Smarkle

For teens and young adults

Some of the best ideas a family tries come home with you

If you're a teen or a young adult and something here caught your eye, this corner is yours. Plenty of good things a family ends up doing started with someone your age saying, “Can we look at this?”

Everything here is built to help you bring it to your parents, never to go around them. They lead your home. You can still bring a good idea to the table.

A father and his teenage daughter talk on a wooden porch at sunset, with mountains and a lake behind them.
A teenage boy in an apron tosses a salad at the kitchen counter while his mother watches with a cup of tea.
A teenage boy planes a timber board in a woodshop while his grandfather leans in beside him, watching.

Three ways to begin

  1. Read

    Essays written to you

    How to bring an idea home, what it looks like to be needed, and the steps of growing trust seen from your side.

    Read the essays
  2. Share

    A page for your parents

    One sheet to print or show on your phone: what Smarkle is, why it caught your eye, and room for your own words.

    Open the page
  3. Suggest

    What would you want to see?

    Tell the people building Smarkle what would make it better for someone your age. Only your idea is kept.

    Leave an idea

From the Journal

Written to you, not about you

Some of the best ideas a family tries come home with its young adults.

  1. You noticeSomething worth trying
  2. You bring itAs a gift, not a demand
  3. TogetherYour family decides

All the essays for young adults

Growing up

The steps ahead, from your side

Smarkle families grow trust one step at a time, and the steps your age are some of the best. Here is what each one means for you. Your family may keep different ages, and that's theirs to choose.

  1. Twelve

    Apprentice

    You come to know“Other good adults invest in me.”

    They say“Work beside me.”

  2. Fourteen

    Jurisdiction

    You come to know“This is mine to make work.”

    They say“You handle this.”

  3. Sixteen

    Trust

    You come to know“I can be trusted with freedom and its consequences.”

    They say“I trust you to make this work.”

  4. Eighteen

    Adult

    You come to know“I am an adult. I own my direction.”

    They say“What are you building?”

  5. Twenty-one

    Household

    You come to know“I can run an adult life: home, money, health, relationships, faith, work.”

    They say“What do you need from us?”

See all nine steps

How this corner works

Built to send you home, not around

  • Your parents lead your home

    Nothing here asks you to keep a secret, start anything alone, or win an argument. The aim is a good conversation with the people who love you.

  • No account, no sign-up

    There's nothing to join. You can read everything here without telling us who you are.

  • Only your idea is kept

    The suggestion box keeps your idea and the day it came. An email is optional, only for thirteen and older, and only so we can reply.

Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12