5 Days of Get Your Teenager Talking- DAY 1

Posted on: 03/31/14 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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talking-with-teensEach day in my blog this week I’m going to give you a little somethin’ you can use to provoke meaningful conversations with young people. My brand new book, Get Your Teenager Talking has 180 conversation springboards that “get teenagers talking”… I thought I’d share some with you. I’ll give you one each day this week:

Conversation Springboard No. 1:
A nationwide survey asked people about the appropriate use of cell phones in social settings such as mealtimes, meetings, and in classrooms. The answers varied considerably by the respondent’s age. The younger the person, the more they perceived texting as permissible in social settings. For example Continue reading “5 Days of Get Your Teenager Talking- DAY 1”

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Shame on us

Posted on: 03/26/14 4:26 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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THE WORLD VISION SAME SEX DECISIONS AND THE REPERCUSSIONS

Interesting… I was halfway through writing this blog Wednesday and everything flipped on its head. If you missed the scoop, here’s the skinny:

–       A few days ago international world relief organization World Vision decided to “hire gay Christians in same sex marriages.”

–       In response, evangelical Christians began pulling their support for World Vision, which, according to some sources with contacts at World Vision, resulted in thousands of children losing their sponsorships.

–       Then late Wednesday, March 26th, World Vision reversed its decision, posting, “We failed to be consistent with World Vision U.S.’s commitment to the traditional understanding of Biblical marriage and our own statement of faith.”

It’s sad to see how these events are polarizing people. I have just two things to say Continue reading “Shame on us”

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Keeping Social Media Safe

Posted on: 03/24/14 3:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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phone-safety-children“Should I allow my 13-year-old to use Twitter?”

It happens after every parent workshop I teach. Parents line up with specific questions.

“Is Instagram bad?

Should I let my teenager have her phone in her room at night?

“Should I be worried if I found my teenager using Omegle?”

“All my daughter’s friends are on Ask.fm and she wants to be too. Should I let her?”

(By the way, I know I’ll get comments asking, so my answers to those questions would be: no, no, yes, and no. I let my own teenage daughters have multiple social networking sites, but Omegle and Ask.fm both are venues where anonymous people can chat with little to no accountability, and that’s never a good situation. Here’s an article with more specific details about individual apps.)

The questions always vary, but they all root from the same question:

“Is social media safe?”

This is a pretty broad question. It’s like asking Continue reading “Keeping Social Media Safe”

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Grandma’s Read Beyonce Lyrics

Posted on: 03/19/14 3:36 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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This is just too good for me to mess up with words. My friends over at Youth Culture Report tweeted me this. It’s three grandmas reading and commenting on the lyrics of Beyonce’s current hit song, Drunk In Love.

Classic!

(Warning… these grandmas got mouths on them)

(Click Here if you don’t see the embedded video)

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Want to review either of Jonathan’s two brand new books?

Posted on: 03/17/14 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Jonathan-Brand-New-BooksIn just a few weeks  you’ll see two brand new books from me on the shelves: Get Your Teenagers Talking, and The Guys Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. (THE GUY’S GUIDE is now available on Kindle)

Would you like to review one of these titles and get a free signed copy? If you would… keep reading.

Here’s the skinny. Both of these titles are hitting the shelves in April (although we are offering pre-orders of each on our site right now, and I’m signing all pre-orders). In order to boost Amazon sales, we need readers to post Amazon reviews. Here’s how this works Continue reading “Want to review either of Jonathan’s two brand new books?”

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Young People and Selfies

Posted on: 03/12/14 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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teen-girls-selfieSmile!

“Aren’t we cute?”

Within seconds the selfie pic is posted to Instagram, and Tweeted to her 326 followers. Just another emblematic snapshot from the life of today’s teen.

Five years ago we didn’t even know the word “selfie.” Fast forward to the end of 2013 and it was declared “word of the year.”

What’s the fascination teens have with selfies? Does this desire to snap pics in everyday life make them narcissistic?

When most people hear “selfie,” they probably think of a Continue reading “Young People and Selfies”

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The Bro App

Posted on: 03/10/14 3:25 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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broappOkay, this is either really hilarious… or really sad.

It’s called the BroApp. A couple of Australian tech guys noticed a market for a product that would help irresponsible “bros” text their girlfriends regularly to tell them they care.

Hmmmmm… I’m not sure if this is the same thing as when I used to hide little love notes in my wife’s luggage before she left on a retreat.

It’s like this. You select your girlfriends number, some messages, and the Continue reading “The Bro App”

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Kids React to Rotary Phones

Posted on: 03/6/14 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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It’s always funny to see how kids react to pieces of our past… and that’s what the YouTube channel “Kids React to…” loves to show us.

A while back I showed you a video of theirs, Kids React to Lady Gaga. This week I stumbled upon their newest video, Kids React to Rotary Phones. Hilarious!

(ht Ypulse.com)

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Do You Really Want to Know?

Posted on: 03/5/14 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Do-You-Wanna-Know-the-TruthA teenager asked me about illegal downloading of music the other day, wondering if it was legal to turn YouTube videos into music.

“A friend of mine said he researched it and it was okay.”

The timing of her question was interesting, in a climate where I’ve witnessed countless ethical questions being answered with messy morality rooted in ignorance.

So my response to her was as follows Continue reading “Do You Really Want to Know?”

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These guys stuck out

Posted on: 03/3/14 10:06 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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ArmyofLightBandI speak at about 25 events a year. And in a world where most Christian events contain two elements—a band, and a speaker—I hear A LOT of worship bands.

Last weekend I heard a band that really stuck out.

Let me explain “stuck out.”

I was hosting and speaking at one of the eleven Youth Specialties Team Training events. This one was in Phoenix, and Kara Powell, Brian Aaby and I were the speakers. The doors hadn’t opened; four of us were Continue reading “These guys stuck out”

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