Hollywood’s Hero Deficit

The movie industry no longer aspires to portray genuine heroism—even though that’s precisely what audiences want to see.A spate of movies about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terro...

The World, The Word & Identity

The single most important issue we must address in youth ministry is identity formation. The reason? It’s the single most important issue in a teenager’s life. The place they land now, in terms of t...

Can Father be ‘Friend’?

As if being a teen wasn’t already tough enough, today’s youngsters have a new dilemma: Whether to allow their parents into their online network of “friends.”Moms and dads, who are growin...

Internet Volunteerism Surges

Are today’s youth slackers? Hardly. Indeed, volunteerism among teens and young adults is surging, and the Internet is playing a huge role in all this activism.About 83 percent of incoming college stu...

Smaller Pie, Bigger Piece

It used to be that “Direct to DVD” releases were restricted to films with titles like, The Night of the Living Dead: The Musical! or The Land Before Time 27. No more. Many movie studios are concentr...

Looking Crossways

Two teenagers from Albany, Ore., recently were suspended for wearing crucifixes to school because the school believed they were related to gang activity. The teens—14-year-old Jamie Salazar and 16-year-o...

Youth Frown on Abortion

Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that made abortion legal across the United States, is 35 years old—twice as old as some of the advocates hoping to see it overturned.A 17-year-old California high-school ...

Cheat Sheets

Several polls suggest youth today are more willing to cheat than their parents were, and they’re less likely to think there’s much wrong with it. With a rash of cheating scandals rocking various sch...

Frazzled U

College can be stressful. Is it any wonder college kids are stressed out much of the time?Nearly four of every 10 college students say they’re frequently stressed, according to a new study, and almost 20 ...