Youth Culture Archives - Page 16 of 57 - Jonathan's Blog From The Source

Friends with the Monster

Posted on: 12/12/13 6:52 AM | by Jonathan McKee

How do young people deal with adversity today? Do they fight their demons, addictions and problems… or do they make friends with these monsters?

Young people are always searching for ways to cope. In their quest for answers, many turn to the poets whispering in their ears day and night. Two of those poets just rose to the top of the Billboard charts with their song about fighting “the monster.”

I’m referring to the new No 1 song, The Monster, from Emenim, featuring Rihanna. The song carved a slice of history for each artist on the music charts and is the 11^th song to go No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this year (as we outlined in our annual Youth Culture Window article about the top hits of 2013, reviewing all 11 of these songs).

But what answers do Eminem and Rihanna provide Continue reading “Friends with the Monster”

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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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A Heart for the Unnoticed

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

The-Way-Way-Back Do 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

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

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

Katy-Perry-Prism Katy 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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Guys, Girls… and Zombies

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

Kid-reading-Zombie-book I’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”

Posted in Books, Youth Culture, Youth Ministry Planning | | Leave A Comment

Only If You Get Caught

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

I 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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The Gospel According to The Walking Dead

Posted on: 10/23/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Last week after watching the record-breaking premiere of The Walking Dead, I once again was captivated by the series’ ability to provoke discussion. The series has an amazing ability to stir people to talk about what they just saw.

That’s why we launched “The Gospel According to The Walking Dead.”

The Walking Dead is not only one of the most popular shows on television, it’s one of the most discussed. Sure, people like Duck Dynasty, but you won’t find a lot of water cooler discussions happening the next day discussing why Godwin decided to put his $200 hot tub in the front yard. You will, however, find countless circles of people debating Continue reading “The Gospel According to The Walking Dead”

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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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