Maple City Chapel Youth Group

Long but interesting read for future.

2011-09-08T14:54:00.003-04:00

My attention span was a little tired after reading this but I stuck through it so anybody could.

Marketing shift seen for Millennial generation

Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, August 22, 2011

In a recent survey of incoming college freshmen, 87 percent favored watching TV and movies online instead of subscribing to a cable service, while 76 percent spent more than an hour a day on Facebook.

Also, 75 percent sent more than 20 text messages per day and 58 percent used Twitter "all the time," yet only 5 percent planned to buy a PC.

Those students, who are starting their college life as soon as today, are the youngest of a tech-infused millennial generation who - in sharp contrast to Baby Boomers and other previous generations - no longer view a driver's license as a rite of passage into adulthood.

"For millennials, if you were to think about the thing that enables freedom and independence, it's your first cell phone, and it not happening when you're in your late teens or early 20s," said Ford Motor Co. futurist Sheryl Connelly. "It's probably happening in your preteen years,"

Connelly, the automaker's manager of global trends and futuring, headed a panel discussion last week at Twitter Inc. headquarters in San Francisco on how Ford was designing cars and marketing to appeal to the 16-to-32 age group known as the millennial generation.

At the same time, Mr Youth, a New York marketing services agency that specializes in studying the youth market, released results of a separate survey of 5,000 incoming college students who represent the graduating class of 2015.

Both Ford and Mr Youth presented similar insights into how technology - especially those produced by Bay Area companies like Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Pandora Media and Apple - are causing a cultural shift in the attitudes of the millennial generation.

To be sure, that generation has also been reshaped by nontech events. The class of 2015, for example, is an "innocence lost" generation forever changed by the sobering terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the economic recession at the end of the decade, said Matt Britton, Mr Youth founder and chief executive officer.

"This has conditioned them to not take anything for granted and appreciate the good things in life," the report said. They also view their parents as role models and are not as rebellious or antiestablishment as Boomers were.

They also believe that the technology at their fingertips gives them the ability to make a difference in the world and "empowered them with a sense that anything is possible if you are willing to work hard," the study said.

"This generation has grown up watching (Facebook co-founder) Mark Zuckerberg build one of the world's most valuable companies through social media. They have seen the influence that organized groups and individuals alike are able to steer via social communities and they are more than capable of wielding this power themselves."

Half the students have more than 300 friends on Facebook and 59 percent visited the social network during class. "Facebook is like a dial tone for this audience," Britton said.

One surprise result showed the effects of online video such as YouTube and Netflix. Only 13 percent of the students planned to subscribe to a cable TV service, a sign of a coming "seismic shift of consumer media consumption habits," Britton said. Right now, "the lion's share" of ad dollars still goes to traditional TV channels, but that may have to change, he said.

Owning less important

Companies like online movie and TV rental service Netflix and video game retailer GameStop, which offers a used-game trading service, have changed the concept of ownership, said Ford's Connelly. That's another shift from the "conspicuous consumption" mantra of Baby Boomers, who "signaled to the world that they were successful through fancy cars, expensive jewelry and very large homes."

"Netflix has really taught us that it doesn't matter if you own a movie as long as you have access to it," she said. "With companies like GameStop, you don't hold onto a game for life, you master the game, you trade it in and you get something else. So the idea of owning is not important to them. There's no stigma about saying, 'I rented this, I borrowed this.' "

And social networking and smart phones are replacing the need to go drive somewhere to connect with friends.

"The average millennial would rather lose their wallet than their cell phone because their cell phone contains much more valuable information and resources," Connelly said. "Through these virtual connections, they actually are transcending time and space, so that they don't need a car as much as they did."

Those changes pose problems for a company used to marketing cars like the luxury Lincoln brand as symbols of life status, a message that wasn't resonating with the millennial generation. Moreover, statistics show that for a variety of reasons, younger people are delaying getting their licenses and are driving less than older generations.

So Ford has begun designing and marketing cars for their ability to keep the owner connected to their world, not for productivity or business reasons cited by Baby Boomers, but for social reasons. That means the ability to connect cars with smart phones is standard equipment.

Video gauge

Also, for a generation bred on video games, Ford has designed a video gauge for electric and hybrid vehicles that turns achieving the best fuel efficiency into a game.

Since one study shows 60 percent of the millennial generation have at least one tattoo, and 40 percent of that group have multiple tattoos, Ford offers a graphics program that lets customers customize their cars. The company also looks at different colors and fabrics that are more expressive, including an Apple-inspired high-gloss finish.

"We belive that this customization is the millennials' way of adding meaning to something that would otherwise be meaningless to them," Connelly said.

Every parent and kid should watch this video!!

2011-09-08T13:48:00.002-04:00

This is my prayer for my children. I hope its the same for yours. Thank you God for John Piper.

John Piper: A Challenge to Young People

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LVhd9ZHkrx4

In a sermon delivered last Sunday, entitled Holy Ambition: To Preach Where Christ Has Not Been Named, John Piper briefly turns his attention to the children in the audience. In a culture of extended adolescence and spiritual immaturity, his words bear particular relevance to us all.

At 7 minutes, 45 seconds, this video is already longer than the attention span of your average, TV-addicted American teenager. But we want you all to watch it. In fact, we would like you to share it with your family (for example, our six-year-old brother James watched the whole thing). Whether you’re young or old, you will be blessed and challenged by its message.

Note: For those who cannot view the video or would like to see the message in its entirety—and we encourage you to do so—the full video, text and audio are available by clicking here.

Lets change the culture of our area!!!

2011-09-08T13:38:00.002-04:00

“Rebelize” Your Youth Group

I would like to focus, in this post, on the need for a specific type of reformation. The big focus of A Shining Salty City On Stand was the necessity of both individuals and community. While I did not directly mention this in that post, what we were talking about was a perfect description of the Body of Christ, the Church. A body has many different parts, all of which have different strengths and weakness, different functions and responsibilities, but who work together to accomplish the purpose of the Head, Jesus Christ. This is also true of a rebelution, which is why our first step must be to awaken the church.

It’s flattering when the world admires your maturity and vision. It’s incredibly gratifying when people jokingly say, “Wow! Whoever is taking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2040, watch out!” The problem with this is that it places you into the category of a “statistical anomaly.” We must not be satisfied with simply being better than the average teenager. Such a classification reinforces, rather than combats, the myth of adolescence. As the old saying goes, “The exception only proves the rule.”

When we’re an individual exception, we stand out as an individual. The tendency is to get comfortable with being “one-of-a-kind.” We then fail to encourage others to reach their full potential, because we don’t want them to steal our limelight. Such an attitude goes directly against the heart of a rebelution and is detrimental to its cause.

We cannot be elitist. We must fight for humility. Even while we decry the state of our fellow youth, we must not condemn or separate ourselves from them. The heart of a rebelution is the truth that all young people have the ability to accomplish much greater things than our culture would have them to think. Because of that, we must be constant encouragers. As Jesus said, “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.”

To be a rebelutionary, we must constantly strive to reduce the focus on ourselves as individuals, and to place the focus on the community of the Church. The only way to truly combat cultural expectations is to create a culture that results in an entire community of mature and responsible young people. To effect widespread change, we must produce such a communities in churches across the nation. Sadly, the average youth group in the U.S. today is falling incredibly short of this calling.

I challenge each of you to become a reformer among your church’s youth. Change the cultural expectations of young people in your local church. Create a local community that defies our culture’s expectations. The homeschool movement started with a vision to change the culture by reforming the home. The next step is to reform the church.

I want the comment section to be brainstorm central. Start by thinking about, and then pooling your answers, to the following preliminary questions:

1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?

2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change?

Please do not limit yourself to the above questions. Further questions and thoughts on the posts are encouraged. Soli Deo Gloria!

For Young Men and Fathers

2011-09-08T13:32:00.002-04:00

Becoming Men: Feats of our Forefathers

Our second article published with Boundless Webzine.

We’re all familiar with names like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams and John Hancock. These men, along with others, were our forefathers and the founders of our nation. They signed the Declaration of Independence and wrote the Constitution. They won the Revolutionary War.

Not only that, but their incredible accomplishments weren’t limited to their adult lives. John Hancock entered Harvard University when he was 13 years old. Samuel Adams completed his master’s degree before he turned 21. Thomas Jefferson frequently studied 15 hours a day during his time at the College of William and Mary.

Of course, at this point it’s easy for all of us normal people to place these guys in the “superhuman” or “so-smart-it’s-disgusting” category and move on. However, there’s a danger in thinking that God simply blessed America with a generation chock-full of patriotic super-nerds just in time to write the Constitution.

You see, once we label people as a “geniuses” we usually cease to feel the need to learn from them or to be challenged by their example. The truth is that our forefathers weren’t nerds and their early college entrances were not unusual for their time.

Rather, what stood these young men apart from their peers was (1) a seemingly corporate sense that age could not keep them from accomplishing great things, and (2) an extraordinary drive that we like to call the “do hard things” mentality.

As we explore the different ways these traits played out in the early years of some of our most famous forefathers, our hope is that we will all gain a greater vision of our own God-given potential and calling.

George Washington: “He Didn’t Mark Time”

We all know George Washington as the first President of the United States, the Commander of the Revolutionary Army and the Father of our Country. These are impressive titles and the jobs that went with them couldn’t be more difficult.

But a quick glance at Washington’s teenage and young adult years indicates that these weren’t his first big titles or even his first weighty responsibilities. Rather, what comes through is a man who, from his childhood, chose to do hard things, and then did those things to the best of his ability.

According to the George Washington Bicentennial Committee (WBC), Washington was born into a “middling rank” family, lost his father when he was 11, and was never considered particularly bright or educated by his peers. Nevertheless, he developed a “passion for education [that] caused him to concentrate on hard study” and he mastered geometry, trigonometry, and surveying by the time he was 16 years old.

At the age of 17, Washington received his first big job when Lord Thomas Fairfax, one of the largest landowners in Virginia (we’re talking 5.3 million acres here), named him official surveyor for Culpepper County, Virginia.

At the time surveyors were some of the highest paid workers in the country, second only to trial lawyers. This means that Washington, at age 17, was earning today’s equivalent of over $100,000 a year.

Don’t get this wrong. Washington wasn’t an ornament who sat in an office while adult men did the real work. His journals reflect the rigor of frontier life and the WBC describes the appointment as “the fitting of a man’s tasks to the square young shoulder of a boy without cutting those tasks to a boy’s measure.”

Washington was a man at 17 years old.

Three years later Washington received his next big responsibility when the governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, appointed him district adjutant of the militia, with the rank of major.

Then, when word came that the French were encroaching on Ohio territory, Governor Dinwiddie chose young Major Washington to lead a mid-winter expedition to assess French military strength and intentions, and to warn the French to leave.

We don’t know about you, but to us traveling hundreds of miles in the middle of winter to tell a large garrison of French soldiers to pack up and leave doesn’t sound very easy or appealing. That’s because it wasn’t.

Nevertheless, 21-year-old Washington not only successfully carried out this mission, but also continued to serve as a primary negotiator and principle actor throughout the French and Indian War.

By age 22 he had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and by age 23 he was Commander in Chief of the entire Virginia Militia. He’d been shaving for less than a decade, but no one seemed to notice, and we’re sure he never mentioned it.

Perhaps the WBC put it best when they wrote, “[Washington] did not mark time in any of the important positions of his life…. Just as [he] stepped into a man-sized job as a surveyor, so when he accepted Governor Dinwiddie’s mission to Ohio he stepped not only into a man-sized task but into a path which led, as we now are able to trace it, directly to the American independence, of which he was the chosen instrument.”

As The Twig Is Bent, So Grows The Tree

Even if we’d never read a history book and were forced to go solely off of what we now know about the first 23 years of his life, we’d be fools not to predict that George Washington would grow up to be somebody. In fact, we might even insist that he’d become President someday — even bet on it.

That’s because, inside, we all know that young adulthood is not some mystical time period that has no effect on the rest of our lives. These years are the profound shapers of our lives. Here we set our direction, develop habits, and build momentum. As an old saying goes, “As a twig is bent, so grows the tree.”

This understanding is what our founding fathers had in common. It was the secret to their greatness. They put into practice the principle of Lamentations 3:27, “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.”

As young adults they adopted the determination and high ideals that went on to characterize their entire lives. Their history-making adult years were directly connected to their focused years as young adults.

It is no coincidence that the same Samuel Adams who organized the Boston Tea Party at age 51 wrote his master’s thesis in defense of the people’s liberties at age 21.

It is no coincidence that David Farragut, who became the U.S. Navy’s first Admiral at age 65, was given command of his first ship at age 12.

It is no coincidence that Alexander Hamilton, who became our nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury at age 34, was a clerk in a counting house at age 13.

Likewise, it is no coincidence that, as the primary author of the Federalist Papers at age 32, Hamilton had already been publishing political pamphlets since he was 19.

And, of course, it is no surprise that the same George Washington who became the Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army at age 43, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia Militia 20 years earlier.

A Revolution Worth Fighting

Of course, it’s one thing to understand this. It’s a whole different thing to apply it to our own lives. But if our desire is to impact this world for Christ, we have to.

We can learn a lot from our forefathers. They lived in a time very different from our own, but their example couldn’t be more relevant. In a world that is looking to our generation for direction and leadership and finding a bunch of kidults, the commitment to do hard things as young adults is a much-needed revolution.

Don’t get us wrong. Our generation won’t be shooting guns or throwing tea in the ocean. Our enemy today is not King George. Rather we do battle with a culture that looks down on true adulthood and celebrates immaturity and irresponsibility.

In 1 Timothy 4:12, Paul writes, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” As followers of Christ, we are called to a higher standard.

We need to be honest with ourselves. Is how we’re spending our time now preparing us for what we want to become? Are we doing hard things now that will equip us for greater things God may have for us in the future? These are the fundamental questions for this season of our lives.

Historian Peter Henriques, author of Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington, put it this way: “Washington became the man he strove to be.”

Henriques’ statement is not only true of Washington and the rest our forefathers, but it’s also true about us. We will become the men and women we strive to be.

Like our forefathers, this generation faces a crisis and an opportunity. A crisis, in the sense that we can no longer afford to avoid responsibility, and an opportunity, in the sense that we can choose today to buckle down and “do hard things” for the glory of God. The future of our nation and our world depends on it.

Great Message. Great Attitude. Sports People Check it out!!

2011-08-26T15:56:00.007-04:00

Though I'm more of a Michigan State basketball fan and a Michigan football fan (because I can do that now that I live in Indiana) I really enjoyed this talk by the Michigan States quarterback. This is a class act talk that hopefully most sports players will remember. I also like what Walt says except his last comment.

College Football, Entitlement, Miami. . . and Kirk Cousins. . . .

My friend Dan Sterk, a youth worker in Michigan, sent me an email this week. It was short and it wound up being very sweet. Dan was raised to be a fan of the Michigan Wolverines. He married a young lady, Kristen, who is equally enthusiastic about rooting for Michigan. I'm not sure, but it might have been a requirement for him to marry a Michigan fan. Dan told me all that before pointing me to a very interesting and curious YouTube link. . . .

While watching the video, I couldn't help but think about what sports have become in our culture. I thought about athletes and the sense of entitlement they feel. Thanks to role models who flaunt entitlement, we have an entire generation of grade school athletes whose aspirations seem to include a combination of college scholarships and arrogance. Humility is no longer seen as a virtue. I also thought about what's happening at the University of Miami and how the NCAA will respond.

The video features a short speech from Michigan State Quarterback Kirk Cousins. The speech was given at the annual Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon. Cousins was chosen to speak on behalf and to all the Big Ten Football players. In a sports culture that increasingly seems and smells like a cesspool, this one is a diamond. Cousins' message, delivery, conviction, and boldness sent a shiver up my spine. . . really. This is a speech that I trust will be seen, heard, and heeded by coaches, athletes, parents, and fans of every age and every sport.

Thanks Dan, for the heads up on this one. And yes, maybe you should shift your allegiance for a year!

Click on the link to view
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp15N9BbYgY&feature=player_embedded

Great Videos For Seniors & College Age

2011-08-04T15:24:00.005-04:00

What You Need to Know About Faith in College 2-minute video for high school students

June 6, 2011

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What does a high school senior need to know about faith in college?

Through our Sticky Faith project, we’ve learned that high school students do better — in their faith and overall adjustment — when they are better prepared for what lies ahead.

So we asked a few youth pastors to share what they would say to a high school student about faith in college, and from their responses we’ve created a short video resource you can share with students. Use it as a discussion starter, pass it along to students you know and care about, or share it in some other way with kids.

Couldn't link the video so check out this site for this video and others @ http://vimeo.com/20319052

Other titles from fuller institute are:

What You Need to Know About Life After Youth Group

What You Need to Know About Grace

Money Wise

2011-08-04T15:13:00.002-04:00

Money Lessons for Every High-School Graduate

By ZAC BISSONNETTE

When Felipe Matos enrolled in the New York Institute of Technology to study graphic design, he never thought that degree would be the very thing that prevented him from pursuing his dream career.

But more than $50,000 in student debt later, he has found himself working as an assistant building manager in New York City -- with half his salary going toward debt repayment.

"In order to get into my field, I'd have to intern," says Mr. Matos, adding that his dream job would be at Pixar, the cutting-edge animation studio. But in order to avoid defaulting on his loans, he has had to defer his dreams. "I often get depressed because I always wanted to make cartoons and 3D animations for a living but can't," he says. His debt load also is affecting his life plans beyond his career: "I have a very loving and serious girlfriend, but I'm afraid we can't have kids or get married until we are in our late 30s."

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Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Graduates hold their diplomas at Booker T. Washington High School graduation ceremony in Memphis, Tennessee.

Managing your finances isn't just about compound interest or credit cards, individual retirement plans or 401(k) plans. It's really about the kind of life you want to have.

There are tons of guides for what you should do with your money, but few draw the deeply rooted connection between how you manage money and how you manage your dreams.

It's not easy to do both well, but if you want to make a good financial start, here are five things every high-school graduate should try to remember:

1. Debt is slavery: "The borrower is slave to the lender," says the Bible. When you have monthly payments to make, your life choices are greatly reduced. You can end up chained to a job you don't like -- unable to take the low-paying, entry-level job in your dream field or pursue further education to gain the qualifications for the career you really want.

"Constrained after College," a study by researchers from Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley, found that graduates who borrowed heavily to pay for college were less likely to take public-service jobs than those who didn't borrow.

A survey conducted by Nellie Mae, a subsidiary of student-loan behemoth Sallie Mae, found that high debt from undergraduate degrees is one of the leading reasons people don't attend graduate school.

2. College debt takes its toll: Going deeply into debt to pay for a prestigious college degree rarely pays off in the long run. Not only does it saddle you with a large, pressing debt that limits your options upon graduation, you're not likely to be any more successful either.

A recent study by economists Stacy Dale and Alan Krueger found that, once you control for aptitude, career earnings don't vary based on the college attended: if you're smart enough to get into a brand-name private university, you'll do just fine going to a state college. What will determine your success will be your aptitude and your work ethic, not the name on your diploma.

Alli Mulder graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University four years ago -- debt-free. "After graduation I did not have to worry about finding any old job immediately just to pay my student-loan bill," she says. "The freedom of not having those payments has allowed me to put my money and my attention toward my dreams." She now works as an enrollment counselor at her alma mater.

Thinking about the huge lifestyle benefits of a life without monthly payments might help inspire you to pick an affordable college instead of, in effect, borrowing $50,000 for a sweatshirt to impress the crowd at the coffeehouse.

3. Rich friends may be broke: When I was in high school, I hung out with a girl whose parents lived modestly and drove a beat-up station wagon that you could hear coming from a mile away. Our other friend drove a BMW Z3 -- and made fun of the junky cars we drove. That upset the girl. "Look," I said to her, "you have no idea whether his dad's actually richer than yours. The car's probably a lease, and their houses are probably leveraged to the hilt."

And four years, a real-estate crisis and a few foreclosures later, the Z3's gone. My friend's parents who drove the station wagon sidestepped the crisis; they owned their home outright.

The dangers of conspicuous consumption are best learned vicariously, and here are a couple of factoids that might get you thinking. According to Thomas J. Stanley, author of "The Millionaire Next Door," the most popular car among millionaires is the Toyota Camry, and only 7.3% of millionaires own a bottle of wine that cost more than $100.

4. Materialism is misery: Lives of thrift and conscientiousness lead to less stress, greater enjoyment of the things we do have and a lighter carbon footprint. But most of our societal associations with wealth are deeply connected with materialism: luxury goods, power and status.

"The more materialistic values are at the center of our lives, the more our quality of life is diminished," says Knox College psychologist Tim Kasser, author of "The High Price of Materialism."

Recognize the real benefits of wealth -- freedom and flexibility -- and don't let the pursuit of its illusory trappings interfere with your ability to reap those rewards.

5. TV makes you feel poor: One of the fastest ways to make yourself better with money is to smash your television -- or just watch it less.

A 1997 study by researchers Thomas O'Guinn and L.J. Shrum found that people who watch more TV believe that a higher percentage of Americans have tennis courts, luxury cars, maids and swimming pools.

And that perception can lead to feelings of inadequacy when you don't have those goodies -- and a willingness to stretch beyond your means as the Real Housewives become your social reference group.

A Merck Family Fund poll found that 56% of people who reported that they were "heavily in debt" also copped to watching "too much TV."

What is cyberbullying? Want more info? Read this.

2011-08-04T15:08:00.001-04:00

Cyberbullying a Big Worry for Parents: Survey

Last Updated: July 15, 2011.

More than half concerned about their teens being victimized by online taunts or rumor-mongering

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More than half concerned about their teens being victimized by online taunts or rumor-mongering.

FRIDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- More than half of the parents of teen-agers say they're worried about cyberbullying, a new survey finds.

Cyberbullying, which usually means one teen or group of teens taunting or spreading rumors about a peer online, has risen along with accessibility of the internet and the popularity of online social media such as Facebook.

In a survey of more than 1,000 parents of teenagers aged 13 to 17 by the American Osteopathic Association found that 85 percent of those polled reported that their children had social media accounts. About 52 of parents said cyberbullying was a concern.

One expert said these concerns are valid.

"While bullying through physical intimidation has long been a problem among teenagers, cyberbullying by using computers and smart phones to send rumors or post cruel messages has become more prevalent in recent years," explains Dr. Jennifer Caudle, an osteopathic family physician in Little Rock, Ark. and bullying expert, in a news release. "Even though there might not be physical injuries, cyberbullying leaves deep emotional scars on the victim."

The survey also revealed that one in six parents knew their child had been the victim of a cyberbully. Some of the kids teased or harassed online were as young as 9 years old. In most cases, the cyberbullying was not a one time occurrence, but rather happened repeatedly.

Cyberbullying can lead to anxiety, depression, loss of interest in socializing, aggression toward others the victim can bully, poor academic performance, and suicidal thoughts, Caudle said.

Some victims of cyberbullying have even killed themselves, according to the Cyberbullying Research Center, an organization run by professors from Florida Atlantic University and the University of Wisconsin who have studied the issue since 2002.

The vast majority of parents -- 91 percent -- believe they, not teachers, are ultimately responsible for preventing these long term effects. More than 75 percent of parents said they have discussed cyberbullying with their children, while 86 percent said they joined their child's online social network so they can monitor their teens' interactions. Two out of three parents also said they monitor the security settings on their children's social media accounts.

The survey also found that one in seven parents have barred their children from using online social media, but keeping teens off these networking sites may prove more difficult. Although just about all teens, or 97 percent, access their accounts from a home computer, many also log on using smart phone or mobile devices.

Girls are the worst offenders, the survey showed. About two-thirds of cyberbullying occurred among girls, making it twice as common among girls than boys. This fact may not be lost on parents. More than 75 percent reported they felt this type of aggressive behavior was a greater concern for girls.

More information

The National Crime Prevention Council provides more information on cyberbullying .

SOURCE: American Osteopathic Association, news release, July 11, 2011

4 Out of 5 College Kids Sext

2011-08-04T15:04:00.002-04:00

Sexting and college, they go together like carnal and knowledge. But a recent survey from the University of Rhode Island has put some numbers on how widespread it is. And the answer is: w i d e.

Seventy-eight percent of students in the survey say they've received sexually suggestive messages and 56% say they have received intimate images. Two thirds of the students said they sent salacious messages. Before we call a national epidemic of Weiner -itis, we should note that 73% of texts were sent to a romantic partner. Almost like a romantic old love-letter, but shorter and with more emoticons.

And, it seems, with more staying power. Almost a fifth of the people who received the racy messages then forwarded them onto somebody else. And 10% of all the explicit messages sent were relayed without permission from the original author. (Those statistics should be put on a label and stuck on cellphones everywhere.)

"At the age of most college students, people are filtering through relationships at a faster rate," said one of the study authors Tiffani Kisler. "People want to feel a sense of belonging so they are sharing more of themselves with people they are still getting to know. Once they click the send button, they don't know where else a message will end up."

The study sample was small (200) and limited to Rhode Island students, but the issue of younger people sending explicit images and messages via cell-phone is increasingly worrying. There have been several high-profile cases recently in which a forwarded sext has made life misery for the original composer of the message. It has also left those forwarding the message facing child pornography charges.

And in Rhode Island, where the participants in this study live, Governor Lincoln Chafee recently signed a bill that outlaws sexting by minors. Since some of these college students are 17, and with friends in high school to whom a salacious message might be sent, they could be in for a rude shock—and not just from the text.

Online Looking Glass

2011-08-04T11:31:00.002-04:00

The Online Looking Glass

By ROSS DOUTHAT

Published: June 12, 2011

Sometimes, though, the pessimists are right to worry. Technology really does affect character. Cultures do change from era to era, sometimes for the worse. Particular vices can be encouraged by particular innovations, and thrive in the new worlds that they create.

In the sad case of Representative Anthony Weiner’s virtual adultery, the Internet era’s defining vice has been thrown into sharp relief. It isn’t lust or smut or infidelity, though online life encourages all three. It’s a desperate, adolescent narcissism.

The idea that modern America is in thrall to self-regard dates back to the 1970s, when writers like Tom Wolfe and Christopher Lasch famously critiqued the excesses of what Wolfe dubbed the “me decade.” But a growing body of research suggests that American self-involvement is actually reaching an apogee in the age of Facebook and Twitter. According to a variety of sociologists (San Diego State’s Jean Twenge, Notre Dame’s Christian Smith, and others), younger Americans are more self-absorbed, less empathetic and hungrier for approbation than earlier generations — and these trends seem to have accelerated as Internet culture has ripened. The rituals of social media, it seems, make status-seekers and exhibitionists of us all.

At 46, Weiner isn’t technically a member of Generation Facebook, but he’s clearly a well-habituated creature of the online social world. The fact that he used the Internet’s freedoms to violate his marriage vows isn’t particularly noteworthy. That’s just the usual Spitzer-Schwarzenegger routine performed on a virtual plane. What’s more striking is the form his dalliances took — not a private surrender to lust or ardor, but a pathetic quest for quasipublic validation.

In all the tweets and transcripts that have leaked to date, there’s no sign that Weiner was particularly interested in the women he communicated with — not as human beings, certainly, but not really even as lust objects either. His “partners” existed less to titillate him than to hold up mirrors to his own vanity: whether the congressman was tweeting photos of his upper body or bragging about what lurked below, his focus was always squarely on himself. If Bill Clinton was seduced by a flash of Monica Lewinsky’s thong, Weiner seems to have been led into temptation primarily by the desire to boast about his own endowments.

In this sense, his tweeted chest shots are more telling than the explicitly pornographic photos that followed. There was a time when fame and influence were supposed to liberate men from such adolescent insecurity. When Henry Kissinger boasted about power being the ultimate aphrodisiac, the whole point was that he didn’t have to worry about his pecs and glutes while, say, wooing the former Bond girl Jill St. John.

Not so in the age of social media. In a culture increasingly defined by what Christine Rosen describes as the “constant demands to collect (friends and status), and perform (by marketing ourselves),” just being a United States congressman isn’t enough. You have to hit the House gym and look good coming out of the shower, and then find a Twitter follower who’s willing to tell you just “how big” you really are.

Writing in the late ’70s, Lasch distinguished modern narcissism from old-fashioned egotism. The contemporary narcissist, he wrote, differs “from an earlier type of American individualist” in “the tenuous quality of his selfhood.” Despite “his occasional illusions of omnipotence, the narcissist depends on others to validate his self-esteem.” His innate insecurity can only be overcome “by seeing his ‘grandiose self’ reflected in the attentions of others, or by attaching himself to those who radiate celebrity, power and charisma.”

This is a depressingly accurate anticipation of both the relationship between Weiner and his female “followers,” and the broader “look at me! look at meeeee!” culture of online social media, in which nearly all of us participate to some degree or another.

Facebook and Twitter did not forge the culture of narcissism. But they serve as a hall of mirrors in which it flourishes as never before — a “vast virtual gallery,” as Rosen has written, whose self-portraits mainly testify to “the timeless human desire for attention.”

And as Anthony Weiner just found out, it’s very easy to get lost in there.

Missions Trip 2011

2011-06-23T14:10:00.007-04:00

Click on the form and you can print it.

What to bring:

Carry-on--For going to Kings Island and an overnight stay at a home before we go to City Challenge.

Modest swim suit (for Kings Island waterpark if desired)
Extra change of clothes
Toiletries
Towel
sun screen

Please only one medium suitcase:

Sleeping bag & pillow
Bible
Clothes: casual and work (please dress modestly)spaghetti strap tank tops, wife beaters, and short shorts are discouraged. (shorts must reach the end of fingertips when standing, arms placed at one's side)
Shoes (a good pair of walking shoes is important
Personal items (consider sharing hairdryers and curling irons
Towels and washcloths
A watch
A positive attitude and a desire to serve

You May Wish to Bring:

Camera
Water bottle
Rain gear
Money for snacks--available at the RIC building, Graeter's ice cream, souvenirs, etc.

Meals: Eat breakfast before we leave Tues morning. One meal will be provided @ Kings Island. Dinner will be on own. The rest of the trip meals will be provided for except on the way home.

Please do not bring:

Ipods, MP3 players, etc.
cell phones
fireworks
knives & weapons

Crazy Funny!!

2011-06-03T15:08:00.000-04:00

Teens Test Limits Of Denny's All-You-Can-Eat Pancake Deal With 24-Hour Chow-A-Thon

By Chris Morran on June 1, 2011 1:30 PM 0 views

(БРАТСТВО)

The true value of any all-you-can-eat deal depends on just how much food you're able to funnel down your gullet while you're sitting at the table. But seven teenagers in California most certainly got the most out of their dining dollar last weekend when they gorged on hundreds of pancakes at a local Denny's over the course of 24 hours, and all for $5 each.

According to one boy's father, the seven young 'uns swallowed 301 pancakes, for an average of 43 pancakes each. He estimates that each diner consumed around 14,000 calories, which, figuring in syrup, margarine and beverages, seems to match up with the nutritional info on Denny's website.

From OCWeekly.com:

“
[O]ne boy nearly fell asleep on the toilet, and that Denny's actually ran out of pancake batter and had to go out and buy more.
”

I don't know which is more horrifying: the sheer amount of food consumed, or the idea of seven teenagers taking over a Denny's booth for 24 hours.

Good Book!!

2011-06-03T15:05:00.000-04:00

99 Thoughts for Parents of Teenagers

Product Description

99 Thoughts for Parents of Teenagers: The Truth on Raising Teensagers From Parents Who Have Been There by Walt Mueller

If you’re the parent of a teenager, you need all the help you can get. How do you help your children make wise choices? How do you give your teenagers freedom to make their own choices while still providing a guiding hand? How do you invest your time and energy in ways that make an eternal difference in your children’s lives?

Walt Mueller delivers the goods in 99 Thoughts for Parents of Teenagers, a no-holds-barred look at the good, bad, and ugly aspects of parenting teenagers. Drawing on his experience as a parent of four children who have passed through their teenage years, Walt shares wisdom, thoughts, insights, and suggestions for making the teenage years count.

If you’re a parent, you’ll want to read, devour, and absorb the dynamic truths in this book. And if you’re a youth worker, you’ll want to get this book into the hands of parents in your ministry to guide them, encourage them, and give them insights on fulfilling God’s great call to raise children who pursue a Jesus-centered life.

Very good reminder on disipline.

2011-04-21T16:41:00.000-04:00

Question:

We have a 17 year old daughter who has just confessed to me that she has broken several rules related to boundaries with guys, driving, attending a party, lying to us. She wants to make things right with us so she can have a right relationship with God. I had a tremendous amount of trust and some of the things she confessed were very hard to handle for me. I feel betrayed. She wants me to trust her again as if nothing happened. Most of the things she confessed to happened when she spent the night away from home. My instinct is to enforce some agreed consequences for the behaviors she confessed, but then she will never share openly and honestly again. How do we rebuild the trust? Should there be consequences?

Answer:

It should be a great encouragement to you that your daughter was willing to confess her bad behavior and her desire to have a right relationship with God! Your reaction of shock, betrayal and broken trust are normal - but I would also challenge you to remember that your daughter is a teenager - a rookie adult - and as such is more prone to make some bad choices along the way. One of your goals should be to help your daughter learn from her poor decisions. Also, remember that the goal of discipline isn't about invoking obedience, but rather to prepare your daughter for responsible and successful adulthood.

I believe that you should enforce the agreed consequences for her behavior. It's part of consistent discipline. She may not like the consequences, but they will serve as both a deterrent and as an instructor if you stand firm in enforcing them. If you let the consequences slide, it sends a message to your daughter that her inappropriate behavior is no big deal. Further, I don't think that enforcing consequences will necessarily result in your daughter not sharing openly again.

Regarding rebuilding trust, you may need to tighten the boundaries/consequences for a time, and then begin to loosen them as your daughter proves that she can be trusted. By all means - and this is very important - do provide your daughter with a path whereby she can regain your trust!

Apples are the best:)

2011-04-21T16:37:00.001-04:00

I think adults love apple products too. At least I do:)

Survey confirms that teens love Apple products

Apple

By Rosa Golijan

It sometimes seems like every teenager either owns an Apple product or is begging his or her parents to purchase one. Turns out appearances aren't actually deceiving in this particular instance.

Business Insider reports that financial advisory firm Piper Jaffray has released the results of its latest bi-annual survey of high school students and that the message is pretty clear: Teens love Apple products.

As part of the survey, 4,500 kids were asked about "their interest in Apple products and digital music." They were asked about the products and services they use, as well as the ones they intend to purchase or use in the future.

Here are some of the more interesting statistics from the responses to those questions:

17 percent already own an iPhone, and 37% plan on buying one in the next 6 months.

22 percent either own a tablet or have one in their house, and 20 percent of them plan to buy one in the next 6 months.

Only 80 percent now own an MP3 player — down from 90 percent last fall. More teens are listening to music on their cell phone (53 percent versus 50 percentlast fall), so that may account for some of the drop. Or maybe MP3 players are no longer cool.

Of the teens who own MP3 players, 86 percent of them have an iPod. Microsoft's Zune is in distant second at 3 percent.

Of the teens who download music, 65 percent use file-trading services. Among the legal services, iTunes has 95 percent market share.

What can you take away from these survey results? That you shouldn't be surprised if your child asks you for an Apple product the next time a gift-giving occasion comes around. After all, let's face it: "plan on buying" really translates to "plan on asking my parents to buy" in teen-speak.

TV show Skins

2011-04-21T16:30:00.001-04:00

CPYU 3(D) REVIEW
TV Show: Skins By Walt Mueller
Background/summary: This controversial version of the popular British teen drama series of the same name premiered on MTV on January 17, 2011. The show follows the lives, issues, and interactions of nine main characters – all teenagers – along with a growing supportive cast of family members and peers. The first season of the American version of Skins includes ten episodes which run on Monday nights, and are available online and On Demand around the clock. Rated TV-MA for language and sexual situations, the show immediately stirred controversy when critics called for an investigation into whether or not the show is child pornography. Within days of the show’s premiere episode, numerous advertisers pulled their ads.
Discover: What is the message/worldview?
• The initial episode opens with Eura, a teenage girl, wandering home on a snowy, cold, Brooklyn street after a night of sneaking around and doing who-knows-what. Eura is barefoot, disheveled, and looks like she’s been raped. Her older brother, 17- year-old self-confident womanizing high school sen- ior Tony, sees her coming and creates a noisy dis- traction in the house (cranks up his stereo so that his dad comes in screaming) so that she can sneak back in and get ready for school undetected.
• Tony calls his best friend Stanley, an under- confident and awkward high school junior to tell him to get out of bed (covered with pornographic maga- zines) as this is the day he’s going to lose his virgin- ity. Tony tells Stanley that he can no longer be his friend if he doesn’t lose his virginity by his 17th birthday. Tony proceeds to invite their circle of friends to em- bark on this mission with him, including arranging for one of the girls to make herself available to Stanley. Stanley says that it’s “totally normal” to be a virgin at 16. Tony fires back saying that “No, it’s embarrass- ing!”
• Cadie –a neurotic and unstable girl who was just released from a psych hospital - agrees to have sex with Stanley that night at a party. Because Cadie loves her drugs, Stanley agrees to secure an ounce of marijuana to exchange for sex. Tony sends Stanley to get the weed at a suburban home that turns out to be a brothel run by a dirty-old-man who says is name is Madison LeDong, PhD (which he says stands for “pretty huge d___”). He agrees to give Stanley the weed on credit, but gives Stanley 4 ounces and a threat to remove his testicles if he doesn’t pay $900 within 48 hours. The unassuming Stanley leaves in fear.
• The party is hosted by Tabitha, a rich prep school attendee who has invited all her upper-class friends to attend. When Tony and his low-brow crew crash the party, the classes collide and a fight breaks out. Stanley, who has been making out with Cadie on a trampoline outside, watches as Cadie passes out from downing too many pills. He pulls the crew together in a panic to get Cadie to the hospital. Tony’s friends steal cell phones, etc. and an Escalade from the rich kids.
• After Cadie comes to before getting to the hospital, the panic subsides and the group stops in a park to smoke the weed while they sit in the stolen SUV. Unaware that the car is starting to roll, they wind up in the lake, with the car and the weed sinking to the bottom.
• The day and the episode end with Tony and Stanley laying in bed together. Stanley is still a virgin. Tony says to him, “It’s embarrassing Stanley.” He replies, “Yep.”
CPYU grants permission for this article to be copied in its entirety, provided the copies are distributed free of charge and the copies indicate the source as the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding.
©2011, The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding
Page 1
Discern: How does it stand in light of the biblical message/worldview?
• The young characters in Skins appear to live in a world where they have very little to rely on other than each other. We can celebrate their community and care for each other, no matter how misguided it is at times. One wonders if as the story plays out, each character’s issues of abandonment will come to light, of- fering insight into who they are and how they got that way. With parents portrayed in the show as angry and detached, it appears that even when family is there for these kids, it is deeply wounded and broken. We must have compassion for kids who live in this world. The Scriptures reveal that the family is the backbone of a culture and the place where a child is born and should be loved, nurtured, and cared for. In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul lays out the responsibilities for parents to not exasperate their children, and for parents to nurture their children in the Lord (Eph. 6:4).
• The world of the Skins kids is a world void of boundaries and rules, with the exception of the boundaries and rules that they make up based on how they feel at any given moment in time. In addition, when boundaries and rules are enforced by adults, the kids choose to disrespect and do their own thing. God has given parameters for our behavior that we are to function within if we are to live an abundant life. In addi- tion, he calls his people to obey those in authority (Romans 13:1-7), and for children to obey their parents (Eph. 6:1-3).
• While Skins claims to be a show that reflects the reality our teens live in today, it tries so hard to be real- istic that it is very unrealistic. It portrays a world where kids are far more self-sufficient and developmentally mature than the average teenager. It also portrays a world where adults are totally self-consumed, discon- nected, and out-of-touch. While these are indeed realities for some in today’s culture, this is not the norm. The Skins world is an extremely crude and amoral world where dirty talk and anarchy rule. God has instilled purpose, order, and design into the world He has created. Where things are not the way they are supposed to be, change must be sought – whether it’s the parents, the kids, or the script writers who are failing.
Decide: What do I do with it?
• Because Skins is a highly publicized show that is rapidly establishing its place on the pop culture land- scape, it cannot be ignored. Youth workers should endeavor to make parents and other adults aware of Skins and its message, telling them that while the show doesn’t accurately portray teen reality, it does portray some noteworthy aspects of the contemporary teen experience that deserve our attention.
• The Skins landscape will no doubt be found to be especially ugly and repulsive by those who endeavor to walk with Christ. But we cannot allow our response to principalities and powers to carry over to the human beings – many who are desperately lost and misguided – who inhabit that world. These are our neighbors, and the God we serve commands us to become Good Samaritans who give of ourselves in service and minis- try, regardless of the cost or what others might think.
• The message and popularity of Skins reminds us of our need to teach our children to process media criti- cally and Christianly. We can tell them what we think is redeeming or non-redeeming in Skins (and we should), but wouldn’t it be better for us to teach them how to make those judgments with wisdom for them- selves? While we don’t recommend watching and discussing Skins with kids who have never seen it, we do recommend using our How to Use Your Head to Guard Your Heart - 3(D) Media Evaluation Guide (available online at cpyu.org) to teach these skills.
• There is talk that Skins might be cancelled. But don’t believe that it will go away. Interested viewers will be able to indulge their appetite by watching the British version of the show. We believe that all the contro- versy has already established Skins as a cult favorite.
Dr. Walt Mueller is the president of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding.

South Park -- Are you going to add me as a friend?

2011-01-20T17:04:00.001-05:00

news

Survey: Kids Aren't Afraid To Friend Their Parents

By Michelle Castillo on January 18, 2011

According to a study by Kaplan Test Prep, the company that provides tutoring and study services for all the major college and grad school entrance exams, about two-thirds of American teens aren't afraid to friend their parents on Facebook. (Maybe it's just teens who don't mind being so open: I'm still terrified to friend my family.)

"Facebook ... continues to be the new frontier in the ever evolving relationship between parent and child," Kaplan Test Prep executive director Kristen Campbell to Reuters.

Though some teens reported that they were only allowed to join the social network with their parent's supervision, Campbell believes in some ways Facebook allows for some independence of communication outside the realm of parental supervision. Even if the teen was friends on the social network with their father or mother, they still can communicate with friends without a parent hearing or seeing what they say. The survey didn't ask if teens put up special filters to prevent their parents from seeing pictures, videos or wall posts.

Of course, 38 percent of the 2,313 students from 16 to 18-year-olds questioned said they simply ignored their father or mother's request. But if your parent's are anything like Stan's dad on South Park, that friend request could be hard to ignore.

Racing to Nowhere Documenting Kids' Pressure to Perform

2010-11-15T15:13:00.001-05:00

Great Article. long but good.
if you don't have a lot of time check out the end where it gives ideas on what we can do.

http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/2010/11/racing-to-nowhere/

Are Gagets making us rude?

2010-11-15T14:59:00.002-05:00

Check this out. It might make you think twice when you use your cell phone.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/39965931#39965931

Both Youth Retreats PICS & VIDEOS

2010-11-15T14:00:00.002-05:00

GO TO OUR FACEBOOK FOR JR. & SR. HIGH PICS AND VIDEOS.

maplecitychapel.org

click on youth group logo

go to mcyg facebook.

Sr. High YOUTH RETREAT details--check out our facebook for pics & videos

2010-11-15T13:58:00.001-05:00

This might be a little long to read but it might be of value to you to ask good questions to your child in regards to what all happened on the youth retreat. This email is to inform you but mainly so you can ask good questions to start quality conversations with your child.

The kids had a blast this weekend. We had great weather even though it was a little cool in the morning for devotions.

As I was driving the bus back to the church I really felt a need to follow up with the parents and let you know about the weekend and some more specific questions to help you get better answers than the general answer, “It was good”. My heart is to help and serve you the parent to help grow your child up into a man/woman of God.

I was sharing with the coaches (that’s what we call our adult volunteers) after a great night of ministry that we are so privileged to be apart of what God is doing in our youth. We see some of the benefits of all the prayers of family, friends, and us and see God move and convict kids hearts to move them closer to Him.

I will try my best to describe a quick synapses of the weekend. Our theme for the weekend was vending machines.
Friday:
We arrived and got settled in.
We played 2 games to help get to know each others names.
Sessions 1=Our speaker (Carmel, from the REACH program at Rosedale Mennonite Missions) spoke on identity. How we sometimes we are like a vending machine. We push A1 to act this way for our friends, E4 to impress our teacher/coach, C5 to be a good child at home, B9 to try and be perfect for God.
Our worship was by Cameron, Regina, Sawyer, Luke.
The rest of the evening was playing tournaments in ping pong, foosball, euchre, carpetball, or eating snacks that everyone brought and hanging out.

Sat:
Morning was a great breakfast and devotions
Session 2=Created for God, We have 2 kinds of sin 1) Original everyone has-selfishness coming from the garden of Eden, Some generational sins. 2)personal sin-sins of choice or you could call them empty wells. Empty wells are things you pursue outside of God. She had us identify our empty wells and abandon them. And that we are made for intimacy with God, dependency on God, and obedience to God.
Worship by Escaping Yesterday
Ask them about game ball & Survival
Any breaks they played tournament games.
Session 3=Talked about forgiveness being an exchange between me and God, confession + repentance= exchange. Some kids came up and confessed about some unforgiveness they held in their heart and some general unconfessed sin they have held secretly in their hearts. I would encourage you to ask them about this in a sensitive manner. Sometimes it’s good to wait for a period of time to talk about it. You could take them out for a special evening just you and them and talk about it or go to a special park, restaurant, ect..
Afterward the kids had an awesome worship time experiencing the freedom in God. One young man was so overwhelmed he was sitting down behind everyone and with tears coming down his eyes he explained to a coach he has never experienced the freedom of God this way in his life. Ask the kids about running out of the lodge while they worshiped.
After that was skits. Ask them about the skits. Ask them what skit they were in and how it went. Ask about some of the other skits.

Sun:
Great brunch and devotions
Ask them about the coaches relays and what they did in the relay.
Session 4=Knowing the absolute truth, what are society’s absolute truth, how to survive when you go home.
The kids divided up into girls and guys. The girls were asked if they would like to sign up for a mentor or be in an accountability group. Most of the girls signed up to have a mentor in their life. Mentor being someone to speak in their life other than their parent. Someone the parent can trust.
The guys talked about forming an accountability group. Three boys were nominated to be the point leaders for the group. A adult male/males will work with this group of boys.
Both things discussed with the boys and girls will be offered to the rest of the youth group.

Overall it was a great weekend to get closer to their Heavenly Father. Thanks for letting you child experience this weekend. Carmel (she works with a number of kids) explained to me that these kids are a great group with open hearts to God. I feel honored to work with such great kids. Kids willing to seek after our God and find Him at Bear Lake Camp in Albion IN. My prayer is they continue to seek Him. Keep encouraging your kids to read The Word daily and find time as a family to talk about His Word together and pray together, not just at the dinner table.

Sincerely,
Scott

Scott Herbert
Youth Pastor
Maple City Chapel
2015 Lincolnway E.
Goshen IN. 46526
(574)533-0327
“Honor all people, Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” 1 Peter 2:17

Day 3

2010-07-09T11:52:00.003-04:00

We had an awesome evening last night. They had a Hawaiian theme for dinner so all the staff dressed up Hawaiian and we ate fried fish and of course rice. I don't think I've heard one complaint yet from the kids. I've heard how much they love it here. After dinner we had a session that Delynn talked about pride. After the talk they did a live reenactment of Jesus being taken to a cross and crucified. So they had the kids follow this drama outside and down a path to a cross. It was very moving. They kids were touched and shared this morning, again in front of everyone, how impacting it was. I've never seen some of the kids really crying out to God like I did last night. It was really awesome!! Today Delynn talked about loving others and a few of the kids are going to share their testimonies. Each of them have written them out and were taught how to share them. I would encourage you, when the kids get back, to ask them about their testimony. I'm sure they would put up a fight but it's good to hear what God has done and is doing. Today also holds more drama practice and kids ministry practice. We will be leaving tomorrow morning early. I will try to write one more time before we go but after that the next time we communicate will be at the church @ 8pm. I will call the phone chain if there are any changes. Please continue to pray for unity, good attitudes (cause its going to get hot & humid), and for the kids to continue to be open to what God has for each one.
Thanks!!
Scott

Day 2

2010-07-08T18:39:00.002-04:00

Today has been going great. the weather here is in the 70's for the high and in the 50's for the low all year round. So we have been getting 70+ for highs and in the 60's at night. We had a good Costa Rican breakfast in the morning followed by a great quiet time for 45 min. A few of the kids shared with the whole group in the beginning of the first session about God speaking to them during the quiet time (really cool). The whole group consists of, I think, 4 other youth groups. There is about 90 people here. The session had some great worship and Delynn Hoover the director here spoke again. The rest of the day the kids have been preparing for their outreach.
They are doing more dramas and kids ministry than what they already prepared for. They are doing awesome! They have also been practicing their dance as a group. As I was writing this I could here the music playing and heard a huge cheer at the end. They are having a blast.
As you know we are going to Nicaragua Sat morning. We are going to an island with a huge lake. We will be riding in a bus for 7 hours and getting on a ferry to get to the island.
The kids have been fed very well. Rice and beans are the main part of every meal here because that's what most Costa Ricans eat. So the kids are getting a good taste of the cultural food before we go out on our ministry time.
Thanks for your continued prayers.
Talk to you later.
Scott

Costa Rica (our first day)

2010-07-07T22:36:00.000-04:00

We Made It!!!
Everything went really well. We have been busy and everyone is very tired. The kids are going to bed now. They have done a great job traveling all day today. We have a 2 hour time difference. Right now its about 9 and back home its 11.
Our day consists of eating at 7:15, having devotionals and then preparing for our time we have in Nicaragua.
Thanks for all your prayers.
I will try to blog more the next few days.
Scott

Costa Rica / Nicaragua Here We Come!!!

2010-07-07T00:03:00.001-04:00

Stay tuned for updates from our mission trip to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The bus pulled out of the church around 11:15 Tuesday evening. The group should be landing in Costa Rica tomorrow around noon.

How hot is your teen on Facebook

2010-04-26T15:26:00.000-04:00

How 'Hot' Is Your Tween On Facebook?

Joan Indiana Rigdon, 04.15.10, 05:00 PM EDT

Racy profiles. Sexting. Cyberbullying. Isn't it time for schools, parents and social-media sites to get extremely specific about Internet safety?

PTAs across the land are holding meetings about Internet safety. School counselors are coaching classrooms on safe social networking, sexting and cyberbullying. Plenty of parents are echoing everything back at home.

MySpace regularly reports how many sex offenders it has kicked off its site (90,000, it claims, as of February 2009). In a 2008 deal with the nation's attorneys general, Facebook agreed to identify and delete "profiles of all registered sex offenders." And several states are passing or mulling over laws that would ban convicted offenders from social-networking sites.

This week, Facebook and its global Safety Advisory Board relaunched Facebook's Safety Center. The new page features a cleaner look plus loads of information specifically targeted at parents, teens, educators and law enforcement. There are plenty of tips for coping with cyberbullying and other problems, like impersonators and unwanted invitations to chat.

We all love information. But let's face it. Brochures and instructionals, whether printed or online, only go so far. They certainly don't ensure meaningful protection for wanna-be adults who are eager to launch or finesse their online personas.

I know this because many of my friends and relatives have kids who are aging into Facebook. It's enlightening--and occasionally disturbing--to see their profiles.

A few months back, one tween, who is Friend of a Friend, made a racy debut on FB. She didn't intend to be racy; she just turned out that way after answering the site's profile questionnaire.

Asked to provide her gender, she checked female. So far, so good. Next, under "Interested In" she was presented with two choices, men or women. She checked men.

Then came a list: Was she interested in friendship, relationships, networking or getting back in touch? As a middle schooler, "relationships" seemed like a good fit, so she checked that.

For good measure, she let her sense of enthusiasm and humor slip through, describing herself as "HOT!" for "boiiiis."

Voilà! By the time her FB profile went live, she was a "HOT!" tween, interested in relationships with men (and boiiiis). And her profile was public, for all the world to see.

Several of her new (adult) Friends collectively gasped. Her parents were alerted. They're quite savvy about real-world threats, but are still mastering the nuances of social networking profiles. (They hadn't seen hers.) Within hours, the profile reemerged--no longer public and with no references to hotness, men or relationships. She's just a regular kid now.

Facebook's new Safety Center might have helped, insofar as it provides links to its primer on privacy settings. But as far as I can tell, it doesn't have any specific information about how to build a safe profile for kids. That may seem like common sense, but for many tweens, teens and even parents, it just isn't.

Isn't it time for schools, parents and social-media sites to get extremely specific about Internet safety, the same way schools already are about sex education?

Even First Lady Michelle Obama worries about this. Just this week, she revealed that in the Obama household, "We talk a lot with [our daughters] about the dangers of Facebook and sort of getting into that social networking kind of gossip mill..."

Most of us, and most of our older kids, know the basics. We're aware that there's such a thing as unsafe online behavior that can lead to kids being spirited away by child molesters or, far more commonly, being lured into inappropriate video or anonymous chat rooms or objectionable sites. But other than not giving away full names, addresses and phone numbers, most kids and their parents don't seem to be aware of just how easy they are to find and what specific behaviors they should avoid.

Even worse, most kids aren't really concerned about privacy.

Back in the mid-1990s, I put together a roundtable discussion about how girls use the Internet. I recruited three middle school-aged girls and three experts. As we talked, one of the girls mentioned that she was mad at a boy she'd met only online and wasn't chatting with him anymore--but that before the fight, she had e-mailed that boy pictures of herself and her little brother. She was reasonably sure he was just a boy, because he was a friend of a real-world friend. But her family had no idea she was transmitting photos of herself or her brother to strangers online.

Maybe it's time for more schools to put together hands-on workshops for parents to give us all a crash course in various social networking sites and how to safely participate--with specific information about what a kid's profile should look like and which privacy settings make sense.

In the meantime, we parents will have to monitor, and even spy. But that's another story to be told after my 8-year-old daughter discovers Facebook. Or sooner, since she's already dabbling with e-mail.

Over to you, readers: What kinds of technology rules and guidelines do you have in your house?