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A major trend in youth marketing is the popularity of princess—inspired merchandise. This is particularly reflected in the products licensed by Disney in their Disney Princess line of clothing for 3 to 5-year old girls.
As girls mature into their teens, the marketing includes Sweet 16 parties, migrating from the sweetness of youthful innocence to the sexually charged atmosphere of nightclub-like settings, pounding music and skimpy clothing (Suzanne Goldsmith-Hirsch, "The Princess Chronicles," Columbus Monthly, August 2008).
The marketing doesn't stop with teenagers. Using the color pink and fairy-tale weddings as a gateway, companies like Disney offer princess-like wedding packages and continue to make sales to "princess" consumers. Lingerie companies also have a stake in the princess identity, and the prevalence of pink in such stores suggests to some parents that what starts as innocent fun doesn't stay that way (Lyn Mikel Brown, "A Dissent," Columbus Monthly, August 2008).
God calls His people to be kings and priests or rulers and teachers in His Kingdom. The best way to be a princess is not to get drawn into a marketing ploy that creates an imaginary princess persona, but to follow God and one day become a part of His eternal, royal family.
Expected 2007 income for Disney's Princess brand of merchandise.
—Columbus Monthly, August 2008
A recently launched Web site, Nannyscircle.com, allows parents to communicate and require tasks of their children without actually talking to them. (While the site name capitalizes on nanny intervention TV shows like Supernanny and Nanny 911, such a disconnected approach is far removed from what the shows advocate.)
At the Web site parents send notes and requests through a parental control panel to their children who may then log on and enter their virtual "room" and virtual "computer" and read the messages (Monica Hesse, "Web Site Gives Parents a Hand," The Washington Post, Aug. 29, 2008).
While the "middleman" or "middle-nanny" approach to parenting may be effective for some, it misses the fundamental point of turning the hearts of the parents toward their children and children to parents through respectful, face-to-face communication. God directs children to honor their parents and parents to instruct and love their children. A Web site could conceivably be a tool to that end, but it wouldn't be a permanent solution.
The American College of Emergency Physicians issued an alert that warns those who text message to be aware and not multitask while texting. A recent rise in text-related injuries—everything from pedestrians hit by cars while texting to falling off horses, tripping, and being burned as a result of cooking while texting—caused the need for the public announcement (Lindsey Tanner, "Texting? Don't Walk, Cook, Ride Horse," Associated Press, July 31, 2008).
According to doctors, multitasking is really just a collage of bits of attention span—each segment being momentarily devoted to a different activity—not a continuous monitoring of multiple activities. This means a split second of inattention to the path of a moving vehicle could result in a tragic accident.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, God reminds us to focus intently on any task in which we are occupied (9:10), but it is hard to do more than one thing very well while distracted. Be responsible and maintain alertness when you are engaged in any potentially dangerous activity and text with moderation.
A recent study that analyzes the effects of exercise in the Amish community of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, shows that three to four hours of moderate daily exercise like brisk walking or house and yard work can override the genetic variation that predisposes some people to excessive weight gain.
The genetic variant exists in about 30 percent of individuals of European ancestry, including some of the Swiss-German Amish. The 19th century lifestyle of the Amish of Pennsylvania, which is mostly devoid of modern conveniences, was chosen because of the high level of daily activity (Lindsey Tanner, "3-4 Hours of Exercise Might Fool Fat Gene," Associated Press, Sept. 9, 2008).
Experts recommend that those who tend to gain weight easily should look for ways to add extra activity and walking to their day to counteract the gene.
Google plans to expand its online newspaper library with billions of articles published in the past 244 years—printed before the advent of the Internet (Michael Liedtke, "Google Wants to Copy, Store More Print News," Associated Press, Sept. 9, 2008).
Recently many four-year colleges have stopped publishing annuals or yearbooks. Yearbooks have been common college fare for the past century, but rising publication costs, student disinterest and online social networking have all led to the decline of the annual. One estimate concludes that only 1,100 of about 2,500 four-year colleges produce yearbooks.
Interestingly, although social networking Web sites like Facebook are being blamed by some for the demise of the yearbook at the college level, high school students who are equally as active on such sites are still interested in purchasing school annuals (John Austin, "More Colleges Closing the Book on Yearbooks," McClatchy Newspapers, Aug. 15, 2008).
Some experts surmise that large university populations and off-campus activities divert student interest from a common, small-college life that once was. Still, in a historical light, a book on the shelf is probably more accessible and longer lasting than the rapidly changing updates on a networking site.
Young women, facing the extreme styles and immodest fashions available in stores, are increasingly turning to religious-based organizations to give them instruction in dressing modestly and locating modest clothing to purchase. So much so that the "modesty movement," as it has been called, is resulting in faith-based fashion modesty education.
In June 2008 a modesty program called Pure Fashion, sponsored by a Catholic educational group but open to all denominations, produced a fashion show in Sacramento, California, showcasing modest clothing for young women. Attendance in the hundreds proved that the show was popular and timely for young women interested in dressing nicely and maintaining their dignity and religious values (Jennifer Garza, "Teens Looking for Modest Fashions," The Lexington Herald-Leader, Aug. 2, 2008).
Pure Fashion provides guidelines for modest dressing that include necklines no lower than four fingers below the collarbone and skirts no shorter than four fingers above the kneecap.
Dressing modestly frees a young woman to develop godly character rather than being defined merely by her body.
A preserved clay seal impression, called a bulla, has been uncovered that was made from the seal of Gedalyahu ben Pashur, mentioned in Jeremiah 38:1. He was an official of ancient Judah's King Zedekiah (who reigned ca. 597 to 586 B.C.). The 2,600-year-old seal impression was found in southeast Jerusalem's City of David area in an archaeological dig directed by Professor Eilat Mazar.
The excavation has produced several significant finds. The most recent, the seal impression, was discovered at the bottom of an external wall believed to be a part of the palace of David, not far from another similar seal impression found three years ago. That one bore the name of Yehukhal ben Shelemyahu, another official of the reign of Zedekiah also mentioned in Jeremiah 38:1. Other similar seals and seal impressions were found in the early 1980s in a site not far away (Etgar Lefkovits, "Seal of King Zedekiah's Minister Found in J'lem Dig," The Jerusalem Post, July 31, 2008).
Such archaeological evidence adds to a more detailed understanding of the biblical account. They help confirm that the events of the Bible are true—that the people within its pages existed and did the deeds recorded there.
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