The Jet Set
– by Tom Piotrowski 2000, The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding In my younger years, one of the last cartoons to come on Saturday morning was the Jetsons. Just before noon, and with a sunny day and friends beckoning, it was…
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Death by iPhone. . . . Sort Of. . .
OK. . . that was a dirty little trick, wasn’t it? But now that I have your attention, let’s talk about technology and what it does to us. Better yet, let’s ponder Gillian Share-Raab’s out-of-the-box thoughts on what her smartphone…
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A Teen on Teens and Social Media. . . .
For me, there’s little that’s more refreshing and stimulating than spending time with people who share many of my same commitments and passions, digging around together in pursuit of those shared commitments and passions. . . kind of like what happens…
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Hitler’s Marketing. . . And Teaching Kids To Think. . .
When we teach our kids to think. . . and specifically to think critically and Christianly. . . it’s an awesome thing. It’s the right thing. It doesn’t happen enough. Over the course of the last twenty years I’ve had…
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BB’s, Bullets, and Innocence Lost
– by Walt Mueller ©1999, The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding Paper bulls’-eyes and tin cans were no longer satisfying. Without really discussing it, Todd and I silently headed to the woods knowing that it was time to “graduate” to a…
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Why I Communicate With The Dead. . .
No. . . I haven’t gone all “Long Island Medium” on you. That kind of stuff is just flat out nuts, dangerous, and off the charts wrong. What I am saying is that I’ve learned that there are a host…
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“I Missed It”. . . A Tragic Parental Lament. . .
When I was the father of young children. . . several years ago but not really that long ago. . . I heard my friend Ken Davis say something that hit me like a brick and has stuck with me…
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In Particular
– By Walt Mueller ©2006, The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding Christmas. Lately it’s been a time for me to pursue some re-directed thinking. The problem is that I’ve spent so many years immersed in and pursuing the nostalgic, commercialized, feel-good…
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Changing Times. . . Wow! . . .
Have you ever heard of Moore’s law? Named after Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel, Moore’s law was originally proposed by Moore in a paper he wrote way back in 1965. Moore speculated that computer technology would develop…
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Digital Media: Screwing Up or Strengthening Adolescent Spirituality?
“First we shape our tools. . . and then our tools shape us.” That’s a quote from media critic Marshall McCluhan that I’ve been passing on for years, especially since we launched our Digital Kids Initiative here at CPYU over…
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Pay Attention! . . .
Last Friday I spent the day with some Master’s students talking about social media. It was a good discussion regarding the immediate and long-term fall-out of our obsession with social media. As always, I need to say that technology is…
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Culture Watch: Rewiring Kids
Walt Mueller writes about technology and the way it is changing how our kids read for Youth Worker Journal. Read the entire article here.