A student leader leads students whether they are Christian or not. It is not simply enough to identify those that lead, but to identify those leaders that are Christian. For youth leaders it is important to be close enough to be able to tell what is at the students core. If this is my approach to student leadership then, how will the psycho-social development of adolescence guide that. I do believe that the development is important for understanding the individual student, but I am not convinced that it will guide my approach to student leadership.
Discipleship is a process as is the psycho-social development of a teenager.
As a person who is committed to making disciples of students and developing leaders I will factor in the psycho-social changes that bring about a mature student, but I can not let that drive my discipleship process. Those factors of development must come along side and only aid in my discipleship efforts of individual leaders not determine them. As I think of those students on my leadershp team there are some clear distinctions of those that lead students and those that lead leaders. Especially, those upper classmen, the juniors and seniors who lead the younger students that are sophmores and freshmen. I believe some are natural leaders and will lead no matter who is around them, but there are also developmental factors present.