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Downside of Texting
Texting, the routine typed messages zipping between cell phones, has become the latest emblem of the teenage world. From Saudi Arabia to the Philippines to the United States, texting has gained popularity largely because it is secretive and provides a sense of group identity. However, some experts are worried that the shallowness of constant texting to the exclusion of face-to-face interaction or even phone conversation will cause developmental problems in young people.
1,000%
The Increase in the number of couples who live together without marrying since 1960— Associated Press, May 11, 2007
Wireless companies are creating new packages for parents to purchase that allow unlimited text messaging in response to phone bills of epic proportions from their kids overusing the text feature. Parents are likewise having a hard time understanding this new standard of youth culture and its implications for the future (Margaret Pressler, "For Texting Teens … When the Phone Bill Arrives," Washington Post, May 20, 2007).
Given these concerns, instead of texting, be sure to also develop camaraderie through face-to-face conversation. This will help build stronger bonds of friendship as well as the use of language skills.
Internet Privacy—Impossible
Privacy settings on Web sites like MySpace and Facebook are proving to be less than confidential. Employers are searching such Web sites to find information on potential employees. For young people applying for work, realize that photos, writing or activities on the Web are open to those who know how to look—even if they are under a privacy setting. "Think of it as being in a very large, public place like Yankee Stadium, taking the microphone and broadcasting your personal information to 50,000 people there. If you don't want everyone in the stadium to know the details of your personal life, then keep them to yourself," suggests Theresa O'Neill, a career counselor at Rutgers University–Newark (Wayne Parry, "Private Photos? Not on the Internet," Associated Press, July 13, 2007).
Computer-Gaming Dependency
The medical community is taking addiction to the fastest growing form of electronic game in the world—the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG)—seriously. Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack, a clinical psychologist and director of the Computer Addiction Study Center at McLean Hospital, Belmont, Mass., hopes that computer gaming addiction, which affects millions of people, will soon be added to the official list of compulsive disorders. The Smith & Jones addiction consultancy in the Netherlands is comparing MMO (massively multiplayer online) withdrawal to drug addiction. Other experts are comparing the similarities in the brain's chemical reaction to computer gaming to that of compulsive gambling ("Massively Addictive," www.videogames.yahoo.com, July 13, 2007). Dr. Orzack relates symptoms that might indicate a gaming problem: ignoring friends, avoiding or being late for work and deteriorating family relationships. Activities that take precedence over our responsibilities to God, our family and friends are not in accordance with God's will for our lives. Sixty hours a week of computer gaming time qualifies as a job, not a hobby.
Fashion Sensibility
Famed clothing designer Liz Claiborne died recently and her legacy is a company that offered "attire that was feminine, affordable, easy to care for, and, most important, 'appropriate.'" Sadly the much of the fashion world has not embraced those ideas. Instead, lingerie stock now changes with the seasons because younger women are not embarrassed to wear inner-wear as outer-wear (Naomi Riley, "In the World of Women's Wear: Sense and Sensibility," The Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2007).
140 dB
Peak sound levels of a rock concert. Frequent exposure to sounds above 85 decibels can damage your hearing — Bernadine Healy, M.D., U.S. News & World Report, July 16, 2007
TV personality Stacy London, host of TLC network's What Not to Wear, has this to say about overexposing clothing trends: "You don't want to show too much skin at work—unless you're a lifeguard." She bewails the tendency of designers to produce clothes that are impossible to wear without exposing excessive quantities of skin, including mini and babydoll dresses. Likewise she tries to inform viewers that pajamas aren't appropriate outside of the house. Ms. London credits her father with instilling "a certain sense of propriety and right and wrong in me, which plays into my fashion sensibility" (ibid.).
Colleges Decline Disclosure
Presidents of 46 liberal arts colleges have refused to participate in parts of the U.S. News & World Report annual survey of higher education institutions in the United States. They imply that the rankings are misleading to prospective students. While it seems to be a stand against the stressful college admissions process, columnist Robert Samuelson believes it is just the opposite. He contends that "the ranking tables also expose users to masses of objective, comparative information: SAT scores, acceptance rates, graduation rates, student-faculty ratios." While the report cannot give complete accuracy to readers, he doesn't feel that colleges will provide alternative, unbiased information to prospective students either. He concludes that students will learn "a life lesson in cynicism: how eminent authorities cloak their self-interest in high-sounding, deceptive rhetoric" ("Universities Teach Lesson in Cynicism," Investor's Business Daily, June 28, 2007).
HPV Vaccine Under Question
The effectiveness of the recently approved vaccination for human papillomavirus has come under question in an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine. The vaccine, called Gardasil and owned by Merck & Co., proved 98% effective at preventing precancerous lesions of the cervix from two variants of the HP virus, HPV 16 and 18. However, the efficacy of the vaccine dropped to 17% when all precancerous lesions were considered in the study funded by Merck. Experts have suggested caution regarding the immediate use or even the legislation of inoculation, as was attempted by the state of Texas. Too many questions are unanswered regarding overall effectiveness, time-length of protection and potential adverse side effects. Concern has been raised over the fact that replacement may occur. If the vaccine removes the damaging effects of HPV 16 and 18, other variants of the virus may fill in and continue to cause cancerous lesions (John Carreyrou and Keith Winstein, "Medical Journal Questions Efficacy of HPV Vaccine," The Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2007).
Jeremiah Details Confirmed
In the halls of the British Museum, as reported by The Daily Telegraph, Michael Jursa, a professor from Vienna, made an astounding discovery among a collection of 130,000 ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets. While studying the tablets for Babylonian financial accounts, Professor Jursa came across the name of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon. Comparing the 2,500-year-old tablet with the biblical account, he found in the book of Jeremiah a reference to Babylonian chief official Nebo-Sarsekim (39:3, NIV), the same individual, but spelled differently in Hebrew. The tablet records his payment of 0.75 kilograms of gold to a temple in Babylon. British Museum expert Dr. Irving Finkel said: "This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find. If Nebo-Sarsekim existed, which other lesser figures in the Old Testament existed? A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power" ("Tiny Tablet Provides Proof for Old Testament," The Daily Telegraph, July 13, 2007).
Hooked Up and Disturbed
"Hooking up" is the term that, sadly, defines the sexual lives of teenagers, especially young women. The practice of casual sex, encouraged by the media and entertainment industry, turns out to be even more dangerous than previously thought. Laura Sessions Stepp, in her book Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love, and Lose at Both, analyzes the reasons the hooked-up culture is so devastating for women. She asserts that the bad habits picked up from hooking up with multiple sexual partners on a regular basis can damage the potential for long-term commitment in marriage. Oxytocin, a hormone produced in the brain, promotes feelings of connection and love and is produced by breast-feeding mothers, helping them bond with their children. It is also produced during sex. Males produce less of this chemical during sex, and it is suppressed by testosterone. Stepp asserts that this is why girls are in turmoil after casual sex and boys are less affected. Girls are not prepared for the emotional toil of hooking up, and this often leads them into alcohol abuse, anorexia, and emotional disturbance (Barbara Meltz, "Hooking Up Is the Rage, but Is It Healthy?" The Boston Globe, Feb. 13, 2007). God's law provides the solution to this problem. It prohibits sex outside of single, monogamous, heterosexual marriage. Reestablishing right behavior after having been absorbed by the hook-up culture is a difficult task, but not impossible when actively seeking God's help and His way of life.
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