Building a Girl’s Self-image

Posted on: 12/4/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Yesterday my 16-year-old daughter Ashley was lying in front of the fireplace doing homework. Not knowing her mother and I were both gazing at her, she lightly brushed her hair aside with her forefinger.

Her mom couldn’t resist. “Ashley, you are beautiful.”

Ashley looked up at her with skepticism and chuckled. “Yeah… right!”

Sadly, in a world bombarded with unattainable images of what beauty should be, I don’t know many teen girls who truly think they’re beautiful.

Why is beauty the one characteristic that seems to trump all others? How about wisdom? How about integrity?

As a father of two teenaged daughters, and a guy who keeps up on youth culture for his job, I’m always on the lookout for good advice about raising confident kids. This year I fell upon Continue reading “Building a Girl’s Self-image”

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The Perfect Gift

Posted on: 12/2/13 9:16 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Jonathan Signing all booksSure, a book is a nice gift… but how about a personally autographed book?

Better yet… how about a book personally autographed “to” someone by name?

Yes, I’m already experiencing writer’s cramp this month because this December I’m taking the time to personally autograph every book you order that you’d like to me sign “to” somebody.

It’s easy:

  1. Buy any of my books HERE, already ON SALE 10% to 40% OFF!
  2. Email me at [email protected] the moment you buy them and tell me who to sign them to. Send me a list- I’ll personally sign each book to each person Continue reading “The Perfect Gift”

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A Little Taste of Christmas

Posted on: 11/27/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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My Twitter and Facebook followers know that my wife Lori has been itching for Christmas since a little before Halloween, already playing Christmas music in our office mid October.

Here’s a little sum-something trending on YouTube to help you bring in that Christmas spirit– great vocals:

(the group is Pentatonix, an a cappella group who won the third season of NBC’s The Sing Off)

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Thankful

Posted on: 11/25/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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One thing I really love about Thanksgiving is the fact that it triggers much of the country to stop and reflect about what they’re thankful for. Here’s the top 7 items on my “thankful for” this year:

  1. My 18-year-old daughter Alyssa came home from college for a week! (Man, we miss her!)
  2. My 16-year-old daughter Ashley Continue reading “Thankful”

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A Heart for the Unnoticed

Posted on: 11/20/13 10:43 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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The-Way-Way-BackDo you notice that kid who seems to disappear under the radar?

In the shadow of a tragic teen suicide, and a weekend training youth workers to notice and connect with teenagers, I was pleasantly surprised by a film that, interestingly enough, has also slipped under the radar. This movie tugged at my heart for young people in a unique way and is no doubt the best film I’ve seen in literally years now.

The 2013 gem of a film is titled The Way Way Back, with Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph and Toni Collette, to name a few. This brilliantly written story introduces an awkwardly shy 14-year-old teen named Duncan whose single mom (Collette) has started dating an unfortunate choice in a boyfriend (Carell). The mismatched bunch go on summer vacation to a beach cabin where Duncan tries his best to escape each day. Duncan finds community in an unlikely place, the Water Wiz Water Park managed by Owen, a free spirited man who befriends Duncan.

This film captured the essence of parenting and youth ministry, specifically three elements Continue reading “A Heart for the Unnoticed”

Posted in Bullying/Cyberbullying, Entertainment Media, Family, Marriage, Movies, Parenting, Self Image, Youth Culture |  | Leave A Comment

R.I.P. baby sister

Posted on: 11/18/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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type“I just love being straight up ignored when ever I need you.”

It was the last thing she posted on her Facebook page. Then she went to her high school the next day and hung herself in the school bathroom.

That was last Friday.

Saturday, the day after this tragic suicide, I spoke at an event in the town where this occurred. Many of the youth workers knew kids from the school; they showed me this young lady’s Facebook page.

Some of the posts contained ‘text speak’ like “lawl sike” (basically saying, “just kidding”). But was she kidding? Continue reading “R.I.P. baby sister”

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Dad, Can I Download Katy Perry’s New Album?

Posted on: 11/13/13 11:14 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Katy-Perry-PrismKaty Perry’s new album Prism has been out for just a couple weeks, and it already landed a number one spot on the Billboard charts. But this doesn’t seem to be the same Katy Perry we once knew. What can we expect from this new album? Or more specifically… what kind of guidance can we offer our kids who want to download it?

Without a doubt, whenever someone purchases my book, Candid Confessions of An Imperfect Parent at one of my parent workshops, I always see them turn straight to Chapter 6: Dad, Can I Download This Song? Parents are looking for ways to help our kids make good media decisions Continue reading “Dad, Can I Download Katy Perry’s New Album?”

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First Two Winners

Posted on: 11/11/13 9:00 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Facebook-LikeLast week I let you all in on a little contest we’re having this month where I reward you for connecting with me on my Facebook page (you can read all about how to win HERE). Well, last week I already randomly chose the first two winners. One was someone who had FRIENDED me… the other was someone who LIKED a bunch of my posts. As you know, each time you LIKE… your name goes into the hopper.

It doesn’t get much easier than that!

So congrats to David Barton and Matthew Erickson!

Still lots of prizes left, including Man of Steel on Blu-ray. So don’t forget to keep hitting LIKE when I post something that intrigues you!

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Guys, Girls… and Zombies

Posted on: 11/7/13 3:11 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Kid-reading-Zombie-bookI’m still scratching my head a little bit about this The Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide for Teenagers we put on the shelves just two month ago. It was difficult to get a Christian publisher to print anything with the word Zombie, but once we did… it’s now our top selling book on my site, the Youth Cartel site, and on Amazon.

Youth worker Josh from Kansas just emailed me today about his guys’ small group:

I’ve started my high school guys small group on your The Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide for Teenagers.  They are ecstatic about it.  I had given them several options for resources for us to go through and they unanimously and rather vocally all wanted “The Zombie Book” as they call it Continue reading “Guys, Girls… and Zombies”

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Only If You Get Caught

Posted on: 11/6/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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GTA5I received some interesting emails and comments in response to my How to Kill a Hooker blog post a couple weeks ago. The post was about the new wildly popular, violent and sexually charged video game Grant Theft Auto 5 (GTA 5).

Here’s a response from a gamer named Anthony who shared some intriguing insight from the perspective of someone who has played the game. Anthony tried something unusual. He tried to play GTA 5 and “obey all the rules.” The results were Continue reading “Only If You Get Caught”

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