Teens are mourning a euthanized squirrel, Gen Z engages with scripture less than other generations, and families are enjoying a film about a sweet and sentient robot. But first:
Slang of the Week: Glazing
If you’ve ever had someone heap what seems to be inordinate amounts of praise onto someone or something else, you probably understand the slang term “glazing.” Glazing is the point where all that praise begins to feel over-the-top, cringey, or like an obvious ploy to get on someone’s good side. Glazing could also refer to when someone is overly complimentary or positive about, say, an album or a game. (Ex: “He’s been glazing the new Call of Duty.” “Weird, I thought it was terrible.”)
Three Conversations
1. The Death of a Squirrel
What it is: A pet squirrel named P’nut and his raccoon roommate Fred were seized and euthanized by the New York State government on Monday.
Why it’s weird: A man named Mark Longo rescued P’Nut after the animal’s mother was killed in a car accident. Longo decided to raise him as his own, despite it being illegal to keep pet squirrels and raccoons indoors in the state of New York. Longo wasn’t the squirrel’s only fan—P’Nut had over 3 million social media followers. News traveled far and wide that the animals had been confiscated, and people were pretty upset. To some observers, the raid of Longo’s rural home seemed like an example of government overreach, and it has fueled conversations about what role the government should play in the lives of its citizens.
Continue the conversation: As Christians, is breaking the law ever morally justifiable? Why or why not?
2. Well Versed
What it is: Survey data from the American Bible Society (ABS) suggests that Gen Z is the least likely of all living generations to engage regularly with Scripture.
What it has to do with mental health: Anxiety and depression are complicated, deeply personal issues with a wide array of contributing factors. With that being said, the ABS has found a correlation between engaging with the Bible and having lower anxiety levels. This correlation exists among all Americans, but is especially evident among Gen Z, according to the survey. Young people who identified as “Bible Engaged” had an anxiety score of 3.4, while people in that same group who identified as “Bible Disengaged” had an anxiety score of 7.4. This data is drawn from a small sample size, but it does identify the Bible as an enduring source of comfort, hope, and light for a generation who is hurting.
Continue the conversation: How does reading the Bible make you feel?
3. Wild Thing
What it is: Families are watching The Wild Robot, an adventure film about nature, technology, and—oddly enough—parenting.
Why it’s not just for younger kids: The Wild Robot was first a science fiction novel aimed at children and teenagers. Its central premise revolves around a sophisticated, AI-powered droid who gets shipwrecked on an island inhabited only by animals. After a terrible accident, the droid who comes to be known as Roz becomes the sole caretaker of an orphaned newborn gosling named Brightbill. With the help of a sly fox, a wry possum, and an ensemble of other creatures, the robot embarks on the task of raising Brightbill to “eat, swim, fly.” The film’s slow, meditative pacing makes up for its somewhat predictable plot, and themes of sacrifice, forgiveness, and gratitude are prominent throughout. Though Roz is just a robot, the character’s determination to protect and provide brings up plenty of human emotion.
Let’s translate this one further…
Most teens don’t need us to serve their immediate physical needs in the way they did when they were small. Their baby spoons languish in the back of the silverware drawer like artifacts from another era, and the buoyant swimming safety vests from their toddler years have been deflating, slowly, in the attic. All that’s left is the final challenge: teaching them to fly.
We might build them a runway, find them the best mentors, and teach them everything we know. But we can’t fly for them—even if we wish we could.
When Roz calculates the enormity of the task of raising a baby animal, she blurts out, “I do not have the programming to be a mother!” A nearby possum named Pinktail, who happens to be carrying her own seven babies on her back, replies with the wisdom of a more seasoned parent: “No one does. We just make it up.”
By the time our kids are teenagers, most of us have felt like Roz in this scene—ill-equipped, unprepared, and like we are the wrong person for the job. Many of us have probably also felt like Pinktail—weathered, agile, and used to improvising.
It is true that Roz is not well-prepared for the task she calls “eat, swim, fly.” It is also true that she must learn to be flexible and adapt to unforeseen circumstances. But she commits wholly to her gosling charge. And this act of devotion, along with some willingness to get creative, transforms her abilities. It wasn’t the task she was expecting. But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t made for it.
Parenthood is a divine calling. We don’t inherit it by accident. God designs families with every one of our strengths and weaknesses in mind. He knows us intimately, and He loves us unfathomably. As it says in Psalm 33:11, “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through generations.”
We love our teens hard, and then they go. We watch them taking off from runways that cost us everything to build. But even when it feels like they’re flying into a land of uncertainty that we have never laid eyes on, they are held within God’s perfect plan built from ever-knowing, everlasting love.
For more context and nuance, check out our Monday Roundtable podcast on Spotify or Apple. In the meantime, here are three questions to spark conversation with your teens:
Continue the conversation:
- Do you like movies where a robot is the main character?
- What has been your favorite year of your life so far? Why?
- If you could be any woodland animal, which would you choose?
Parenting together,
The Axis Team
P.S. Know someone who could use our conversation starters with their teens? Share the CT with a friend!