Volume Issue July—Sept

POP culture AT A GLANCE Pop culture is one of the biggest influences on a teen’s life. How much do YOU know about it? Swift Playground is Apple’s newest Harry Potter fever never seems to Ipad app, but this go away. Scholastic will be repub- one will allow lishing Fantastic Beasts and children to learn Where to Find Them, with new how to code MAC Cosmetics is launching a Star Trek notes and doodles from author (make their own inspired makeup line. “Star Trek is an iconic J.K. Rowling to coincide with the apps). It uses pop culture phenomena whose storylines new movie (1 of 3) release. Mean- games and fun pushed gender and racial boundaries,” said while, the play “The Cursed Child” animation to help MAC Senior Vice President James Gager. will begin its run this summer, kids want to learn the new computer lan- “For its 50th anniversary, we celebrate each casting is being announced now. guage. The game Minecraft has also been of Star Trek’s powerful women in a transcend- The screenplay was also recently praised has helping kids to learn coding, but ing, transformational makeup collection.” published in book form and this is the first app designed with that as the dubbed as the 8th Harry Potter focus for younger children. book. Teen social media app Wishbone has added video to its capabilities and made In an effort to be more inclusive of a deal with Disney’s Freeform TV net- the young female comic fans and work, which airs shows like Pretty Little encourage more to join that group, Liars. The app provides pop culture info DC recently launched DC Super- and a user can vote on their preference hero Girls. The mini web episodes of two choices. Now they can also make follow heroes and villains in high their own video ’cards.’ Freeform shows school. The costumes and body will be taking over the app during their types were redesigned to be more realistic. They’ve also launched an app, games, and show times for exclusive content users website. Coming to 2016 are action figures, apparel, books, and more. will vote on.

A Moment: Shh! Let’s fake out mom.. Or anyone. Catfishing is pretending to be someone you are not online, apps are taking it in a new direction by allowing you to catfish pretty much whatever you want, including your GPS location. This means kids can completely fabricate their tech identity across platforms, which taps into the psychological need for a certain Kool events to public image. Here are just a few of the apps available. check out! Conversation Fakers— Advertised as a way to ‘trick, impress, or ditch people,’ this app allows you to receive a call at a designated time from a persona (jock, playboy), you simply repeat the conversation you hear to sound  July 11-15 Mega Sports as if you are replying to that persona. Camp, Williamson Park Gotta Go App— This one creates a fake contact who writes pretend text messages that get sent at a predeter-  Aug 2 National Night mined time. They look real enough to be proof you’ve “gotta go.” You can also get a fake phone call. Out, Williamson Park, Social Dummy Apps—create fake profile status that look like the real thing. 6-9 PM Imaginary Boyfriend or Girlfriend— The pressure to not be single when everyone else seems to be in a couple, can be hard to handle for a teen. These apps text you as if you have a significant other and some also come  Mayor’s Labor Day with a ‘how we met’ story, and a picture for social media. Picnic, Williamson Park Instafame—Instagram is all about the likes. If a photo doesn’t get enough, usually around  Sept 17 Opening SRYC 100, teens are now deleting them. This allows them to cultivate a very set self-image. Insta- Night 6-9 PM fame and similar apps helps you gather the likes. You earn coins by likeing other photos and then can use them to boost your own likes.  Sept 24 SRYC Yard Sale Fake GPS—Some parents rely on their teens GPS to let them know where they have been, 8 AM-2 PM especially if this has been a problem in the past. But fake GPS apps, will not only trick your phone into thinking you are somewhere else, it will trick all the other apps as well. So, a post to social media will look like you are at your friend’s house, when you might really be at a club. P AGE 2 R EAL L IFE Entertainment Talk: Electronic Entertainment Expo gives an opportunity for all the new tech coming out to announced backwards compatibility with shine. Sony and are two of the biggest presenta- the Xbox 360 and that is now beginning to tions. see the first fruits of labor. Microsoft’s VR- Sony gave a detailed look at its Playstation 4 console and its ready hardware is Scorpio, which will be upcoming platform. It’s newest software released for the 2017 holiday season. Their should allow it to keep the lead in the current console war new games list included: Gears of War and gives it a head start in VR technology. It also showed 4, Halo Wars 2, Horizon 3, and Sea off its newest gaming list, which included, a new Gods of of Thieves. War, The Last Guardian, and an exclusive Spiderman title. Nintendo announced two new Pokémon On the VR side, they announced: Resident Evil 7, Final games and Pokémon Go, a reality app that Fantasy XV, Star Wars Battlefront, and a Batman. will allow players to catch Pokémon in real Microsoft is deep into cross-platform playing between the PC life via their phone. Their other big game is and its , a newer version - the Xbox One S - was Legend’s of Zelda: Breath of Wind. For the first time in the game’s announced prior to E3. The cross platform set up allows long history, the game will be open-world RPG. This means the users to purchase and play anywhere. Late last year, they also character doesn’t just have to follow the storyline, but can explore the world at large.

Fast Facts  Teens are spending almost 9 hours a day consuming media on phones, computers, and tablets, 8-12 year olds spend 6 hours a day (Common Sense Media)  Handheld gaming consoles are going extinct as kids get smartphones earlier in life  42% of 13-17 year-olds are willing to sell their private information for a small price (ypulse)  E-cigarettes were the most used tobacco product among middle and high school students for the past 2 years and use still climbs. (CDC and US Food and Drug Administration)

No Blind Eyes: Transgender Identity More kids than ever are labeling themselves as transgender. The issue has recently affected bathrooms nationwide, including in the schools. Publically, Target has faced a significant backlash when it declared its bathrooms were all transgender. Hershey Park was also called into question when it was discovered they also have the same policy, but have not made it widely known. People crying foul, site public safety more than any other reason. While parents have more control of these places, such as choosing not to go, the school system is a different story. President Obama’s administration made an executive order mandating that school districts allow transgender students to use their bathroom and locker room of their preferred gender. Many states called this an overreach of power and in the time since, the government has taken steps forward and sideways trying to decide how to respond to the issue. Beyond the government's reach, are the people living daily. One couple upon leaning their school would inforce Obama’s mandate, removed their boys form the school system. The school reversed its decision to look into the subject in more detail. But while bathrooms seem to have become the common public fighting ground, transgender issues don’t end there for the schools. A transgender boy won the All State Girl’s Honors in track and field. Elementary school classes are being read books such as “I Am Jazz.” Amazon’s de- scription of the book is: The story of a transgender child based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings, who has become a spokesperson for transkids everywhere. And sex education now includes LGTB and identity neutral education in may states. It’s important to understand, even if your child doesn’t identify as a transgender, he or she knows someone who does and the their school system may be giving education of some type on these issues, they may also be facing the bathroom and locker room new policy. Identity is one of the biggest markers of youths’ lives. Be sure to talk you’re your child about where their identity comes from, why, and how they should respond to whomever may disagree.

SOLID ROCK YOUTH Upcoming Movies to know: Word Out ● JULY— The Legend of Tarzan, Grades 6-12 The BFG, Ghostbusters, Star Snatchchat — A naked photo that Friday and Saturday nights from 6:30-9pm Trek Beyond, Ice Age: Collision a girl sends to her object of desire 50 N. Penna. Ave. Course, Jason Bourne Morrisville, PA 19067 on Snapchat. Phone: 215-736-3706 ● AUG— Suicide Squad, Pete’s Netflix and chill — to go to Email: [email protected] Dragon, Max Steel someone’s house and have sex with Website: www.facebook.com/solidrockyouthcenter Office hours: Weds 10-5pm ● SEPT— The Magnificent Seven, or without Netflix on in the back- If you wish to donate to the youth center, please make Storks, Miss Peregrine’s Home ground. “Want to come over to checks payable to the SRYC at the above address for Peculiar Children, The Edge watch Netflix and chill?” of Seventeen Extreme Living with Total Purpose