NOVEMBER 2020 THE CENTER FOR PARENT/YOUTH UNDERSTANDING Helping parents understand teenagers and their world TRUTH & SPIN YOUTH CULTURE HOT QUOTE WALT MUELLER, CPYU President I don’t know about you, but between the As Christians, we should know and do election and the pandemic I’m a little bit better. The Psalmist says of Scripture, !ere is a out of breath! One reason for this is the “The sum of your word is truth” (Psalm non-stop 24/7 barrage of information, mis- 119:160). On the night before his death, creeping sense information, and arguing that endlessly Jesus prayed these words for his followers: comes at us about politics, Covid-19, and “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is of burnout truth” (John 17:17). We must trust that from many LA to disagree. No doubt, you’ve engaged in “the needle of truth” still exists in the large conversations on these and other things “haystack” of information and opinion. TikTokers I’ve with your kids, with those conversations ranging everywhere from agreeable to As you teach your kids to engage with the spoken to, that disagreeable. truths of God’s Word, teach them to pray their sense of Over the course of the last several these four prayers as they read: months I have found myself thinking and 1. “Lord, show me you.” We want to identity is so speaking these words more frequently know the truth about our Creator, tied up in the in conversations with myself and others: Sustainer, and Redeemer. “I don’t know who or what to believe.” I 2. “Lord, show me me.” We want to numbers on have had a growing distrust in what I see know the truth about ourselves, the screen that from news and opinion outlets, and what I especially the truth about our need read that’s posted on social media. Does for a Savior to follow. any drop in “fair and balanced” even exist anymore... from any side on any matter? “Spin”, 3. “Lord, show me your plan for my life.” view counts imbalance, propaganda, and outright lies We want to know the truth about are no respecter of persons, ideologies, God’s will and way for His followers. or followers is political bent, or information outlets. 4. “Lord, show me the enemy’s lies, tantamount to I get especially frustrated when we - kids schemes, and strategies.” We want and adults included - get swept up in the to know the truth about the ways an existential current of what the Apostle Paul calls that Satan desires to derail us from catastrophe. “the course of this world” (Ephesians faithfully following Jesus. Rebecca Jennings, a 2:2), leaving our minds and the ability Parents, I love this challenge from Paul reporter covering internet to discern between truth and lies at the Tripp in his book Parenting: “You could culture at Vox, in her door. Rather than seeking to evaluate argue that the chief reason God put article A TikTok House everything under the microscope of parents in children’s lives is so that they Divided, discussing the Biblical truth, we simply choose to would know him. The most important rise (and fall) of TikTok “collab houses,” Vox.com, believe and embrace the “truth” we like thing that a child could ever learn about October 1, 2020. in the moment, and jettison that which is the existence, character, and plan of we choose not to believe. It was over 25 God.” ii years ago that social critic Gene Veith wrote these words that so accurately foresaw our situation today: “With no truth. absolute canons of objective truth, the rational is replaced by the aesthetic. We i Gene Veith, Postmodern Times, p. 176. believe what we like.” i ii Paul Tripp, Parenting, p. 30. 1 NOVEMBER 2020 | www.cpyu.org TOP 10...TOP 1. Folklore by Taylor Swift Albums 2. Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon by Pop Smoke 3. Savage Mode II by 21 Savage & Billboard 200 Metro Boomin Week of October 31, 2020 QUICK STATS 4. Legends Never Die by Juice WRLD 5. Wild!owers by Tom Petty States which have implemented texting while driving bans 6. Resonance, Pt. 1 by NCT have signi!cantly lower overall crash death rates 7. My Turn by Lil Baby involving teen drivers. (Pediatrics) 8. Hamilton: An American Musical by 65% of teenagers are Original Broadway Cast experiencing a disruption to their driver education because of COVID 9. Tickets To My Downfall by Machine restrictions. 78% of parents are now teaching Gun Kelly their teenagers how to drive. 10. The Album by BLACKPINK (Governors Highway Safety Association) FROM THE NEWS: POLYAMORY Polyamory is a cultural trend that you need to be aware of. The word polyamory comes from two Greek words, poly which means “many”, and amor which means “love.” In our contemporary situation, polyamory is the belief and practice of forming intimate relationships with more than one partner with the informed consent of all partners involved. It is also described as non-monogamy. It is consensual and seen as virtuous by those who are embracing and practicing this trend. Everything about polyamory goes against God’s good design for marriage, which has been instituted at creation as a monogamous life-long covenantal union between one man and one woman. Last summer, the city of Somerville, Massachusetts put a stamp of approval on polyamory by adopting a new domestic partnership ordinance that grants polyamorous households the rights held by spouses in a marriage. Parents, your role is to teach your kids to follow God’s design for love, sex, and marriage, rather than the cultural whims. 2 NOVEMBER 2020 | www.cpyu.org CPYU’S TREND ALERT TRENDS: COVID and CHEATING LATEST RESEARCH: Parents, you need to be aware of a concerning aspect of online learning during these Covid-19 days. Researchers Early Onset Puberty are reporting that there’s been a rise in cheating and In his new book, Girls on the Edge, Dr. Leonard Sax describes academic dishonesty as students engage with learning four factors that he believes are putting girls at risk in today’s online. Because they are sitting alone in the privacy of their rapidly changing culture. One of those factors is what he labels own home, students are able to switch between on-screen as “environmental toxins.” Sax lists some of the environmental windows to look up test answers while they are taking factors that are causing girls to enter puberty at a younger age. He online tests. And, in a twist from sneaking a look across a mentions how what our girls eat will effect the onset of puberty, with classroom aisle at a classmate’s paper, girls who eat high fat and high calorie kids are now messaging and texting diets experiencing puberty at earlier each other in order to get answers. ages. Of course there are other factors Parents, you need to monitor and at play. Pediatricians are now saying proctor your kids to make sure they that the onset of puberty and breast aren’t taking the easy and dishonest development as early as age seven is way out. And, you need to instill in within the normal range. Those of us them a love for God that results in raising girls need to be aware that earlier them seeing academics as a form of onset of puberty puts girls at risk of a worship where honesty is to be pursued. Proverbs 10:9 tells host of challenges, including anxiety, depression, sexual victimization, us, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who disordered eating, and substance abuse. We need to be diligent makes his ways crooked will be found out.” Teach the truth in supporting our girls and leading them through changes as we about truthfulness to your kids. nurture them in the Lord. A recent Wired article, written from the perspective of a teen, highlights a growing trend: with the advent of TikTok and social media, teens are falling increasingly for conspiracy theories and “fake news” as perpetuated by the rapid spread of false information. While our devices and social media can be powerful tools in that they spread information quickly, they can also be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They can claim to o"er the truth while instead o"ering and multiplying lies; sources report www.DigitalKidsInitiative.com that lies on social media spread six times faster than truth does. As teens scroll through “news” !ashing across their “For You” pages and social media feeds, we can help them be wise consumers. Remind teens that Belief in they are viewing curated content. Computer algorithms generate their feeds and “For You’s” according to their clicks or the time they spend Conspiracy viewing certain pages. Thus, teens in!uence this content with their views, likes, and comments. Consequently, an eye-catching, attention-grabbing Theories conspiracy theory quickly gathers popularity. And with its growing popularity, it gains redistribution and repetition. Help teens remember by Théodora Dillman that redistributed, repeated and popularized information does not equate CPYU Intern to truthful information. As they see and hear of “news” and trends, remind them to pause to weigh the validity of what they are consuming. Challenge teens to pause and think. 3 NOVEMBER 2020 | www.cpyu.org New Podcast FROM THE WORD Youth Culture Matters In a world where a variety of voices continually scream in our ears and is a long-format summon our allegiance, where do we turn to learn the truth? The writer of podcast from CPYU Proverbs addressed this reality in ancient times, as the same struggle to co-hosted by Walt Mueller know truth that exists now existed then.