Prot. Dionysius Dunaevsky. From movers to luggage: about teenage apathy and freedom in Christtranslated

A frightening metamorphosis took place before my eyes. The younger generation is traditionally considered active, restless, passionate - as they used to say, “for any kick.” But today the picture is fundamentally different.

In 1998, I walked past the stadium every week on my way to prison ministry. And I always observed a familiar scene from my childhood: boys of all ages, divided into teams, passionately kicked the ball around. They played football, forgetting about everything in the world.

Just a couple of years have passed, and the paradigm of activity has changed. The teenagers were no longer running around the field. They drew a square and stood in its corners, still vigorously kicking the ball to each other. Sometimes they argued furiously about who missed and who was to blame. I didn’t know the rules, but the one who missed the ball was eliminated and replaced by another. There were still a lot of people on the site.

A few more years passed - and a new change. The guys were already squatting in the corners of the same square. Instead of making sharp passes, they simply rolled the ball. The slowly rolling ball forced the “player” to reluctantly get up, kick it away and squat down again.

And then the teenagers simply disappeared from the streets. This happened around 2017, when gadgets became available to everyone.

Today, after all we have experienced...