Techno backlash: Cool kids are leading a technology revolt and unplugging gadgets in order to reconnect with one another, says major British newspaper The Independent. This has been predicted for sometime.¹ But the thing that is important for youth ministry, the thing I want to highlight, is something that The Independent article glosses. What’s happening here is NOT a backlash against the disconnection produced by things that plugin; this is a backlash against the disconnection that our society fosters whether plugged in or unplugged. The 20th century was largely about assuming that technology is the answer to societal woes. It’s not, but neither is disconnecting from technology. The technology isn’t the issue.

The church gets caught up in this frenzy as well: Should we include or exclude technology from ministry and worship? Even Emergent churches get caught in this trap. Unfortunately, inclusion and exclusion discussions aren’t the heart of the matter because they’re responses to the wrong issue. The real issue is a matter of disconnection from self, others and the divine. The real issue is much deeper than technology; it’s one that the church in its true missional fullness is called to respond to by offering communion with God and others — something which technology or the exclusion of technology can’t fix. Unfortunately, we’re often too busy arguing about Powerpoint backgrounds and whether there should be a projection screen in the sanctuary to take notice of the deeper longing of the human soul that the church has been divinely equipped to respond to.

Sunday School for Atheists: Just when Christians were all but ready to give up on Sunday school (actually I gave up long ago), atheists are jumping on the bandwagon offering children lessons in humanist thought and apologetics. Read the Time magazine article.

Emerging Adulthood: Books and Culture has an interesting essay by sociologist Chris Smith on Jeffrey Arnett’s proposal of a developmental phase between adolescence and full adulthood called emerging adulthood. The concept is a few years old, but it really appears to be taking off. Emerging adulthood appears to be the new de facto way of referring to 18 to 25 year olds in recent articles I’ve read in the Journal of Adolescence and elsewhere.

1. The last time I heard a prediction like this was by Zach Suchin, CEO of College Tonight during The Millenials conference in NYC. Also, keep in mind that this involves a minor subset of youth and is a trend that’s not likely to go mainstream. One of the things I know well from my days in journalism is that the status quo doesn’t sell newspapers, so as journalists we have to cover the new and novel regardless of how minor the movement may be. [↩]

Sleep, Teens and Cognitive Development: From NY Magazine, “Overstimulated, overscheduled kids are getting at least an hour’s less sleep than they need, a deficiency that, new research reveals, has the power to set their cognitive abilities back years.” Not a whole lot new here if you’ve been watching the news on sleep and teenagers, but this one of the most comprehensive articles I’ve seen (props to YSMarko).

. . . Blame it on Junk Sleep: Also, why aren’t teens getting the sleep they need? Stress and overscheduling to be sure. But this article also blames it on Junk Sleep — the kind of sleep teens get when cell phone calls and text messages arrive at all hours of the day and night. (It’s also the kind of sleep you get with a new baby in the house. I’m looking forward to this in the days to come. . . NOT). Here’s another article on Junk Sleep from Reuters.

Archbishop of Canterbury “Attacks” the United States: Well, that’s how Reuters puts it in this article. Rowan Williams has some harsh words for the United States in an interview given to a Muslim magazine. I think his assertion that the British took the moral high ground during colonization is a bit off, but his assessment of the United States may not be. Either way, it’s causing a firestorm.

Philosophy Major? We Want You: Apparently philosophy majors are all the rage in the U.K. Yay! My undergrad degree is finally worth something. Although, I didn’t pay attention much in college, so I tell everyone I have a B.S. in philosophy. (There’s a joke in there, sit with it a moment.) In other news, youth ministry degrees are still worthless.

Delinquent Virgins? This one will likely create some hot discussion in the weeks to come. “A new study by University of Virginia clinical psychologists has found that teens who have sex at an early age may be less inclined to exhibit delinquent behavior in early adulthood than their peers who waited until they were older to have sex. The study also suggests that early sex may play a role in helping these teens develop better social relationships in early adulthood” (from a UVa press release). The UVa site carries an audio interview with lead researcher K. Paige Harden. A Washington Post article on the study is here. Newsweek has also carried a (meandering) opinion piece related to the study.

Facebook Drops “is”: The word is out that Facebook is dropping the mandatory verb from the status field. (And there was much rejoicing.)

Games as Religion: Mother Jones includes a photo essay of teenage boys in poses that bear striking resemblance to religious imagery. Saints in the making? No, teenagers playing video games (props to YSMarko).

Intimacy and IM: New survey results from AP and AOL show that 43% of teens have used IM to say something they would not say in person (props to Ypulse).