Reply To: OTD Child

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#1581554
The little I know
Participant

What is the Yiddishkeit to which you want them to return? If it resembles what they ran from, you won’t get anywhere.

Sadly, much of today’s Yiddishkeit is devoid of true spiritual connection to a alarming degree. We are far too busy with external trappings, the glamour and glitz, the photos and publicity, the size of weddings and other events. The individual connection to Hashem was never determined by a grade on a test/bechina, and one’s choice of work versus learning tells you nothing about their commitment to Torah and its values.

OTD kids are escaping a life in which they felt rejected. It is rarely an intellectual challenge. They cannot tolerate remaining in a world where boundaries are perceived as constraints, where any deviation from an arbitrary norm is labeled as defective, and where one is cookie cut into a pattern that is incongruous with ones set of strengths and weaknesses. Success and failure is judged by external criteria, and is a flagrant violation of חנוך לנער על פי דרכו.

The attributions of OTD issues to internet are not laughable, they are pitifully wrong. I know a huge number of OTD kids, and have never, ever met one who “went off” because of internet. They went to that address after they “left” because they would not be rejected, and could at least entertain themselves.

Until we make Torah and Mitzvos something that our kids enjoy and value, we will continue to watch youth seek solace and acceptance everywhere else. And as long as we fail miserably in doing that with everyone, we will definitely get nowhere trying to entice an OTD kid to reconsider Yiddishkeit.