The Magazine

Within the halls of high school, Christian teenagers seriously struggle to find somewhere to hide from the pressures of it all. Since the UK population has slowly been turning away from the truth, it has become much harder for the Christian youth to actually maintain their faith. I have experienced this in ways I never thought I would.

I was a little year seven student – excited about starting the big school – and the school looked so massive. The halls were massive, the grounds were massive, even the teachers looked terrifyingly tall. All I had was a map of the school. As I settled in the first few days, lots of class mates began to find their voice. They would shout and swear in class and being me (an innocent Christian girl who had never heard a swear word in her life before), I was totally shocked by it. How could someone possibly say such atrocities in class?!

I did get used to it unfortunately and swearing seemed to pass off as a ‘cool’ thing to do. Everyone did it because they didn’t care about what others thought and they didn’t care about their parents finding out so what was the problem? I thought long and hard about that and came to the conclusion that it really doesn’t matter if I swear, my parents won’t know…I started swearing after that, because individuality isn’t a bad thing, is it? Well, apparently it was. As soon as I started, I lost my individuality. I was just following the crowd. Only then did I realise how much I was drifting from God and what I’d always believed.

I wish I could find a time on the bus when I wasn’t being questioned about what I believe. They would ask unrealistic questions like: “If God was tied down and so were your parents and you could only save one…”, they refused to believe me if I was even close to saying God. They would make jokes and share atheist quotes on Facebook for me to see. They’d ridicule the other Christians about believing in some ‘Big guy in the sky’.

It was impossible. I didn’t know how to handle it and I honestly couldn’t have done it without my mum and dad. They really helped me to focus even when the going got tough. They were always there to comfort me in times of trouble and always showed the same compassion that God shows me.

Not many people know how hard not going with the flow is. It has been hard but by the end of this term, I will have finished my five years. The most important thing that has kept me going is faith. Faith that he has given me and faith that he gives to everyone who seeks for him.

Anna is 15, has a passion for film and drama, loves surfing and is currently doing her GCSEs at Diss High School. She attends Burston Chapel.