In the past, there was significant resistance to youths' work in several Brazilian Spiritist centers. This resistance was caused by the unreasonable opinion of some confreres, as opinion leaders, or motivated by the fear of having in the Spiritist center a type of activity independent of other common meetings, or even because they were not prepared to deal with young people. Indeed, it was a time when study groups were uncommon in Spiritist centers, especially in the Brazilian rural areas, a time when lectures were predominant. Therefore, many leaders forbade the work of young people in the Spiritist centers.

When the work of the Spiritist centers became unified, the opening to Spiritist youth began, together with the growing number of youths attending these centers, as well as the increasing number of study groups, organized or not (besides normal lectures activity), as well as related tasks in centers that did not have this kind of work.

Considering the improvement and increase of the activities undertaken by a Spiritist center, this step was obviously an important achievement, a success of the Spiritist Movement. However, the Spiritist youth's work, as all the others in a Spiritist center, has its potential, as well as difficulties, peculiarities and risks, which must be managed and carefully analyzed by the Spiritist Movement's leaders in the same way as is done with mediumship and dispossession meetings, child evangelization, fluidic work, fraternal assistance, lectures, social assistance and so on. 

Youth and training workers - There is an additional problem regarding the Spiritist youth's meetings, when compared to the other meetings, mainly those directed to an adult audience. When working with young people the main purpose is to train future Spiritist workers. In fact, child evangelization, with rare and special exceptions, has been much more focused on moral education. Even though there is some emphasis on some doctrinal content, considering the age of the target audience, we have to admit that the setting and understanding of the contents will only occur from pre-youth onwards (also known as the first cycle of youths' meetings), which includes pre-teens with a minimum of 10 to 11 years of age.

Therefore, even though a youngster is born in a Spiritist family, and is acquainted with the Gospel and child evangelization classes, the Spiritist youth's meetings will have an important influence in his personal development as a teenager, while a Spiritist militant. We cannot ignore the "Teenage Crisis, which may cause serious existential impact.

Within this context, we must remember that many Spiritist parents (and often leaders of the Spiritist movement too) fail in having their children attend the Spiritist center. Parents and leaders have not made the required effort to handle, improve, and change this serious and longstanding circumstance in the Spiritist movement. 

Let us analyze this matter in order to improve the situation and the use of strategies for this purpose.

Two fundamental conditions are to be followed: the meetings should be pleasant and interesting so that the young people attend them more often, gradually assuming a commitment to the Spiritist center and movement. Moreover, the meetings should always focus on the Spiritist doctrine, thus allowing a constant development in the doctrine. 

What cannot lack in a group of youths - A "tiresome" gathering of Spiritist youth, and a non-charismatic approach by the coordinators, will hardly succeed. There will not be enough appeal to interest a group of teenagers, even if it contains a high doctrinal focus (if it does, perhaps the most committed and idealistic will remain, but the group will not grow significantly).

On the other hand, a group of solid doctrinal studies, but with no charisma, and without an approach minimally interesting and motivating for the young, shall only capture a minimal number of young people, at best.

There are groups without any of the two mentioned pre-requisites and they are doomed to apathy and extinction. As previously mentioned, there are other groups too doctrinaire, but without the proper environment for young people, thus not stimulating nor motivating, so important especially at this age. Obviously, there are groups that have the two prerequisites and have potential for success. However, other groups with the pretext of attracting young people, or according to their leaders' own ideology, create their own dynamics, very appealing to young people and can even keep the meetings full of goers for a time. However, at average and long term, they are unlikely to train new Spiritist workers, because they do not focus on Spiritism itself.

Of course, we are not claiming that such groups cannot provide some indirect contribution to the Spiritist movement, but we cannot overlook that they are still far from the true Spiritist proposal.

Firstly, it is important to make clear that the meeting of youths is a Spiritist meeting attended predominantly by young people (which does not exclude the eventual and many times welcome presence of older people) and not a meeting of young men who may eventually have some connection with Spiritism.

What is fundamental in Spiritist activities - The difference between the two cases in question is huge, even if apparently in a quick review confreres, with no experience in such work, disagree. In fact, young Spiritists, who are friends, may gather to discuss football, politics, education, music, behavior, sex, dating, social life, and many other subjects with or without some sort of Spirit connotation. Therefore, the youths' Spiritist meeting has more appropriate and more interesting features according to the age of the youths. Evangelical and doctrinal music, topics of interest to young people analyzed according to the Spiritist Doctrine and preferably through the study of Spiritist texts, recreational activities with an explicit evangelical and doctrinal background giving place to reflection about moral values and/or doctrinal concepts, are common practices and even welcome at a young people's Spiritist meeting. However, according to Raul Teixeira's recommendation, elaborated activities, such as, for example, rehearsal for the theater should never be time consuming in detriment of the youth's doctrinal study. Moreover, the plot of the play must be well chosen, with proper language, thus avoiding a doctrinal, moral, and artistic low-level work.

It is worth to mention again that it is a Spiritist meeting adapted to the modus vivendi of the young people, i.e., pedagogical resources suitable to the public in question (young audience), together with the teaching of Spiritism. Therefore, the Spiritist youth's meeting is not a meeting of young people who discuss a matter with Spiritist connotation, since this is the basic guideline for all Spiritist meetings. 

When the Spiritist group becomes a "boat adrift" - A young people's meeting at a Spiritist center is supposed to be a Spiritist youth's meeting and not just a youth's spiritual gathering. This difference may seem subtle, but it is significant and may influence the work in a negative way, because it does not equate serious spiritual issues experienced by the young, and it does not train new Spiritist workers.

Therefore, a meeting of young men with an eventual Spiritist approach can be, in reality, only a spiritualist meeting, and not exactly Spiritist. This type of approach can be a pretext for the study of a number of non-Spiritists authors in detriment of the Spiritist ones. Thus, what should be an exception can easily become a rule. Without a solid doctrinal guideline, the playful and pedagogical activities are meaningless and may degenerate into anything, because the "doctrinal ethics" is not present in a kind of "doctrinal relativism" and, therefore, in a "moral relativism." Moreover, the "activities" are always subjective, implying that the absence of an explicit doctrinal purpose can lead young people to conclude anything from the proposal in question, or simply conclude nothing, and end up by doing it solely for entertainment.

In this context, the work will be totally linked to the ideas of the opinion leaders in the group in question. If for great a stroke of luck, this group has a large number of young people, who are already conscious Spiritist militants, the doctrine can indirectly be preserved through the effective contribution of the individuals truly converted to Spiritism. However, if that is not the case, the group will be a "boat adrift" and they could distance themselves quite a lot from what one could expect from a real Spiritist group. 

The importance of having proper guidelines - We must remember that most of the times the youngster enters the Spiritist center as a pre-teen, and leaves it as an adult. If we do not watch his education background carefully, it can happen, for example, that an adult, who attended the Spiritist center for 10 years, may not yet have become a Spiritist.

Of course, this can always happen according to the free will of the individual and to the characteristics inherent in the formation of his personality, which occurs during his youth, but, obviously, the Spiritist center should not be negligent about this matter and strive for this not to happen.

Moreover, as Spiritists, we must be alert to the fascination caused by intellectual vanity, individualism and other spiritual conflicts, so common in discussions groups. They may lead us to the temptation of being original, even at the expense of the Spiritist Doctrine, and this goes for all Spiritist groups, including youths. Furthermore, the Spiritist centers usually suffer large negative spiritual pressures, despite the mentors' protection, so that in one way or another, the work and the Spiritist ideology can be destroyed, slowly and gradually.

As for the youths, who do not have proper doctrinal guidelines, if at least the group accepts the doctrinal inclusion of those young people and/or more committed participants, the course of the activities will temporarily reach the level of a Spiritist discussion. Otherwise, the Spiritist militants shall tend to slowly and gradually move away from the group, because of the non-acceptance of its postulates (spiritual affinity), and the group will tend to leave what could be a truly Spiritist group. 

Conflicts common to young people in general - It is important to note that youth is not a spiritual calm phase to be lived. Rather, it is one of the most important phases to the formation of character and consequently for the success of the reincarnating process of the reincarnating Spirit. Social, personal, educational, emotional, family, sexual conflicts, among others, are common to young people, and of course, the doctrinal support that the Spiritist center can provide is crucial to spiritual growth and thus to overcome the existential issues by the youngsters.

Refraining from providing the doctrinal content in a meeting or event with a Spiritist purpose is a serious onus on the part of those who embrace "semi-Spiritist" guidance, under the label of "Spiritist."

Moreover, by being negligent, we will not be helping young people providing them with the best resources available in Spiritism, allowing them to find the causes of their conflicts and, thus, minimizing them. Moreover, we will not be forming new Spiritist workers for the present and future of the Spiritist movement.

Emmanuel says, "the greatest charity we can practice in the name of the Spiritist doctrine is to disseminate it." This strongly suggests that we must live accordingly to the term "Spiritist" that we apply to ourselves, as in the institutions and events to which we attend.

The Master Jesus himself worked with youths, as Apostles of His message.

Thus, let us "watch" over so that the Spiritist center really becomes "The University of the Soul" for all classes and age groups, including Spiritist youths, a very important class for the construction of the present and the future spiritual work, aiming at the disclosure of the Consoler promised by Jesus.