Read aloud from a recent periodical that alludes to something they have just learned in their Bible, history, or literature class. Then ask them whether they would have understood this without the background knowledge they have just acquired. You can use the consequences of the attitudes and actions of these people to motivate change in students' behavior. Effective teaching can lead at least some students to avoid or correct character flaws. Virtues can be shown as goals to strive for.
Christian education is far more than equipping young people for a job or a career.
Neither we nor they can know what lies ahead. We must help them realize that life is not something out there in the future that they must prepare to live. Life is now. Students have more mental and physical energy now than they probably will ever have again. Adults, in our desire to see students succeed, may be largely responsible for their feeling that school is not real life.