Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens
The teens I see on the internet everyday are truly truly awful. The Mormon teens I met at this weekend’s Hill Cumorah Pageant were wonderful. What’s the deal?
A group of teens from the cast of the Hill Cumorah Pageant takes a photo before getting into costume.
As part of my job as a BuzzFeed editor, I spend a lot of time looking at how teens are using the internet and reading what they’re posting. Technology has given me a window into teens’ lives, through social media, messageboards, and other sites. None of these things existed or were popular when I was a teen, so I’m completely unable to relate their complicated experience of portaying oneself online. They seem like they’re from another planet. A totally awful, narcissistic, sex-crazed, petulant, parent-disrespecting, cyber-bullying planet that has no rules of grammar.
The teenagers I met at the Hill Cumorah Pageant, a large event in upstate New York where volunteers act out the Book of Mormon, were nothing like the hormone-addled monsters I’ve seen online. They were polite, friendly, well-spoken around adults, and even appeared to enjoy spending family time with their parents. What the h*ck? These are not the teenagers I see begging Justin Beiber to follow them on Twitter, these aren’t the ones posting embarrassing sex questions to Yahoo Answers.
These are Good Teens.
What is it about Mormonism that makes teens so ruly? Setting aside the actual religious doctrine, there must be something about the culture of Mormonism that makes young people not as boorish as their wayward peers. Perhaps the tendancy of Mormons to have large families means older kids learn responsibility by babysitting younger kids, and younger kids have siblings as roles models. Participation in frequent church youth group activities means keeping out of trouble. For young children, Sunday school means extra hours of learning, perhaps giving kids a boost in reading skills and academic advantages. Interacting with other adults at church means teens become socialized and comfortable around adults - something that sounds small, but goes a long way.
Here are a few examples of the difference between the teens I met at the Pageant, and the kind of behavior I see daily on the Internet.
3. Mormon Teen: loves spending quality time with his parents
6. Internet Teen: unironicly complains about having a maid
7. Mormon Teens: friends with members of the opposite gender
9. Mormon Teens: practiced their choreography for their role as dancers
These two girls were Nephite dancers.
10. Internet Teens: dirty dancing in bikinis on video
11. Mormon Teen: gets dressed up for family-friendly religious pageant
17. Mormon Teens: attending Pageant with their youth group
19. Mormon Teens: friendly and outgoing
These two were happy to talk with me, very polite and sweet.
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- HR Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens and thinks it’s Win
- ariannar3 Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens and thinks it’s Win
- RuPaulus thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Trashy, Ew & Fail
- andrewjt1 thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- dirtyzombie thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- tiagol thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Win, Fail & Trashy
- keenam thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is LOL
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- robota thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- lyond Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens and thinks it’s WTF & Fail
- Alejandra Villa thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
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- teknogeek thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- chateaub thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Win
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nutella95 9 months agoIm not mormon, Im agnostic. But I do know a lot of mormons, sure they judge and are very annoying at times, I dont know why everyone has to be so rude. Just because someone wants to be religious does not mean they are stupid. And quite frankly, Atheists are always trying to push their little beliefs down my throat just like the mormon missionaries, and no matter how much I dont want to see it, I see atheists commenting on everything on the internet. I have seriously had enough of their stupid opinions everywhere on the internet. What do you do stay at home all day and ridicule people? Just because you dont believe in a God, does not mean you have the right to critisize people who do, or make you smarter then anyone else. You are all unrefined, undeducated,poorly cultured people. Religion never caused wars or chaos, Ignorance did. So stop being so hypocritical,prententious, rude and ignorant. Please and thank you.
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- Krista G. thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- torleifs thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail & LOL
- Phish Phingaz thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Win
- Chrischvz thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- Gaby MC thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is WTF
- mlw Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens and thinks it’s Ew, Fail & WTF
- tpainmurder thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- vikka thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail & LOL
- Kris B. thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Win
- Tess Moore thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- Daria J. thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
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- beckyc3 thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
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- wonderfaux thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail & LOL
- laurens32 thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- Lololnine Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens and thinks it’s Fail
- kelseym8 thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- your mom thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is LOL
- Fyre thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- matthewb35 thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is LOL
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- anastasia thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is LOL
- GregMattSwan Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens and thinks it’s Ew, Fail & LOL
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thebestwelk 10 months agoI’m guessing most of you fall in the “internet teens” catergory to be so ignorant.
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- MissPepperpot Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens and thinks it’s WTF, Fail & LOL
- arielm6 Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens and thinks it’s WTF, Trashy & Fail
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- sammiilouise Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens
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- sarahb19 thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
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feistychick 10 months agoI’m hoping this is a joke…this article really isn’t trying to convince us that all Mormon teens are good and pure and every other teen is immoral, rude, and dirty…is it? Other people are taking this seriously, and I don’t blame them, but a part of me thinks this post is satire and making fun of people who make generalizations…right? …
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emilyc23 10 months agoWe can do the whole cherry-picked examples thing too Buzzfeed. Mormon teens: Tell gay peers they’re going to hell.
Internet teens: Donates to kickstarter project.
Mormon teens: Want dead Jews converted.
Internet teens: Encourages love and tolerance with pony memes.
See? It’s easy. -
- emilyc23 thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
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davidw15 10 months agoDon’t believe the hype. Mormon teens are just like other teens, except they’re more likely to be against gay marriage. I’m an agnostic atheist now, but I grew up a very active Mormon (even went on a mission). How wonderful were my Mormon peers? In middle school and high school, I very much preferred the company of my liberal and agnostic friends, because they were less judgmental, less hypocritical, and less likely to have a bully mentality. The silver lining: As many of the previous posters have already pointed out, these Mormon teens were on their best behavior because they were under family supervision at a church PR event. Who knows what they think or how they feel when they’re not being watched? Statistically, many of these teens are going to leave the LDS Church as soon as they go off to college. These Mormon teens, like most of the internet teens you quoted, will have an ethical growth spurt — just like the rest of us had to go through before we became adults.
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- Josh Fjelstad thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- maritania thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Win
- Alyssa Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens and thinks it’s Fail & Trashy
- johna20 thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- jennakaylu thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is OMG
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- Leron V thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- Ness1104 thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- michou83 thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
- hvitur thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail
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- unsarahmonious thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is LOL & Fail
- Barenakedness thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is OMG
- pigletinboots thinks Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens is Fail & WTF
- LionessFeathers Mormon Teens Vs. Internet Teens
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Catphrey Bogart 10 months agoAs someone who grew up in SLC, this is a joke. For every one of these goodie goodie mormon kids in this article there were just as many Mormon douchebags. They’re no different than kids in any other faith.
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