August 11, 2005

Wheaton Teens Donate Thousands to Africa

A Christian high school in the Chicago suburbs has raised nearly $250,000 to combat AIDS in Africa over the past three years. Most of that money came from the pockets of the Wheaton Academy students, and it's helped build a medical clinic, a school, and feed children for a year in a village in Zambia.

I did a story on this school a few years ago, when they'd raised their first $80,000 or so. I loved the story, because one of the seniors involved had grown up in Zambia as a missionary kid. But the story has continued after that class graduated, and the school has continued to remember Zambia and give sacrificially.

That's just cool.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 07:00 AM | Comments (5)

May 09, 2005

Teens Pitch In

I love these stories: A middle school youth group in San Diego raised $24,000 for One Life Revolution, an organization fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. On my personal blog I talked about my own youth group squeezing $300 out of an autographed Audio Adrenaline T-shirt as part of their missions dinner raising money for a summer missions trip. And just the other day we looked at the number of hours teens volunteer every year.

You teens do more than we give you credit for.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 12:33 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

May 04, 2005

Teen Girls Aren't Monsters

A new book (subscription or commercial required) explores the transition to adolescence and concludes that teen girls aren't the drug-addicted, eating-disordered monsters the media says they are. I could have told you that.

A mom heard the hype and began the fear the worst for her preteen daughter. But she paid attention and saw that her daughter was normal. Bad things can happen, but expecting the worst from teens doesn't help anyone. My Girl: Adventures With a Teen in Training is probably better reading for your parents, but the bottom line is more respect for you.

What do you think? Does the media blow troubled teen girls out of proportion? (link via YS Update)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 02:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 03, 2005

Prom Horror Stories

It's prom season and the Star Tribune has a litany of prom horror stories from readers. One particular story involves a tornado in 1936.

It's not always the most magical night ever, though thankfully most of the stories seem to end with overcoming whatever bizarre adversity struck.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 08:10 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

I [heart] My Vagina Compromise

A compromise of sorts has been reached at a Minnesota high school after administrators threatened to expel any students wearing "I [heart] My Vagina" T-shirts. The free speech battle is at a stalemate of sorts where it's not clear whether or not the girls could win a legal battle. Though not allowing the T-shirts, the administration has allowed the students to start a women's issues group, bring in a speaker to address those issues, and is allowing a local women's advocacy group to set up an information booth.

All over a T-shirt.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 08:03 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 02, 2005

Abortion in Florida: Schiavo II

Life and death situations and politics seem to make strange bedfellows in Florida. Less than a month after the Terry Schiavo mess, Florida is in the news again after a 13-year-old ward of the state became pregnant, tried to get an abortion and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) intervened. The case is currently in the courts as the they try to decide whether or not the girl, identified only as L.G., should be allowed to have an abortion.

Abortion is a big messy issue and not something I enjoy getting into. Abortions shouldn't have to happen, and what's so upsetting about this case is that 13-year-old L.G. has escaped from DCF care at least five times and became pregnant while on the lam in January. The Miami Herald pointed out DCF's other faults, apparently losing track of 500 children. How can you lose children? And what's happening when a 13-year-old escapes 5 times and starts having sex?

An abortion, whether or not the state allows it, would only be the latest in a string of tragedies.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 08:17 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

April 30, 2005

Prom Frenzy Rivals Wedding Planning

It's prom season and teens everywhere are forking over cash for dresses, tuxes, flowers, limos and more. Teens are spending hundreds of dollars for all the festivities and having to plan well in advance. It's geting to the point where prom rivals the planning and cash required for a wedding.

Me? I didn't go to prom. I had a girlfriend at the time, but we just weren't interested. Looking back I don't think I missed a thing.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 04:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Your Peers in Sudan

This drawing, and the many others like it, are from children and teens who survived attacks by the Sudanese government and Janjaweed rebels in Darfur, Sudan. Women have been raped, villages bombed and burned, and a people exterminated. It's genocide.

The drawing above was made by Abd al-Rahman, Age 13:

"I am looking at the sheep in the wadi [riverbed, or oasis]. I see Janjaweed coming—quickly, on horses and camels, with Kalashnikovs—shooting and yelling, 'kill the slaves, kill the blacks.' They killed many of the men with the animals. I saw people falling on the ground and bleeding. They chased after children. Some of us were taken, some we didn’t see again. All our animals were taken: camels, cows, sheep, and goats. Then the planes came and bombed the village."

But you can do something about it. Take action. Tell your parents, your teachers, your friends. Write your government representatives and demand the intervention of peace-keeping forces.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 09:34 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 22, 2005

35th Earth Day: Does Anybody Care?

Today is Earth Day. It's the 35th anniversary of the day to raise awareness for environmental causes, but some wonder if environmentalists are losing the battle.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 08:44 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

April 21, 2005

Free Speech Battle at Minnesota High School

Two Winona High School students have been threatened with suspension and expulsion after wearing buttons that said "I [heart] My Vagina" after seeing a performance of the play The Vagina Monologues. The girls, Carrie Rethlefsen and Emily Nixon, say the buttons are meant to spark discussion about violence against women and women's rights. The school thinks the statement is inappropriate and sends the wrong message.

More than 100 students have supported the girls by ordering T-shirts that say "I [heart] My Vagina" for girls and "I Support Your Vagina" for boys. The school has threatened serious action if anyone wears the T-shirts to school.

It's a peculiar story that ties into a history of free speech conflicts between students and school administrators. While students should have free speech, I wonder about the effectiveness more than the appropriateness of "I [heart] my vagina." I've seen plenty of T-shirt slogans more inappropriate than that, but I wonder how many people connect that slogan with women's rights. It seems to make more of a statement about sexuality (imagine what "I [heart] my penis" might mean).

Did I just write an entry using the words 'penis' and 'vagina'?

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 11:47 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

April 20, 2005

Christian vs. Gay T-Shirt Showdown

A T-shirt campaign is being waged at a suburban high school between pro-homosexual students and Christians who oppose them. It started with a day of awareness at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in suburban Chicago when as many 225 students would wear T-shirts that said "Gay? Fine by me." Christian students who opposed the pro-homosexual message planned to wear shirts declaring their values that said "Crimes committed against God" and highlighted discrimination Christians face.

The Christian T-shirts were printed by Family Harvest Church, though youth minister Jacques Jacobs notes that his church is "not fighting anybody, we are only standing up for the rights of the Christian student."

"I do know that Christian students, their right to pray has been taken from them," Jacobs said "Their right to believe in their values has become an offense to many people. The Bible has become an offense."

I know these are serious issues, but can we step back for a second and breathe? Seriously.

Continue reading "Christian vs. Gay T-Shirt Showdown"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 12:29 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Teens Incriminate Themselves After Graffiti Rampage

A group of New Zealand teens spray-painted their hair and faces the same color as the graffiti they'd recently painted. The fashion no-no led the police straight to the vandals.

It doesn't get much smarter than this. But if you're ever thinking graffiti, don't. Put your art to better use.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 10:04 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 19, 2005

Picking On Clay Aiken

American Idol superstar Clay Aiken told Dr. Phil what it's like to be picked on.

"It was a really tough time. Middle school's really tough—I think everybody has trouble with middle school. It's about finding out who you are and being happy with who you are and being comfortable with who you are, because everybody in middle school is confused."

Aiken describes his experiences further in his book, Learning to Sing, including what it's like getting wedgies and being "dodge-ball bait."

"I was dubbed a loser throughout most of my childhood. As a kid, I was an insult magnet—a nerd who loved his grandparents, who wore the wrong clothes, who liked the wrong things, who had goofy hair and glasses, who didn't smoke or drink."

Sounds like my experience as a teen, though sadly I didn't grow up to be voted the second best pop star by America. Not yet anyway.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 09:23 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 06, 2005

Body Suspension

Piercings and tattoos are so out. Apparently the latest extreme thrill is body suspension: people are suspended from massive steal fish hooks pierced through their skin. Eww? That's what I thought--then again I squirm whenever Lenny gets poked in the eye on The Simpsons.

Tony Troiano grimaced as he was lifted off the floor by giant fishhooks pierced through the skin on his shoulders.

Within minutes, he started to spin, swing his feet and declare the painful experience "the greatest thing" ever.

"I was on Cloud Nine," the Wethersfield, Connecticut teenager said as he joined fellow body suspension practitioners at an annual convention over the weekend. "It was euphoric. It was spiritual. I'd do it again today if I wasn't so sore."

...

"The first couple of times, I didn't enjoy it," said Canadian Warren Hiller. "The first time I blacked out, and one time I was convulsing. But the third time I got better. I wasn't blacking out anymore."

If it wasn't good the first time, why would you keep going back? That's the same reason I've never understood the popularity of beer.

But if you do feel like going out and getting suspended (maybe you can explain the draw to me), you might want to consider the risks:

The biggest danger is cross-contamination, organizers said, due to so much open flesh and blood. Other dangers involve people passing out or suffering seizures, they said.

Again: Eww. You can also see hundreds of graphic pictures, but I don't recommend them. (link via Boing Boing)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 04:31 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 29, 2005

Red Lake Update

Amid news that a tribal leader's son has been arrested on charges of conspiracy in connection with the Red Lake shooting, there is some hopeful news.

A web site has been started by 16-year-old Andrew Motzko as a memorial to those killed. Motzko met the shooter, Jeff Weise, online last summer. The site includes detailed accounts, photos and resources for anyone depressed or grieving.

Author and humorist Garrison Keillor, in an essay about Easter, Terry Schiavo and the Red Lake shooting, said this about Weise:

Look at his words: "I have friends, but I'm basically a loner inside a group of loners. I'm excluded from anything and everything they do. I'm never invited. I don't even know why they consider me a friend or I them." Jeffrey Weise was sad, angry, sick, desperate, given to violent fantasy, but he was a person of perception: Those words "A loner inside a group of loners" and the construction of they/me and I/them mark him as a writer. Six feet tall, 250 pounds, black eye makeup, goth hair, lumbering around in a black floor-length coat, "different," but not so different that we can't recognize him as one of our own. ...

So here we are at Easter. I can't speak for you but to me the gospel of the Lord is what makes this sad world of March comprehensible.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 08:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 28, 2005

Teen Considers Genocide in Sudan

Teen columnist Erica Nannini writes for the Tucson Citizen about genocide in Sudan and wonders why there's been little response. Learn more about Sudan and take action.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 04:24 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 27, 2005

Red Lake School Shooting Aftermath

Details continue to emerge about 16-year-old Jeff Wiese, the high school student who killed 9 people and injured 7 more before killing himself in Red Lake, Minn. He had been suicidal, depressed, and was crying out for help. Those cries went unheard.

High school is hardly a place where teens look out for one another, but that’s what it needs to be. There are probably people like Jeff in your school, people who need help. They may not want it, but even the smallest bit of love can make a difference.

More:

• Article recounting the timeline and details of the shooting.
  
• Some decry the link to Goth culture:

  "We're normal people," said David McNally, 17, of Lebanon, Pa. Metal chains aside, he was dressed entirely in black--black arm warmers, black T-shirt, black jeans. "We look different, but inside we're all the same."

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 04:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack