Not Ashamed of a One Night Stand

Posted on: 06/30/08 1:42 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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I guess energy drinks will try anything to market their product.

Not much to be said here… I’ll just quote the ad word for word:

“When you wake up ‘the morning after’ in a strange place, don’t be ashamed. Jump start your body and mind with the electrolytes and B-Vitamins in AMP Energy Relaunch…”

Wow.

The racy video ad (warning, even though this ad has no nudity, it’s definitely raunchy) with it’s catchy tune and downloadable lyrics has gone viral. MarketingProfs.com calls it how they see it:

By creating a funny, viral-worthy campaign to which most of us can relate, AMP has delivered a nifty piece of Marketing Inspiration.

With success of these kind of campaigns… you can bet we’ll be seeing more of them.

Sigh.

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A Virtual “Pick Up Joint” for Teens

Posted on: 06/28/08 8:45 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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A 13-year-old can’t go “clubbing” on Friday night… right?

Maybe a decade ago. But now, the sky’s the limit. Actually… there are very few limits at IMVU.com

Parents… brace yourselves.

I didn’t know much about this web site that provides a venue for 3-D chatting, virtual making out, and prancing around in skimpy clothes that Mommy and Daddy probably wouldn’t approve. I’d seen the ads for the site before, but never visited it.

After reading that IMVU has grown to 20 million users (the majority of which are teenagers), I figured it was time to check it out. Within three minutes of browsing the site, I knew we needed to write a Youth Culture Window on the subject. So that’s what we did. I had David investigate the site thoroughly and write up the article.

This past week David and I both have dove into this virtual world to “gave her a spin.” We were amazed with what we saw and experienced. Kids mingling with adults in ways so taboo… I can’t believe Dateline isn’t on the scene. In this 3-D pick up world, authenticity is nothing, looks are everything, and morals are nowhere to be found.

You’ll want to definitely read David’s full article here.

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Lend Your Infant to NBC

Posted on: 06/26/08 10:54 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Who would lend out their infant as a reality show challenge?

Add in the fact that a teenage couple will be raising your kid on camera… and you can bet that NBC didn’t choose the brightest of teens for this challenge.

Yesterday on the plane I read a brilliant USA Today article about the new NBC reality show Baby Borrowers… and I wanted you to see it. Beautifully written. A great commentary about the direction our entertainment has gone.

Here’s a snippet:

On the heels of the now-disputed story about a New England teenage pregnancy pact, NBC is selling the show as if it were electronic birth control. Even if societal improvement were the goal, and it’s not, Baby wouldn’t do much to achieve it. Any teenager who has watched a reality show knows these kids were chosen to fail, and to be ill-behaved brats while doing so.

What manipulation can’t achieve, editing does. The show lovingly dwells on every snit-fit and flaw, particularly that adolescent know-it-all attitude that causes them to respond to criticism as if it were an assault on the deference they assume is their natural due. Still, try to keep in mind that they’ve been lent to the show as well — and by adults who should know better.

Click here for the entire article.

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Heated Responses to my “Kissed a Girl” Blog

Posted on: 06/11/08 9:16 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Most of you have already read my blog about Katy Perry’s song “I Kissed a Girl.” (The song is now #5 on Billboard’s chart and #2 on iTunes.) Apparently the blog is making it’s rounds in different camps right now… because the responses are starting to pour in.

The song obviously is typical of today’s casual mindset about “doing what feels right at the moment.” But that’s not what people are reacting to (surprise, surprise). People are reacting, as always, to the homosexuality issue.

First of all, we’ve already covered this issue in this blog (and the articles we’ve linked from that blog). But people love to react on both sides. I’ve received some emails from Christians getting all frothy and hateful, making sure to remind me that homosexuality is a sin. (Yeah… duh. So is bitterness! Look in the mirror folks.) Hence my call to react in compassion.

Anyway… on the opposite spectrum we’ve got people upset that I did say it’s a sin.

I encourage you all to read the responses to that blog. I believe that reading responses from others can be a good teaching moment about other people’s beliefs and attitudes.

Pop quiz- what can we learn about this person from this excerpt of their comment? (emphasis mine)

I don’t understand why this is so upsetting. People should be free to make their own choices in life. If someone decides to be lesbian that is their choice ( I heard somewhere that it is genetic, so they can’t pick and choose they have to come to terms with it ), they still remain human and still need love and support from community and family. I like the song. It has a nice beat and is easy to dance to, this doesn’t make me lesbian, and it doesn’t make me want to be lesbian(I doubt a song could anyway).

And for you zealous ‘radical’ Christians, I think that god doesn’t consider being bi-sexual a sin….

Here’s a couple quick observations.

  1. This person’s comment is based on “feeling,” not fact. Notice the language: “I think that…”  Today’s culture doesn’t care a lot about truth… it’s all about what “works for me.” What “feels right.” It’s not uncommon to hear people say, “I think that God probably doesn’t mind when we…”  Which leads me to my second observation…
  2. The Bible isn’t an authority to many. As believers, we quote scripture to back up our beliefs. That’s not a convincing source to the majority. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in scripture as authority and will continue to quote it. But we need to understand our audience and know that, for many, scripture means nothing.
  3. Much like my first observation… this person’s comment is not only based on feeling, it’s completely without any research. Their source material is, “I heard somewhere…”  Wow… I’d hate to base my “feelings” and beliefs on, “I heard somewhere.” This is very typical of today’s young generation. In my workshops love to show an example from a newspaper article where a bunch of kids were busted for intentionally farting in class. The press got involved and the kids were interviewed. It’s hilarious. The kids reported, “It’s a natural occurrence, and we all do it 16 times a day.” But this is my favorite part of the article:

    When questioned where he learned that information, Tyler and the other students all said it was true, though they couldn’t remember where they heard it.

I love that part. They all said it was true, but they couldn’t remember where they heard it. Sound familiar?

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The Top of the Charts… Not a Pretty Sight

Posted on: 06/6/08 8:54 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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You can learn a lot about youth culture from pop culture… that’s why I try to keep my eye on the music charts and what kids are listening to.

This week the  Coldplay is making a move up the charts… a refreshing change, I must say. No bias at all, I’m just growing tired of the insult to our intelligence that has been riding the number one slot for months now. I’m referring to the number one song “Lollipop.” If you aren’t familiar with this song, I encourage you to take a quick peek at the lyrics. All I can say is… Wow!  (I don’t know… he looks like a nice fella from his pic, don’t you think?)

So you can see why I’m cheering for Coldplay.

Other songs in chart news were Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” also soaring up the charts. I blogged about this song a lil bit ago. Enough said.

Also holding on, Usher’s “Love in the Club,” … aka “Let’s Make Love in the Club.” This song is an ironic piece. Usher’s new album is supposed to be about fidelity and matrimony now that Usher is married and settled down. His album tells his life story, and “Love in the Club” is about a time in his live when he was clubbing every night and taking women home with him. But he says that he’s different now. His album tells the story. Sorry Usher… most kids are missing that message. They’re too busy “Making Love in the Club” to  your song! (you’ll hear more about this soon on our Youth Culture Window)

I admit… music wasn’t great when I was 16. But let’s just say…this chart below is a little different picture than today’s:

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A Blatant Commercial for Smoking Weed

Posted on: 06/2/08 9:31 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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In this week’s Youth Culture Window article, I dissect pop culture, taking a look through the lens of last Sunday night’s MTV Movie Awards. In that article, I described a moment that had me scratching my head… one of the most blatant “pro pot” moments I’ve seen on television.

If pictures tell 1000 words, then video clips reveal even more. Take a look at this clip (you’ll have to watch a 30 second commercial first) from the awards show, a moment with Seth Rogen and James Franco. I could try to describe it to you… but you just have to see it.

What was the network thinking?!!

Oh that’s right. This is MTV…

Hence my article.

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Struggling With Juno

Posted on: 05/14/08 6:33 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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The movie Juno, which only this week was bumped from the number two spot in DVD rentals, has been at the top of the rental charts since its release on April 15th . Kids love it.

I, however, am a little torn.

If you work with youth or have kids, you’ve probably already heard about this film about a young girl that gets pregnant and decides to keep the child and put it up for adoption (I mentioned this film in a previous blog about the surprising number of secular films this year with pro-life themes). Kids love Juno and critics are raving about it. I’ve even heard the youth ministry community praising it. And I can see why youth workers enjoy the movie– it’s an authentic look at youth culture today. But I have to admit, I struggled with this film.

Here were my thoughts that I recently added to our ministry’s movie review page:

JUNO FILM REVIEW
This film had me torn from the beginning.

If you’re like me, you went into this film hearing all the hype about what a wonderful film this is, Oscar potential, blah, blah, blah. (Besides… do the words “Oscar potential” mean anything to you? Did you actually see There Will Be Blood? Zzzzzzzzzz) Everyone is recommending Juno. So I admit… I had high expectations going into it.

To summarize my thoughts I’ll have to resort to bullets for this one.

THE GOOD:

  • Ellen Page was really a likable character, warts and all. She reminded me of several of my Campus Life kids from back in the day.
  • Jennifer Garner was surprisingly good. She wasn’t the typical “Alias” eye candy… she did some real acting here.
  • Like so many films this year, the value of life was communicated… even if in an awkward way.
  • The characters were very real. Very 2007. Not just a bunch of “actor models” who got the roles… but real people. Very convincing.

THE BAD:

  • I had heard that this was a good film for teenagers. In one of the first scenes we see a shot of a girl’s legs as her panties are dropped to the floor. Then she climbs on top of a guy. Yes, they didn’t show nudity. Yes, I know that’s what the film was about (a girl getting pregnant). But guess what… I don’t want my kids seeing the action- even just the beginning of it.
  • Juno was a fun character, but she was really foul. I have loved plenty of kids like this in my ministry and still do. But in this film, she was almost a role model. Her bad decisions, her lack of tact, and her foul mouth were almost given a stamp of approval. I realize that this is a hard balance to find. I love kids like this. But it doesn’t mean that I want kids to grow up thinking that it is “okay” to grow up acting like that.
  • The film showed very little consequences of behavior. The film was fun and light, and I think those elements made the movie enjoyable. But the film didn’t seem to show any of the pain or consequences from the behaviors. Sure, Juno got pregnant. But it was treated like, “no big deal.”
  • Similar to the last two bullets, this film contained a lot of immitatable behavior. And being that this is currently the MOST popular rental of the year… wow!

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
I think that most kids shouldn’t see it. I might show my older teenagers this film when they are 16 or older (depending on their maturity) if we went to dinner and talked about the film afterwards. I would need to talk through the bullets highlighted above.

But there is no way I’d show this to junior higher or younger. Come on people– how fast do we want our kids to grow up? Yes, I’m a huge advocate of talking with our kids about real life. But we don’t need to shove it down their throats early. Let it come as it comes. And then be open for those conversations.

Thoughts?

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The Day of… WHAT?

Posted on: 04/21/08 9:29 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Oh boy… here we go again. It’s happening next week.

Why is it that Christians always feel that they need to “stand up for their rights” and speak out against organizations, or governments that are caught up in sin?

Where is this in the Bible?

It’s probably no secret to some of you that this Friday is the pro-homosexual tolerance Day of Silence. This day brings attention to the anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. I’m not going to address the issue of homo-sexuality in this blog. I’ve addressed it before in blogs and articles. In this blog I’m simply addressing our RESPONSE to the world when we don’t like what we see. (and I’m going to highlight an example of how NOT to respond)

Why do Christians think that picket signs or protesting is the answer?

Let me ask you one question. Name one person you know that accepted Christ because someone “protested” them into the Kingdom.

So why do Christians feel the need to do this?

Oh… I know why. It’s because when Jesus looked at the corrupt government of his day (Are you aware of what was going on in Herod’s house at the time?) he must have responded by gathering a mob and picketing the immoral lifestyle… wait… just a second… you mean… he didn’t? Well maybe he started a website, organizing people to protest in another way? No?

Hmmmmmm.

Well, Christians have created their own day in response to the Day of Silence called The Day of Truth. On Monday, April 28, 2008, some Christians have decided to establish this day to “counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective… The Day of Truth provides an opportunity to publicly exercise our free speech rights.”

When I saw this I immediately thought of a few conversations I’ve had with Dan Kimball on the subject. Dan is a Christian speaker and author who believes engaging in homosexual acts is a sin, but shows incredible compassion and love to the homosexual community (He touches on this in our podcast with him, Podcast Episode #12 and in his powerful book, They Like Jesus, But Not the Church). I asked Dan his opinion about this Christian response- The Day of Truth. Dan gave me some quick thoughts:

i think those types of things end up doing more harm than good. i would encourage parents to be talking with their teenagers and youth leaders addressing it wisely in their ministries, but doing a public event at a high school i am not sure is beneficial to the direction of hope.  i would encourage the Christian teenagers to simply be friends with gay students and pro-gay students, and in the context of friendships the message of jesus will come through. I don’t know if formalizing a date to do it only reinforces things and we lose our voice. 

I can’t agree more.

Earlier this year many of us saw statistics of just how bad we look to the rest of the world. Only 16% of unchurched people had positive things to say about Christians. The majority of them used words like “hypocrite” and “judgemental” to describe us.

It all comes down to this. The Day of Truth web site is not without good intentions. They seem to be seeking conversation with homosexuals. Their cards bear this as part of their message:

It’s time for an honest conversation about homosexuality.
There’s freedom to change if you want to.
Let’s talk.

I think talking is good. But here’s what I’ll leave you with: If our goal is conversations, do you really think a formal day of “speaking out” will create conversations with homo-sexuals? Or will it build walls?

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Why Do One in Four Teen Girls Have an STD?

Posted on: 04/15/08 5:07 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Last month we saw articles in every major newspaper about the new report that one in four teen girls has an STD. People were shocked. This week we’re asking for your response and I’ll be blogging about the subject all week.

I have to admit… I wasn’t surprised by the results of this report in the slightest. What has surprised me in this highly sexualized culture is that we haven’t seen this report sooner.

If you missed the report, here’s a snippet from U.S. News:

More than 3 million teenaged girls have at least one sexually transmitted disease (STD), a new government study suggests.

The most severely affected are African-American teens. In fact, 48 percent of African-American teenaged girls have an STD, compared with 20 percent of white teenaged girls.

“These numbers translate into 3.2 million young women nationwide who are infected with an STD,” Forhan said. “This means that far too many young women are at risk of the serious health effects of untreated STDs, including infertility and cervical cancer.”

These common STDs include human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus and trichomoniasis, Forhan said.

So who is to blame?

It’s probably not too difficult to guess who Planned Parenthood is blaming:

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the study shows that “the national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure, and teenage girls are paying the real price.” Huffington Post, 3/11/2008

Let’s hold off any analysis of abstinence education for a second… but we will be returning to the subject.

What about the influence of the media? Are they to blame? You might remember last month when I blogged  about lyrics and I noted that in 2007, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revealed that “teens who listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse…as teens who listened to little or no sexually degrading music.” (Houston Chronicle)

But is that where the blame rests? Just the media?

Where are parents?

Let me assure you. The BEST abstinence and or sex education of any kind is from parents who talk with their kids honestly about sex– an ongoing conversation. Sure, we, as a society can’t count on this communication to always happen at home, so we need to provide sex education in other venues as well. But do parents really see this ongoing communication in the home as their responsibility?

What best equips kids for these sexual decisions? What kind of sex education can prevent 1 in 4 girls from getting a disease that will probably have permanent consequences?

I ask you this, because this week in this blog we’ll be looking at the effectiveness of abstinence education, the influence of the media and other issues that contribute toward this “1 in 4” stat.

Comments?

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Fear of the Crosswalk Lady

Posted on: 04/4/08 5:11 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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What’s your biggest fear? Shark attack? Hurricane? Spiders?

If you asked me that question I wouldn’t even hesitate to answer: I’m scared of the crosswalk lady at my daughter’s school!

That’s right, the crosswalk lady. To the innocent passerby she might seem nice and sweet. But really she’s just waiting to pounce on someone and inflict her justice! She’s a mall security guard gone bad!

My daughter’s school has numerous volunteers that help guide traffic in and out of the parking lot, stopping traffic as needed for the children to cross the crosswalk onto the school campus. Some of the volunteers are nice soccer moms. Some are men. But one of them is a woman with an agenda. She’s gonna clean up this school by kicking butt and taking names!

The school has a routine in place of how parents should drop off their kids. It’s a little tricky for new parents, but once you get it down it’s easy. This school is a special school that brings kids from all over town. There are no busses, so the “car” traffic is pretty busy on any given morning. No worries. All a parent needs to do is wait in the line of cars, pull in the long circular driveway, stop when traffic stops, and drop off your child.

Where’s the problem?

That’s what I’m still wondering.

Here’s what seems to be the problem:

  I didn’t pull up far enough.
  I pulled up too far.
  I didn’t stop soon enough.
  I stopped too soon!
  I dropped her off to early… no…. I dropped her off too late!

Aaaaauuugh! I feel as if I’m being followed by a police car in a 55 zone and he’ll pull me over for speeding at 56, but he’ll cite me for obstructing traffic at 54. “Please little foot… be strong and sure! Maintain that 55!”

My wife Lori and I “rock-paper-scissors” who gets to drop off Ashley each morning. We don’t mind dropping off Alec. Heck, I’ll carry Alyssa on my BACK to her school! Just DON’T make me have to go and face that NAZI at Ashley’s school.

So if you ever see me in the corner of my office, crouched in fetal position, sucking my thumb and mumbling, “Mama… mama…” you’ll know that I just dropped off Ashley.

Oh how I loathe that crosswalk lady!

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