Jonathan's Rant Archives - Page 2 of 21 - Jonathan's Blog From The Source

STDs at an all time high… again

Posted on: 10/5/17 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Last week it was all over the news, STDs at an all time high.

Again!

Yes… it was last November that the CDC first posted a press release revealing “STDs are at an unprecedented high.” (My post about this, and my theories as to why) Well… apparently the trend is only getting worse.

The timing is uncanny. Last Tuesday the CDC announced “the highest number of these sexually transmitted diseases ever reported,” literally 9 days after the Washington Post featured a story reprinted by newspapers globally about how teenagers weren’t drinking or driving or having sex, rather, they were… and I quote… “sticking to G-rated activities such as rock climbing or talking about books.” Continue reading “STDs at an all time high… again”

Posted in Jonathan's Rant, News, Sexuality, Youth Culture | Tags: CDC, sexual activity, sexually active teens, std, stds unprecedented high, teens and sexuality | Leave A Comment

Does Sexy Music Really Affect Me?

Posted on: 08/30/17 1:30 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I guess it’s a good time to ask this question when the No. 1 song on the charts articulates, “I want to show my mouth your favorite places, let me trespass your danger zones until I make you scream.”

Whenever I speak to parents I tend to provide them with a glimpse into the world of youth culture: the apps young people frequent (on their smartphones at an average of 2 hours and 38 minutes a day), the games they’re playing (teen boys play an average of 56 minutes per day), and the music they’re soaking in (at an average of 1 hour and 54 minutes per day) (Media Use by Tweens and Teens, page 19 and 31). Sometime I even play YouTube videos or paste lyrics of the top dozen songs right on the screen for parents to see firsthand. The reaction is always the same:

“I didn’t know it was this bad!”

Well, I’ve been doing this two decades now… and I’ve never seen the top 12 songs this bad Continue reading “Does Sexy Music Really Affect Me?”

Posted in Discussion Ideas, Entertainment Media, Jonathan's Rant, Music, Parenting, Smartphones/Cell Phones, Youth Culture | Tags: billboard hot 100, music, music charts, parenting, parenting teenagers, pop music, sexually explicit lyrics, sexy songs, smartphone monitoring, top songs | Leave A Comment

Teen Summer Bucket List Goes Viral

Posted on: 07/25/17 7:21 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Go to a party
Have sex
Give two blow jobs
8 hoe pics for Instagram
Hook up with Jacob again
Get a boob hickey…

These are just some of the items on a young person’s “bucket list” gone viral on Twitter.

Does this surprise me?

The timing is intriguing. Just last week I had a 3+ hour drive to the airport on my way back from teaching youth workers at a convention in Indiana. I took the opportunity to listen to the current Billboard Hot 100 to get a glimpse into the top music today… and apparently teen thinking today Continue reading “Teen Summer Bucket List Goes Viral”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Jonathan's Rant, Sexuality, Social Media, Youth Culture | Tags: billboard hot 100, pop culture, pop music, teen summer bucket list, teens, viral tweet, youth culture | Leave A Comment

Where kids actually adopt their values

Posted on: 03/28/17 10:38 AM | by Jonathan McKee

“My 16-year-old wants Instagram and I won’t let her have it. Is that bad?”

It was an honest question from a mom after one of my recent parent workshops.

“Why don’t you let her have Instagram?”I asked.

“Well… it’s social media, and that’s bad… right?” She replied indecisively.

“When she’s 18 and she goes off to college, do you think she’ll get it?” Continue reading “Where kids actually adopt their values”

Posted in Faith, Jonathan's Rant, Parenting, Smartphones/Cell Phones, Social Media | Tags: bonding, boundaries, helicopter parenting, parenting, parenting teenagers, rebellion, rules, smartphone rules, teaching values | Leave A Comment

Mixed Feelings about Rowling’s Newest

Posted on: 01/10/17 4:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Lori and I went to see the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them over Christmas break, a fun movie introducing great characters… but it left a bitter taste in our mouths.

As you know, Fantastic Beasts is yet another fantasy adventure story written by JK Rowling, and a prequel of the Harry Potter Series. Like the Harry Potter films, it’s well written with creative dialogue and likable characters… and also plenty of magic, wands, spells, and incantations.

On the positive side, it was a really fun film with a noticeable battle between good and evil. But at times I really struggled to enjoy it, because I was struggling with… there’s no better way to say it… the beguiling comfort with witchcraft.

Don’t worry… I’m not turning into someone crying “Satan” with the rationality of Chicken Little. We’ve all seen Continue reading “Mixed Feelings about Rowling’s Newest”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Faith, Jonathan's Rant, Movies | Tags: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J.K. Rowling, MACUSA, magic, pentagram, witchcraft, witches | Leave A Comment

Ariana Grande upset about being objectified

Posted on: 01/5/17 4:33 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Pop singer Ariana Grande went on a Tweet rant about being “objectified.”

I’m sorry. I’m trying my hardest to not roll on the ground laughing.

I honestly checked the date. Nope. Not April 1^st. I was about to check Quentin Tarantino’s Twitter and see if he was upset about gratuitous violence.

Apparently Ariana was getting food with her boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller last week when a young boy approached the two of them Continue reading “Ariana Grande upset about being objectified”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Jonathan's Rant, Music, News, Sexuality, Social Media | Tags: Ariana double standard, Ariana Grande, dangerous woman, Mac Miller, side to side, women objectified | Leave A Comment

It Ain’t My Fault

Posted on: 12/6/16 4:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Oxford Dictionary just released their brand new “word of the year” for 2016, and it should serve as a sobering slap in the face as to exactly how irrational and foolish we’ve become.

The word is post-truth.

The definition is basically this: who cares what’s true. It’s only what “feels right” that matters (see Romans 1:18 for an expanded definition).

We just posted our brand new Youth Culture Window article, Who Needs Truth?, about this dangerous mindset and how today’s young people are Continue reading “It Ain’t My Fault”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Jonathan's Rant, News, Youth Culture | Tags: Christian values, morality, oxford dictionary word of the year, post-truth, teenagers, what feels right | Leave A Comment

The 30 Most Influential Teens

Posted on: 11/10/16 4:31 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Time has released their annual list of the 30 most influential teens of 2016, and it’s intriguing to see the personalities who are resonating with today’s young people.

When you read through the list you’ll probably discover some common denominators. Most are TV and music stars, a few Olympians, some entrepreneurs, and then another prominent category… LGBTQ.

Here are some of my observations about this year’s list:
Continue reading “The 30 Most Influential Teens”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Internet, Jonathan's Rant, Movies, Music, News, Social Media, TV, Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment

Trump, The P-word, and Hypocrites

Posted on: 10/10/16 4:44 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I try not to get political and I try not to rant. I’ll keep my momentum of NOT getting political in this post. This post is not about Trump… it’s about our hypocritical nation.

Last week we all heard recordings of Trump saying some really explicit and degrading stuff about women. It was pretty eye-opening and disappointing.

But it’s funny that while Americans, both conservative and liberal are all shaking their heads at Trump, and calling his statement “offensive”, “degrading” and “intolerable”… Continue reading “Trump, The P-word, and Hypocrites”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Jonathan's Rant, Music, News, Parenting | | Leave A Comment

TV Christianity

Posted on: 06/30/16 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

In my lifetime I’ve noticed a huge shift in opinion about Christians and the local church… and it ain’t been good! “Christian” is rapidly becoming a naughty word.

If you ever turn on TV or go to the movies, it’s not uncommon to hear the perception that faith is at the root of a vast number of societal ills. In fact, some have even studied these perceptions of faith and Christianity.

The question I want to ask is, where are people learning this?

Two answers emerge Continue reading “TV Christianity”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Faith, Jonathan's Rant, TV | | Leave A Comment