Bumper Leaders

I previously wrote about Bumper People in the context of gently integrating young people into the decision making structures of a church or denomination.

But, there's another place where bumper people are required.

Youth group.

The reason?

Teens (and young adults for that matter!) can have difficulty flirting.

In fact, especially for guys, teenage flirting can quickly stomp into creepy-town.

So, when it's noticed that a guy (or group of guys) has their eye on a particular lass, it's a good idea to flag a couple of bumper leaders.

A leader, of either gender, who can keep an eye on and ear out for anything too awkward or inappropriate.

The advantage of employing both male and female bumper leaders is that either teen, flirtee or flirter, can be distracted/misdirected and it not be too obvious what's going on.

As powerful as the female attraction can be, the worst result would be for it to backfire because a wannabe Lothario hasn't nailed down his flirting technique and engages all the pick-up advice his gathered from the Internet.