A recent development at Fort Dodge Middle School reveals a promising truth: If you give kids something constructive and interesting to do, they will go for it even if it doesn’t involve staring into a screen for hours on end.

That development is the debut of a new chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It has attracted more than 100 students. It is so popular that more than one meeting a week may be held.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes describes itself as “an interdenominational Christian sports ministry to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.” It was established in 1954, but it is new to the middle school.

Getting it started there was the idea of Dalton Summers, a behavior interventionist at the middle school who is a 2020 graduate of Fort Dodge Senior High School. He is now the adviser for the group.

Summers figured a maximum of 40 kids would come out for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was stunned when 150 showed up for the first meeting.

A surprisingly high level of interest isn’t the only thing he has observed since the group debuted.

“I’ve seen a lot of behavior changes for the better,” he told The Messenger recently.

The success of Fellowship of Christian Athletes ought to prompt some reflection for both adults and younger people.

Adults who have children and teens in their lives ought to think about how to broaden their horizons in ways that get them in touch with the world beyond their computers and phones. We encourage creative ideas for doing that because one can ever apparently be sure what will interest and energize young people. After all, few would have guessed that Fellowship of Christian Athletes would be so popular.

And we encourage our younger readers to check out different groups and activities. It is true that Fellowship of Christian Athletes may not be the right fit for everyone. But there are many other activities at school, church and elsewhere. Check them out. We can say a lot of things about how different experiences will help you grow as a person, but for now we will just say that getting involved will be a lot of fun.