Teens, technology and writing
Pew has released an interesting report on teens, technology and writing. One finding surprised me: that teens write more often by hand, than by computer, both in and out of school. (Hat tip to Bob)
"There's more drinkin', dopin' and smokin' in country music lyrics than in rock, R&B/hip-hop or pop, according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. However, the most references to substance abuse were found in rap lyrics, the study found. Overall, lyrics explicitly referring to drug, alcohol and tobacco use were contained in about one of every three of the 279 most popular songs of 2005, as listed in Billboard magazine. Only four of these songs — all in the rock genre — contained specific messages against substance abuse, said Brian Primack, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the school and lead author of the study.More information from the study can be found here.
Dawn Alitz has graciously offered us some notes from the Children's Spirituality conference, held this past June in River Forest, Illinois. Starting with this entry, our next several posts will be reports from the conference.
Opening Night
I feel the need to share some of the atmosphere of people and place. Concordia University is a small and beautiful campus in River Forest, IL (a suburb of Chicago). If the weather stays as lovely as this, walking between events will be a pleasure!
As we came for the opening dinner, my first observation was the men. Mind you, I’m happily married and I was not looking for anyone in particular, but it was a wonderful change of scenery and conversation to have men present and active in all of the conversations about children and ministry.
Next I started noticing nametags with locations – India, England, Sweden, Canada, Korea, to name only a few. And affiliations? Theologian, parent, activist, pastor or professor – introductions often found any or all of these people around a single table. This gathering had brought together people working with children at all levels from around the world.
After dinner, we went to the chapel for the evening presentation, which opened with a performance of a group of young string players, without adult conductor. Having two young violinists at home, I understood the look of pride and ownership that these young people took in their music and their abilities – it was wonderful to see.
