Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

I recently watched the documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.  The film was thoughtful, entertaining and at times intentionally and sarcastically humorous.  While be no means a comprehensive argument against current evolutionary sciencentific claims, the content none-the-less poses some solid questions.  In an educational system that is unabashadly embracing evolution as truth (rather than a theory with many holes) I appreciated Ben Stein’s attempt to keep the conversation going.

Here’s a trailer of the movie:

Growing Up Online

I caught some of an interesting documentary tonight on Frontline:

The program is available online of course.  Just click the image above then click Watch the full program online.  Your kids live in a wired, online, always on world.  I’m still in my 20s, but I recognize that my use of technology in communication lags far behind many teens.  Case in point: email.  I use it all the time, your kids probably don’t.  Gosh, you might as well light a fire in the backyard and try to communicate sending smoke signals.  Text messaging, social networking sites, cell phones, and chat supplement and often replace face-to-face communicating.

My takeaway from watching for you parents?

• Be aware, and as much as possible be involved in the mediums your kids are using to communicate. Text your kids. Know their social networking sites.
• Don’t overextend privacy in this area.  Talk to your kids about what websites they upload personal content to.  Don’t allow unmonitored internet use.  If you’re interested to know whose home your child is hanging out at physically, why would you allow total freedom to the same child to communicate any time, with anyone online?
• Talk, talk, talk to your kids. (and text, and post to their myspace–how embarrassing!)

Here’s a couple clips our RevGroup leaders are playing as a conversation started on their study this week:

 

 

1 in 4 teenage girls has an STD

In case you missed this news release from last month, here’s a clip from the US News report:

More than 3 million teenaged girls have at least one sexually transmitted disease (STD), a new government study suggests.

The most severely affected are African-American teens. In fact, 48 percent of African-American teenaged girls have an STD, compared with 20 percent of white teenaged girls.

“What we found is alarming,” Dr. Sara Forhan, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a teleconference Tuesday. “One in four female adolescents in the U.S. has at least one of the four most common STDs that affects women.”

“These numbers translate into 3.2 million young women nationwide who are infected with an STD,” Forhan said.

You can read the rest of the article here: full article

I’m looking for information that may exist that is more specific to our community in Pinal County and Maricopa County. I have heard statistics that place teen pregnancy rates at Florence High School (which is the major high school in the community I live) atop the national averages. If our higher teen pregnancy rates equates with a higher sexual activity, then it seems plausible that tendency could translate into higher STD rates as well.

What are your thoughts?

Crystal Meth: Arizona

Crystal Darkness is a 30-minute gripping documentary underscoring the frightening truth about Meth’s devastating attack on our youth and their families.

The program is targeted for youth and their parents, but the message extends with conviction to an entire community and throughout our nation. If you are not yet aware of the seriousness of the Meth problem in our neighborhoods, then the images and stories shared in this film will prove to be both shocking and scary.

Bethany and I will be watching this program tonight, and I encourage you to watch it with your teen. This will air 6:30 – 7:00pm on all the local networks. I think many of us underestimate the far-reaching impact this drug is having on our community.