Teenage Tech Advice

Posted on: 06/17/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Last week I had the privilege of teaching at Doug Field’s 2013 Student Leadership Conference in Dallas (the next two are in July). Wednesday night when I arrived, I interviewed a bunch of student leaders, recording their answers for my “Lure of the Glowing Screen” workshop.

I asked these student leaders the following question: What advice would you give to a young person if they just got a new iPhone for Christmas?

Here are some of the answers I received:

“Don’t drop it!”

“Don’t let it become an idol in your life. You need to honor God first.”

“You gotta be careful with Continue reading “Teenage Tech Advice”

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Smartphone Ownership Still Rising

Posted on: 06/13/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Every time a new report is released, the numbers have grown even bigger. The smartphone craze is still full throttle. Even 42% of American mobile subscribers over 55-years-old now own smartphones.

That’s a whole lot of mobile Facebooking!

A couple months ago I provided you with an update about the digital devices we own, how many of us own them, and the rapid rate in which this number is increasing. Well… those numbers are still growing. Here’s a glimpse, according to the most recent June updates from Nielsen:

  • 61% of moble subscribers in the U.S. owned a smartphone during the most recent three month period (March-May 2013)
  • 53% of smartphone owners used Android
  • 40% use iPhones (but Apple’s smartphone market grew 7% and Android only grew 2%)
  • Woman make up the majority of smartphone owners
  • 78% of Millennial subscribers aged 25-34 own them
  • 75% of Millennial subscribers aged 18-24 own them

So what are they doing on these phones? Nielsen’s June 10th report about mobile consumers reveals… Continue reading “Smartphone Ownership Still Rising”

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We Can’t Stop

Posted on: 06/10/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Miley’s new single just hit the charts last week, immediately souring to #1 on iTunes. The song is titled We Can’t Stop, and if you wanna know what she can’t stop… just Google the lyrics.

Here’s a glimpse:

It’s our party we can do what we want
It’s our party we can say what we want
It’s our party we can love who we want
We can kiss who we want
We can see who we want (2x)

Red cups and sweaty bodies everywhere
Hands in the air like we don’t care
Cause we came to have so much fun now
Got somebody here might get some now…

Not much more to tell.

My Twitter followers already heard from me when the song first went #1, and in all honesty, I hope the hype is over on this one. It’s slowly been Continue reading “We Can’t Stop”

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From YOLO to FOMO

Posted on: 06/4/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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“Let’s stay up all night Friday night!”

“Why not. YOLO!”

It’s a term young people have latched onto in the last year, expressing exactly what the acronym says, “You only live once.” But as popular as YOLO is (I’ve written about YOLO before), this attitude might not be quite as prominent as FOMO, the “Fear Of Missing Out.” Because, in today’s world of hyper-connection… no one wants to be the last one to know.

College Humor captured this phenomenon well in this hilarious YouTube video I’ll be showing to student leaders in my workshops about technology at the SLC2013 conventions.

We’ll probably be seeing more of these. A few other funny FOMO videos have surfaced already.

This phenomena goes beyond the desire for social interaction. Young people just want Continue reading “From YOLO to FOMO”

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The Lure of the Glowing Screen

Posted on: 06/3/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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I’m going to bribe you for your input! (WINNERS posted below)

I’m really excited about the two new workshops I’m developing for SLC2013… and I’d love your feedback. (So much, in fact, that I’ll choose two people who comment in this post and give them each a free copy of any one of my books).

I’m really excited about this event. It’s Doug Fields Student Leadership Conference in three cities this summer. I’m speaking there, along with Doug, Josh Griffin, The Skit Guys, Jim Burns, Duffy… and more. It’s 48 hours of Continue reading “The Lure of the Glowing Screen”

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FCC Considers More Sex and Nudity

Posted on: 05/28/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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The rumor is true, the FCC is considering allowing more sex and nudity on televisions. Their website posted a public notice last month proposing an end to “the prohibition of expletives and certain images of nudity on television.” Then clean shows like CBS’s Two and a Half Men could finally let loose and tell racy jokes… uh… oh wait…

Sure, network TV is already pretty racy, and blurred/pixilated nudity is increasing logarithmically, but if you want to know where this FCC consideration is heading, just watch a single episode of HBO’s Girls or Game of Thrones (Actually… don’t. But read how some parents are responding when they are exposed to the “soft core porn” of these popular new shows).

People are reacting to this FCC news in two ways Continue reading “FCC Considers More Sex and Nudity”

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Should I Just Smash My Kid’s Phone?

Posted on: 05/13/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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This week I’m teaching a brand new parenting workshop in an exciting new venue… we’re inviting parents and teenagers under one roof and opening up the doorways of dialogue.

The workshop is titled, “Should I Just SMASH my Kids Phone?” and it’s based off of the new workbook Doug Fields and I just wrote by the same title. The seminar equips parents to build lasting values and set boundaries that really work, teaching discernment along the way Continue reading “Should I Just Smash My Kid’s Phone?”

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SmartPhone Safety Nets

Posted on: 05/7/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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If your child accesses iTunes today and simply clicks on the music video charts, one of the top 10 videos features topless girls dancing… something anyone can see in the free preview of the video.

Sad, but true. Literally today.

(I know, I know. I can foresee it now. Someone is going to email me and tell me, “Jonathan, why are you telling us this! This will tempt us to click on it!” And to that I say, “In a world where anyone can jump on Google at anytime and type ‘naked girls’ and see just that in a matter of seconds… I’m not telling you anything new.”)

The question I want to raise is, “Have you set some guardrails to help your kids steer away from these kinds of temptations?”

Let me ask Continue reading “SmartPhone Safety Nets”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Internet, Movies, Music, Parenting, Sexuality, Smartphones/Cell Phones, Social Media, Youth Culture |  | Leave A Comment

Teenage Digital Devices

Posted on: 04/29/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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“It’s crucial to get to know them now in order to better understand who they’ll be tomorrow.” –The Teen Transition, Nielsen, 4/16/2013

I start the majority of my workshops with a youth culture quiz. I ask parents and youth workers, “Do you know today’s teenagers? Are you familiar with their culture, attitudes, habits and trends.”

But keeping up with today’s teen is no easy task, because the only constant is change… especially in the area of technology.

Take smartphone ownership, for example Continue reading “Teenage Digital Devices”

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Americans Connected 2:38 Minutes a Day to Mobile Devices

Posted on: 04/5/13 4:14 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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With the rise in mobile phone and app use, we’ve been seeing a bunch of numbers floating around lately about how much time Americans are actually spending connected to these mobile devices. Well, Flurry just came out with a brand new report measuring the activity of more than 1 billion mobile IOS and Android devices per month. The findings are intriguing Continue reading “Americans Connected 2:38 Minutes a Day to Mobile Devices”

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