages.

The need for adventure is met by:
- suitable surroundings;
- ventures planned and carried out.

The need to face up to persons and things is met by:
- what we have just said above;
- the Law and the Promise;
- the "Junior" group and its teams;
- the Good Deed.

The affective need and the sexual impulses are met by:
- coeducation;
- the spirit of service;
- a precise and positive moral catechesis.

The need for the band or exclusive group is met by the "Junior's" team.

The preadolescent, to whom we are dedicating our service, has, as has been seen, needs to which we must give formative answers. The pedagogical method adopted is proposed as an experience of life faithful to the personality of the boy or girl and clearly inspired by the Franciscan spirit of fraternity, simplicity, commitment strongly motivated by the following of Christ, and love for Creation.

The basic lines of the method are drawn clearly thus:
- means of formation: instruments of growth through the exercise of commitment (Law and Promise), availability (the Good Deed), responsibility (teams, specifying services within the group), poverty (the use of things without slavery to them, the sense of indebtedness to God's love), humility in commitment, also in the awareness of one's own weakness (the Motto).
- agents of formation: persons and facts which, taking advantage of the means of formation, promote the growth of the person. They are the Animator, called and above all considered to be "the elder brother", the "Junior" group or Fraternity (and its articulation, as a place of formative experience), the surroundings (the psychological place of fraternity, creativity and adventure), the journey (the means of formation considered in energetic activity guided by the Animator and lived by the boy or girl as the leading actor), coeducation (boys and girls sharing the formative journey and fostering an enriching relationship).

(to be continued)