Kids Lost In The World. . . A Powerful New Music Video. . .
Every now and then someone sends me a message that leaves me speechless. That happened last week when Facebook friend Greg Lee, a youth pastor in Stockbridge, Georgia, sent me a link to a new music video from Moby. Remember…
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Marketing, Cool, and Role Models Who Influence. . .
Earlier this week we ran a “Youth Culture Today” radio spot on the marketing of cool. Little did we know that the night before 60 Minutes was going to run an eye-opening segment on how young social media starts attain fame and…
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CoverGirl’s Cover Boy. . . A Sign Of The Times. . .
I’m still processing and working to deconstruct/understand what’s behind the tectonic cultural shifts that have set the table for last week’s social media saturation announcing CoverGirl’s enlistment of their first ever Cover Boy. James Charles is a 17-year-old high school…
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Words From A Mug Shot. . . A Youth Worker Speaks. . .
Another day, another tragic youth worker story in the news feed. This time it hits closer to home as a 35-year-old husband and father of five children was arrested here in Pennsylvania for impregnating a 15-year-old girl from his youth…
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The Developing Teen Brain. . . A Helpful Infographic. . .
Everything I’ve learned about the developing teenage brain has been quite liberating for me. It’s been liberating as a journey in self-discovery. You see, if the brain is not fully wired-up until about the age of 25, then that offers…
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The Kim Kardashian Robbery Talk. . .
To be honest, every time Kim Kardashian or her husband move center stage to pontificate through words, tweets, and/or photos, I will look for a split-second. . . and then quickly put my attention elsewhere. For one, it’s typically more…
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When Youth Workers Become Mug Shots. . . .
A few years ago my friends at Youth Specialties asked me to put together a new seminar for the National Youth Workers Convention. It was titled “Wisdom for a Young Youth Worker.” I came up with my list of things…
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A Parents’ Guide To Pokemon Go. . . A Helpful Infographic. . .
I was off the grid for a couple of weeks in July when Lisa and I stopped for lunch at a Chick-Fil-A just off the interstate in South Carolina. While standing in line the young twenty-something guy in front of…
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Post-Debate Thoughts. . . .
Not much sleep last night. In the midst of the uneasiness sparked by pondering where we’re at, how we got here, and what the future holds, I tried to put it all as best I could within the context of…
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Dear Dad. . . A Powerful Letter From a Young Athlete Who Wants to Quit. . .
This is one of those things that has to be passed on to others. It’s just too important to ignore. It comes from the Changing the Game Project, an organization created to essentially redeem youth sports, putting the “play” back…
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Nomophobia. . . Got It? A Helpful Infographic. . .
New stuff means new words. The folks at the Oxford Dictionary release a list of new dictionary entries (as well as those that have been eliminated) every year. Recently. . . and not surprisingly. . . a host of new…
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Antonio Brown. . . Are We All Twerkers?!? . . .
Outlandish, over-the-top celebrations in pro football are nothing new. No, they weren’t always “a part of the game.” And, the nature of the outlandish-over-the-topness has evolved (or perhaps “devolved”) over the years. But these displays have been around long enough for…
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