Quarantine and restriction takes one key thing away from teens’ lives: hanging out. Whether it is going out for a meal, to the mall or just hanging out at someone’s house, time with friends is an important part of young people’s lives. Now that has been taken away for the foreseeable future. With that in mind, make sure you are making space for your young people to simply hang out.

Create a standing time in a virtual space for students to get online with their friends and simply chat. If a daily meet-up is not feasible for your schedule, make sure you at least make it a part of your regular youth group time at the beginning or end of your meeting. It is important for your students to be heard and seen, and you can give them this space to share about what that is going on in their world. As you make space for structured meetings, make sure to also make space to just hang out.