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| Do Hard Things |
By Jane Rohman
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Here's a press release on Alex and Brett
... and you can read an excerpt from the Do Hard Things, here
At the age of 16, Alex and Brett Harris served as the youngest Supreme Court interns on record in the state of Alabama.
At the age of 17, Alex and Brett Harris launched www.TheRebelution.com, now one of the most trafficked Christian teen websites on the Internet with over 16 million hits since August 2006.
At the age of 18, Alex and Brett Harris launched The Rebelution Tour, their conference series that’s being well received across this country and internationally in Japan. And on April 15, 2008, at the age of 19, Alex and Brett Harris published their first book, Do Hard Things—A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations (Multnomah, a division of Random House, www.DoHardThings.com).
With a foreword written by Chuck Norris, Do Hard Things is the handbook for “rebelutionaries”—teens who are rebelling against the low expectations of their culture and reaching for their God-given potential.
The twins message: Young people should reject the idea that their teen years are a vacation from responsibility and put their energies into working on real life challenges.
Launched in 2005, the rebelution movement started out as a blog that later became a website and burgeoning Christian youth conference series.
Is it possible that...
...even though teens today have more freedom than any other generation in history, they're actually missing out on some of the best years of their lives?
...what our culture says about the purpose and potential of the teen years is a lie and young people are its victims?
...our teen years give us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for huge accomplishments—as individuals and as a generation?
As Alex and Brett have observed, “By simply being willing to break the mold of what society thinks teens are capable of, we’ve seen ‘average’ teenagers transformed into world-changers who are accomplishing incredible things.”
Never intending to launch a movement three years ago, the twins originally just wanted to blog about some of the ideas they had after a summer of heavy reading at the request of their father, Gregg Harris, a well known homeschool advocate and speaker.
As one US newspaper reported just three weeks after it launched, “Most high schoolers’ blogs are the online equivalent of perfumed diaries or locker room walls—outlets for teens to gossip, confess, and network with their pals. But a pair of 16-year-old home-schooled twins from Oregon are out to change that.”
By the end of the first week, fellow teens were leaving comments saying that Alex and Brett were putting what they were feeling into words. They were asking questions and wanting more.
"Most were just curious that there was group of teens actually looking for responsibility, but a lot of people stuck around, and heavy traffic didn’t interrupt the real discussion that was going on," they note.
The brothers continued to blog on such topics as “the myth of adolescence.” Along the way, they introduced the concept of “do hard things,” defined as:
• Things that are outside your comfort zone.
• Things that go beyond what is expected or required.
• Things that are too big to accomplish alone.
• Things that don’t earn an immediate pay off.
• Things that challenge the cultural norm.
Filled with biblical insights, history, the authors’ personal experiences, contemporary youth culture, and the stories of thousands of teens who are choosing a better way, Do Hard Things reveals:
• The crippling myth of adolescence and how to break free from its constraints
• How much young people limit their own potential and how great that potential can be
• How to use the teen years as the training ground and launching pad for the rest of life
A real-life portrait of what is possible for teens when character, competence, and collaboration—the three pillars of the Rebelution—join forces, you’ll also meet fellow rebelutionaries across the U.S., including:
• In Georgia, Conner Cress who started Dry Tears with his friends Dan Mirolli, Jared Ciervo, Kyle Blakey, and Logan Weber, their ages range from 15 to 17 years old. Raising money for wells and to spread awareness about the need for clean water in Africa, they raised over $20,000 in 2007 with 90 percent of the support coming from other teens and plan to establish Dry Tears chapters across America.
• In Mississippi, Brantley Gunn founded the non-profit charity Students Aiding Indigent Families (SAIF), which purchases dilapidated houses in the Jackson area and recruits students to repair them. SAIF then helps arrange bank financing for the new owners, which are usually single moms. Since its launch three years ago SAIF has attracted more than 200 students.
• In Oregon, Leslie and Lauren Reavely, 14 and 11 years old, burdened by the plight of the homeless launched Hope 2 Others (H2O) to provide homeless people with necessity items along with the good news of the gospel.
• In Colorado, 17-year-old Brittany Lewin successfully headed up former U.S. Congressman Bob Schaffer’s All-Youth Campaign, as campaign manager for his run for re-election to the state board of education.
• And Zach Hunter, also from Georgia, who at 13 years old launched Loose Change to Loosen Chains (LC2LC) to put an end to modern day slavery. Spokesperson for the Amazing Change campaign that ran worldwide, he has since written two books, appeared on national television, and given a speech at the White House.
Do Hard Things reshapes how we think about adolescence and will have a lasting impact on present and future generations for years to come.
MORE ABOUT ALEX AND BRETT HARRIS
ALEX AND BRETT HARRIS live near Portland, Oregon. They are the recipients of six national championships in high school speech and debate, frequent authors for Focus On The Family's online publication, Boundless Webzine, and main speakers for The Rebelution Tour.
Launched in June 2007, tour events have been held in Sacramento, Denver, Dallas, Indianapolis, and Tokyo. In 2008, The Rebelution Do Hard Things Tour is headed to seven cities, including: Charlotte, NC (April 5), Portland (May 3), Denver (May 31), Minneapolis (June 21), Dallas (June 28), Des Moines, IA (July 19), and Baltimore, MD (July 26). Events are attended by teens, young adults, and parents. In addition, the twins will be traveling to Del Mar, CA (May 23-25) for Spirit West Coast and to Lindale, TX (July 17) for Exalt 2008 Teen Mania Extreme Camps. For details and an up to date schedule of events, visit www.DoHardThings.com.
Sons of homeschool pioneers Gregg and Sono Harris and younger brothers of best-selling author Joshua Harris (I Kissed Dating Goodbye), Alex and Brett plan to enter college together in the fall of 2008—and continue to write, speak, and blog.
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