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Rebecca Black’s Saturday

Posted on: 12/10/13 9:46 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Perhaps you finally purged Rebecca Black’s autotuned 2011 music video, Friday, from your memory. Sadly, the autotuning is back, because last weekend the now 16-year-old Black released her new music video apply titled Saturday, where she joins with YouTube personality Dave Days to endlessly barrage us with the lyrics:

It’s Saturday we goin party all night
One we will remember for the rest of our lives
This Saturday we goin do it bigger than we ever have before
I don’t want this Saturday to end

I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that the video starts like Katy Perry’s 2011 hit Last Friday Night (waking up hung over wondering what happened the night before), or that it ends like a PG version of Miley’s 2013 summer hit We Can’t Stop.

Take a peek for yourself Continue reading “Rebecca Black’s Saturday”

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Young People and Binge TV

Posted on: 10/21/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

“34% of Millennials watch mostly online video/no broadcast TV.”

That’s what the headline says, and I’m inclined to believe it. Think about it. College kids, in dorms… how many of them have DirectTV? Not many. My son and daughter (both in college) binge more on Netflix than anything else. Tired of studying? Catch up on three episodes of Breaking Bad in one sitting. Alyssa (a college freshman) watches live TV only Continue reading “Young People and Binge TV”

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The Infiltration of US Culture

Posted on: 09/9/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Do you ever wonder if teenagers are the same across the globe?

I’ve been in the city of Kampala, Uganda almost a week now hanging with teenagers, parents, and youth workers. I’ve spoken at several youth events, taught a parent workshop, and spent four full days (so far) training and interacting with youth workers (two days of training to go). It’s been a wild ride… literally!

I think you’ll be intrigued by Continue reading “The Infiltration of US Culture”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Internet, Movies, Music, Smartphones/Cell Phones, Speaking/Training, Travel, Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment

Teenagers and YouTube

Posted on: 07/29/13 2:32 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I went camping last weekend with about 20 families from my church, all families with teenagers. I always look forward to this time away from technology. It’s fun to see teenagers sitting around campfires, swimming in a lake, hiking… probably one of the only times of the entire year I see teenagers without their phones out!

But it wasn’t totally tech-free for the four days we were there. At times a young person would pull out their phone in the middle of a huddle of teenagers and start playing music through their little iPhone speaker (something I’ll never understand… if I can’t hear it through good speakers, I don’t want to hear it at all), or a group would pull out one of their phones and immediately it would start, “Have you seen this one?” Then they’d show each other the newest and funniest YouTube video. Continue reading “Teenagers and YouTube”

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Blocking Unwanted Web Sites

Posted on: 07/2/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

“What can I do to block my kids from wandering onto bad web sites?”

That’s the gist of the question I hear at least once a week and at every one of my parenting workshops. I just heard it from multiple youth workers (who happened to also be parents) last month at the Student Leadership Conference 2013 in Dallas.

The answer is never simple, because many parents are searching for a miracle pill, and unfortunately, that’s not what their kids need. I don’t blame parents—it would be nice to have some magic guardrails keeping our kids on course as they navigate today’s tumultuous waters. But the truth of the matter is, our kids need to learn discernment. Life is full of distractions, and young people need to learn to press on when the beautiful voices of the Sirens attempt to lure them to steer into the rocks.

But discernment isn’t learned instantaneously. We’re fools to think that our 8-year-olds, our 11-year-olds, and yes… even some of our 15-year-olds… are ready to meander through the red light district (like what they might find on the iTunes video charts) without wandering into trouble. So what can parents do to block off some harmful distractions during this vulnerable stage of teaching our kids discernment?

After my recent Lure of the Glowing Screen workshop, a youth worker named Robby asked if I had heard of blocking content at the router level. I had heard a little, but am no expert. He told me about a free resource he uses Continue reading “Blocking Unwanted Web Sites”

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