Media Awareness and A Review of “I Kissed a Girl”

As parents it is vitally important that we purposefully engage with our children and other youth in helping them develop the ability to interact with all forms of media (such as T.V., music, Internet, etc…) from a Biblical perspective (i.e. Christian Worldview).  Likewise, it is crucial for youth to learn how to engage all forms of media from a Biblical perspective.  For example, if we as parents simply tell our children not to watch certain programs, but never provide them with the ability to make that decision themselves, then we are doing them a seriouis injustice.  Moreover, if youth are mindlessly watching and listening to whatever they please, then I can guarantee you that you will become what you are feeding on (same principle as eating, you are what you eat!)

There are two reasons that I have been thinking about this.  First, I just recently started a facebook page for myself and have been stupefied by how many people claim that they are “Christians,” yet post countless pictures of themselves drinking, partying, and what character from Sex and the City best represents them. 

Secondly, my wife and I were…

What’s the big deal about young people being responsible?

First I must confess that my oldest son and I have finished reading the first 3 chapters of Do Hard Things!  Peyton is 10 and has really enjoyed the book so far.  He may participate with us in the discussion. 

Second, has anyone stopped to think after reading any of the book, “What’s the big deal about young people being responsible?” “Why is this so important?”  In his book titled, The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen, Robert Epstein said had the following to say about the importance of responsibility,

In a word, it’s because responsibility brings out our best.  Responsibility is a powerful motivator.  It makes us push ourselves harder, perform better, and care more.  Without responsibility, most people turn to jelly (pg. 284).

Not only is this the case, but Dr. Epstein quotes studies that confirm “Young people who have learned to handle responsibility are more effective in their lives…[and] that the younger we are when we learn to handle responsibility, the greater the sense of social responsibility we have as teens” (pg. 285). 

Responsibility elicits the best from children, young adults, and adults.  It seems as if it can be compared to the carrot on the stick before the donkey.  It is there before us, beckoning us closer, to push harder, perform better, and to care more for others rather than ourselves.  

In quoting M. Scott Peck (as found in Dr. Epstein’s book pg. 285),

Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and our wisdom.  It is only because of problems that we’ve grown mentally and spiritually.

By substituting responsbility with problems we would be lead to conclude the same thing. 

On a final note about taking responsibility, consider…

Are we not allowing our kids to grow up? Part 2

In my first post with the same title I addressed this issue by introducing the question, “Are we creating an environment that encourages a young person’s maturation, independence, and productivity, or are we creating an environment that further extends their childhood years of dependency, leisure, and laziness to the point that many believe they will earn a living as a professional Middle School student?” 

With this question in mind we looked at the recent notion of adolescence and its psychological affects upon young people and our Western society by postponing adulthood to an undetermined point in the future yet to be determined. 

But this has not always been the case.  Young people have not always been placed in such a non-influential position.  If we were to look back into history and observe a few select cases today, we would discover that “young people often accomplished great things” (Robert Epstein, The Case Against Adolescence, pg. 13).  In my opinion, young people are still capable of doing so today. 

With this in mind we’re going to look into 1 Timothy 4.12 and the call of God to young people in breaking this societal hold of low expectations and responsibility.  For my next post we will look at this passage and the call of God to the Christian community in not looking down upon the youthfulness of young people.  For now, let’s look at the former of the two points.          

In 1 Timothy 4.12 we read…

Are we not allowing our kids to grow up?

Back in January of this year I posted a blog titled, “Are our kids growing up to fast?”    In a general gist, I dealt with the issue of allowing our children certain priviledges without them having an adequate maturity level to handle them.  For example, purchasing them a car and allowing them to drive or allowing them to spend a lot of unsupervised time with a member of the opposite sex in a dating relationship.   

Over the past several weeks I have been considering a similar topic with a twist, “Are we not allowing our kids grow up?”  At first glance this question may seem as if it is posed only to parent(s) and guardian(s).  However, this question is much deeper than that and has many more implications than just for the family.  The answer to this question concerns teachers, church leaders, youth workers, public and private schools, YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, and churches to just name a few. 

What do you think?  Are we not allowing our kids to grow up?  Are we creating an environment that encourages their maturation, independence, and productivity or are we creating an environment that futher extends their childhood years of dependency, leisure, and laziness to the point that many believe they will earn a living as a professional Middle School student?

                                                                      

Some argue, such as Robert Esptein in his book titled, The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen said that…

amusing ourselves to death

It’s amazing how much “bad” news is reported each and every single week.  Personally, I keep up on national and international events through foxnews.com (yes, I know that I should read the local paper more than I do).  With everything that occurred last week there was one particular story that struck me. 

This past week in Olathe, Kansas, Fox News reported of a 16-year-old teenager who was killed in a fight (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,329827,00.html).  As far as I can gather from the article there were no weapons used of any-kind and the youth lost his life through the injuries that he received. 

This is a terrible tragedy that would not only shock ones family and friends, but a community as well.  But with everything that occurred last week on a much larger scale, why did I decide to write about this particular event?

Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers

For the new year, I planned on reading at least one book per month that deals with either parenting, family, or youth issues.  For January I have been reading a book by Mark Regnerus titled “Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers.” 

The author is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin.  Considering that he is a sociologist, the findings of his work is based upon extensive research that he has done, as well as others.  Some of the leading questions that he sought to answer are: How exactly does religion contribute to the formation of teenagers sexual values and actions?  What difference, if any, does religion make in adolescents sexual attitudes and behaviors?  Are abstinence pledges effective?  What does it mean to be “emotionally ready” for sex?  Who expresses regret about their sexual activity? 

“Robo-Tripping” on Cough and Cold Medicine

What I am about to share is something that I have been aware of several years, spanning back to my teenage days.  It is something that is called “robo tripping.”

I was reminded of “Robo-Tripping” by reading a headline article found on FoxNews.com titled “Robo-Tripping on the Rise“

But what exactly is “robo-tripping?” 

“Robo-tripping” gets its name from those that would overuse an over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medicine called Robitussin.  Knowing how nasty some of the cough and cold medicines taste, why in the world would anyone want to drink so much of it?

are our kids growing up too fast?

My wife and I have been receiving a copy of the Focus on the Family’s monthly newsletter for a short period of time.  In January’s issue there is an article titled, “All in Due Time: Is your child growing up too fast?” by Jeanette Gardner Littleton. 

It is a great article that discusses the issues surrounding what materials (such as cell phones, cars, and computers) we give and what privileges (such as Internet use, make-up, and dating) we allow our children. 

Jeanette basically asks the questions, “When should we give and allow our children to have and experience certain things?”  Is it appropriate for our children to have cell phones?  If so, when?  Does an 8 year old need one?  What about driving.  Do our children automatically deserve a car and driving privileges at the age of 16?  How about computers?  Should our children be allowed to have one in their room with an Internet connection?  Should they be allowed to have participate in on-line communities such as Myspace or Facebook?  What about jobs and personal bank accounts?  Also, should they have a television in their room with an extensive cable connection that gives them access to hundreds of channels and programs? 

These questions simply scratch the surface of the issue. 

Jeanette provides the following questions for us to consider when considering giving our children things or allowing them certain privileges:

“choking game” a deadly trend

Just a few moments ago I was running on the treadmill at the local YMCA.  While I was running, I had the luxury of watching a news program.  The title of the news program was, “Choking Game: A Deadly Trend.” 

Personally, this is the first time that I heard about the game.  Basically, the choking game is when someone personally chokes themselves or allows a friend to choke them.  The person is choked until they pass out and lose consciousness. 

After shaking my head in disbelief, I was curious to know why someone would do such a thing.  If anyone has ever choked before, such as I have, it doesn’t produce such a good feeling.  Also, I would not consider someone a good friend that would get a kick out of choking me. 

“choking game” a deadly trend

Just a few moments ago I was running on the treadmill at the local YMCA.  While I was running, I had the luxury of watching a news program.  The title of the news program was, “Choking Game: A Deadly Trend.” 

Personally, this is the first time that I heard about the game.  Basically, the choking game is when someone personally chokes themselves or allows a friend to choke them.  The person is choked until they pass out and lose consciousness. 

After shaking my head in disbelief, I was curious to know why someone would do such a thing.  If anyone has ever choked before, such as I have, it doesn’t produce such a good feeling.  Also, I would not consider someone a good friend that would get a kick out of choking me.