I was told to watch Degrassi: The Next Generation tonight by a friend.  Part of the show focused on the school’s Christian youth club and its interesting dynamics.  Some members of the group were clearly Christian and the other part were either there for fun or were searching, as is the case in many Christian youth groups.  I was encouraged to see a mainstream TV show allow Christian content, and even more encouraged to see that they were realistic in portraying the struggles that many teens face — number one being peer pressure.  One of the girls (Darcy) appeared to have some understanding of the Christian and wanted to walk her faith.  Her boyfriend was Spinner, who didn’t understand the Christian faith and was satisfied with partying and enjoying the pleasures of the flesh.

As the story unfolded, we saw that Darcy was afraid of losing Spinner to some other girl.  They snuck away from the rest of group and she was prepared to "go all the way" in order to keep him.  Thankfully, it stopped there, when Spinner had his epiphany.  He found out that a friend of his (Jay), encouraged this thought and ultimately wanted to ruin the relationship.

The show ended with Spinner and Darcy recognizing that they were obviously too young to be engaging in any sort of relationship that was beyond shaking hands.  I was happy to see that Degrassi continues to be a show that is upfront and in-your-face about issues today, but also that they didn’t attempt to show all of the Christian teens as hypocrites who want forgiveness for partying and having sex.

(I think I still may be a closet-fan of Degrassi)