Teenology

I recently came across this book in our new section of our bookstore and I am familiar with Jim Burns and his writings on youth ministry. As I started reading I realized how well this book is written for parents dealing with teens.

Jim Burns is president of HomeWord which is a center for educating, equipping, and encouraging parents and teens to build God-honoring families.

One chapter I really appreciated was ch. 4, Creating a Media-Safe Home. Due to our culture and the influx of technology it is very important for parents to protect and help their children understand the dangers as well as the advantages of technology.

 

 

 

Here are a few points of application that he gives to have that safe home:

• Follow the web site rules and safety tips, and set privacy  settings. With this also make sure your teen sets their page to private so only their friends can view their pages.
• Keep a computer with online access out of their bedroom. If they do have one you are only asking for trouble.
• Do not allow younger teens to add new online friends without your permission.
• Do not allow your teens to have multiple email accounts and user accounts.
• Have your children tell you and agree to tell you when they receive inappropriate or threatening messages.
• Set clear expectations about cell phone use.
• Follow through with discipline.

For more information visit HomeWord or pick up a copy of Teenology by Jim Burns and you can see these points and more on pages 75-77.

 

 

 

 

 

Middle School and Technology #1

When I went to youth group I remember if they wanted to tell you about something it was told you to you, printed out, or mailed to you. Yes mailed, you know what we now call, “snail mail.” As technology has advanced we have the ability and ease to send information right away to a mass amount of people with very little effort.

As I have mentioned in previous posts that I run the middle school ministry at our church, I am always interested in how technology can assist in ministry. We have used Twitter and Facebook as well as a website that controls mass text messaging called txtsignal.com. As we have used these different means of communication, we have found the best ones that benefits the youth in our ministry would be the text messaging service and Facebook. As we have asked most of our middle schoolers about Twitter, the general response is that they do not have one or see the purpose for one. Facebook on the other hand helps us to get information to the student as well as their parents. We have set up a group for our youth ministry on Facebook which helps send one mass message to all the members of the group. One other great thing about Facebook is that it is free to use to help your ministry.

The sight that allows for mass text messaging helps with being able send updates, Bible verses, reminders, and even ask for prayer requests. The sight allows for replies which helps when you ask for prayer requests or responses to questions. There are different price ranges that can help your group and you can organize your contacts as well. They have a new feature which allows you to sync your Twitter account with the text message that you send to your group. They have made it possible to be able to cover more social network with less work. If you are allowed in your budget to use this, I recommend it as most youth communicate through text messaging.

Let me know and other youth workers what you use to help communicate with your students. I am always interested in new ways.