Sometimes a contrast can be so extreme and striking that it has a profound impact on you. The last week or so has been a classic example.

Like everybody else I have recently been watching pictures of teenagers (mainly) tearing our country apart. The media has labelled this generation of teenagers a “lost cause” and blame their cultural upbringing and communication medias for the anarchy we have seen in London.

After the steady diet of horror stories we have been fed it came as a stark contrast to arrive at Soul Survivor. Soul Survivor is a Christian festival for young people. 8,000 young people camping at the Bath and West Showground while participating in seminars, social action and worship.

In contrast to your preconceptions.

The atmosphere is so strange here. It feels wrong. Its so divorced from the image we are fed of young people as mindless thugs out for themselves. You feel like you should fear for your life as gangs of teenagers rampage around the place playing silly games, shouting and generally being rowdy. However, in actual fact it feels an amazingly safe, friendly place. Everybody is enthusiastic, caring and friendly (overly so sometimes in my humble opinion!). There is a sense of comradeship, family and putting others first.

Of course the fact that the vast majority of those here are Christians, almost certainly makes a difference. The peer pressure of the Christian faith will no doubt temper the greater excesses of teenager behaviour. However, I don’t believe such behaviour is limited to ‘nice middle class christian kids’.

Teenagers have deep passion.

I have run a youth group for 4 1/2 years now and the vast majority of those kids I have met are not Christian. Some have had severe learning difficulties and others have been thrown out of school for violence. However, without exception I have found good inside of them and many have shown me exceptional kindness.

My belief is that teenagers can be some of the most energetic, passionate, enthusiastic people you ever would wish to meet. I also believe they can be the most caring too. Feelings run deep among teenagers and I have seen them weep over child slavery in Asia and go without food and even shelter to raise money for the homeless of the world. They are extraordinary. However, too often they are pigeon holed by the media and so those who do not regularly interact with them, fear them because of what they have read or seen on TV.

Do you avoid teenagers?

I have watched people cross the street when they see a bunch of teenagers. Why? Do you cross the street when you see a group of old people? The only reason is because of prejudices we have, nurtured by media stories about extreme cases.

Yes, teenagers are different to you and me but they are not the enemy. In many ways they put us to shame. I certainly wouldn’t make some of the sacrifices I have seen them make to help others. I am too used to my creature comforts.

And so I come to the end of my time leading a youth group. However, I do so not because of the teenagers. I do so because so few are willing to help this group and so we have done so alone for too long. Where adults have let us down, I have always received nothing but love and support from the teenagers I work with. That in itself is very telling.

It is generally accepted belief that form should follow function. In other words, it is more important to make a product work effectively than it is to define how it looks. Not that appearances are unimportant, but rather they should not negatively impact function.

Of course in the real world there are lots of examples of form coming before function. Fashion is a good example of this. I was sitting in a beer garden yesterday watching a large group of women arrive for what I can only guess was a hen night. One woman stopped by a table and removed her practical walking shoes and replace them with a pair of high heeled stilettos. She could barely make the remaining few feet to meet with her friends wearing the most impractical shoes. However she obviously felt that form trumped function. She believed that the extra height these shoes provided and the changes they made to her posture, made the sacrifices of the functionality worthwhile.

Before I come across as patronising towards this poor woman who struggled in obvious pain to wear the shoes, it is important to stress that I know no better. Take for example my latest iPhone case.

The Book Book iPhone case

The Book Book iPhone case is a thing of beauty. It resembles a leather bound book which is indeed made from real leather, handstitched and expertly distressed to give it an aged feel. It smells right (with that beautiful old books smell), feels right and has the perfect look. The form is all there. However, the functionality leaves something to be desired.

The sacrifices for form

You have to make sacrifices for this amazing form. 

Firstly, it feels slightly awkward holding the phone to your ear without removing it from the case. You have to bend the front cover back which doesn’t sit particularly comfortably.

Secondly, taking photographs is a bit of a nightmare. The manufacturers decided that in order to maintain the form of a beautifully distressed leather book they would not accommodate a cutout for the camera in the back cover. Their promotional material suggests all you need to do to take a photograph is pull a small tab and the camera slides up from the case.

Not totally impractical

However, on the flip side the Book Book case has some nice features I love. Because it is a book it has a front cover that protects the screen. This is my 1st such case and I have to say I much prefer it. I seem to spend my whole life worrying about scratching the screen and that is no longer a concern. I have tried various transparent films that you place over the screen. However, these normally end up making the screen look worse than if it was scratched.

The 2nd thing I like about the Book Book case is that it doubles as a wallet. Some people have expressed concern that keeping your credit cards and your phone in the same place is just making theft all the more easy. Although I can understand this point of view, personally the benefits outweigh the negatives. I never forget to take my phone anywhere and so now I know I always have my money and cards with me. Furthermore there is now less to carry around in my pockets.

I am happy for form to trump function

To be honest, even if the Book Book case did not have these nice practical elements I would still continue to use it. Ultimately the beautiful form overcomes the functional weaknesses. It is so amazing to look at and hold that I really do not care that is not the most practical of cases. Perhaps I’m not so different to that woman in her stiletto heels after all.

If you are like me and value things of beauty then in this case is for you. However, you’re going to have to wait about 4 weeks until it is released in the UK. Also, if you are considering purchasing an iPhone 5 when it is released then you might wish to hold off on buying this case as it will almost certainly not fit your new phone.

Of course, you might wish to cast caution to the wind and buy anyway. After all, we all deserve beautiful things in our lives ;-)