cpcparents

Holy Week Text-A-Bration

With texting so popular with students, last year we decided to do something special during Holy Week with our text message service. Each morning we texted a reflection and passage of scripture to everyone who is signed-up for our text message service.  Each reflection had to do with the last week of Jesus' life here on earth. It was a huge success with our students, so we are going to do it again this year.  If you or your student have not signed up for our text message service, go to either The Edge, JR. High or High School and enter the information and you too can be involved in Holy Week Text-A-Bration. Standard text message charges apply. If you don't text, but would like to see what passages and reflections we are sending out, you will find them on my personal blog, Sandy's Sayings.  I'll post them each morning starting on Sunday.

For You Tech Savy Parents

For those of you who live and die by your cell phone, we have made all our blogs mobile ready.  This basically means that if you use your mobile phone to surf the web, go to any of our web pages and click on the little, flashing, orange, "make it mobile" icon in the top left hand corner and you can view a mobile phone friendly version our our web page.

New Online Safety Features

Student Life @ CPC is in the process of implementing some online safety features to our website. All of our picture galleries will now be password protected. To view our galleries, please email Sandy with your name and cell number. Your information will then be verified and you will receive a password.

If your college bound student wants an iPhone, go here?

Seriously, I think this is the coolest idea. It's not just about getting an iphone, but it's really utilizing the technology students interact with on a daily basis! Very cool!

Growing Up Online

PBS is doing a documentary called "Growing Up Online." It airs Tuesday, January 22 at 10 pm on Channel 9 in the Bay Area. Anastasia over at YPulse writes a great critique on the documentary here. Below you can watch the trailer.

Friends determine what's cool

Here is a great study called "The Circuits of Cool/Digital Playground." Check it out.

MySpace and What Not

Anastasia over at the Totally Wired Blog has some great posts about recent studies on teens online and the MySpace Sexual Predator Saga The posts are quick reads. She always has alot of good stuff on what teens are really doing online.

Teens Say Email Is The Way of The Dinasour

Great blog post about what teens are saying about email over on yahoo.

Teenagers and The Shift from MySpace to Facebook

YSMarko has a great blog post from an article about teens and social networking sights. If you work with students this is an intersting read!

Here is a little excerpt from the first paragraph:

Over the last six months, I’ve noticed an increasing number of press articles about how high school teens are leaving MySpace for Facebook. That’s only partially true. There is indeed a change taking place, but it’s not a shift so much as a fragmentation. Until recently, American teenagers were flocking to MySpace. The picture is now being blurred. Some teens are flocking to MySpace. And some teens are flocking to Facebook. Who goes where gets kinda sticky… probably because it seems to primarily have to do with socio-economic class.

and, an important paragraph from deep into the essay, that i think will resonate with most youth workers (especially those in suburban settings):

People often ask me if I’m worried about teens today. The answer is yes, but it’s not because of social network sites. With the hegemonic teens, I’m very worried about the stress that they’re under, the lack of mobility and healthy opportunities for play and socialization, and the hyper-scheduling and surveillance. I’m worried about their unrealistic expectations for becoming rich and famous, their lack of work ethic after being pampered for so long, and the lack of opportunities that many of them have to even be economically stable let alone better off than their parents. I’m worried about how locking teens indoors coupled with a fast food/junk food advertising machine has resulted in a decrease in health levels across the board which will just get messy as they are increasingly unable to afford health insurance. When it comes to ostracized teens, I’m worried about the reasons why society has ostracized them and how they will react to ongoing criticism from hegemonic peers. I cringe every time I hear of another Columbine, another Virgina Tech, another site of horror when an outcast teen lashes back at the hegemonic values of society.

Teens want an iphone over a new car?

With the iphone craze still on this report came out this week!
it takes a different kind of mobility to boost cool. Mobile phones were the top desired possession among 16-29 year olds, with 32% saying one would impress their friends. Make it an iPhone, and, according to the researchers, that number almost doubles to 70%.