Resources

The purpose of this page is to provide resources and information to parents that will assist in relating to, connecting with and parenting our children.

Check out this Parents Guide to Cell Phones put out by the National Institute on Media and the Family. It helps to raise some question and prepares parents for the issues and conversations that will likely arise (if they haven’t already) surrounding their children and their cell phones. The guide discusses Cell Phones and music, movies, texting, sexting, texting while driving, cheating in school and other topics. This is likely most helpful for parents with younger children who haven’t yet confronted all of these issues.

We have kicked off our 2009-2010 year of Confirmation with our Orientation meeting on Wednesday, August 26. This meeting served as an introduction to youth and families entering our program at the start of 7th grade and as a review for those who continue with our program into 8th grade. A separate orientation meeting will be held for 9th graders and their parents on Wednesday, September 9 at 6:30pm in the Community Center. Check out these helpful resources. Confirmation 2009-2010 Calendar and Confirmation Covenant.

Our church puts out a semi-monthly Newsletter titled the “Grapevine.” Once a month our youth Ministry includes a page insert, including a calendar, some articles and updates about past as well as upcoming events. You can see some of the most recent Youth Pages here: March ‘10, February ‘10, December ‘09, November ‘09, October ‘09, September ‘09, July ‘09 and June ‘09.

As constant consumers of media, our young people are getting a regular dose of messages from an array of perspectives. What’s the message of the latest song? How does that movie depict morality? What are these advertisements trying to get us to “buy into” besides the product. Follow this link for an example of the Center for Parent Youth and Understanding’s “3 (D)” guide to reviewing culture with your kids. By following the steps: Discover, Discern and Decide, this tool gives you a practical way to talk through the message, the values and the implications of the media that your children are already consuming.

This January 2009 article from HarrisInteractive discusses the cultural/social impact of mobile technology on today’s teenage generation. Understanding the importance and role that cell phones play in teens’ lives and why, can help to open communication and understanding.

Here is a nice resource for parents whose youth daughters (or sons) are eagerly reading this Vampire Romance novel. It gives some views of the content of the story and suggestions for conversation. Check it out!

Parents these are minute long MP3 (audio) files that give food for thought on a variety of issues that you should be aware of as you continue to walk with your children through these ever-changing times. You can subscribe to the podcast and download them to your iTunes or just listen occasionally. It’s quick, easy and thought provoking.