PODCASTS

Tag: #teens
Trail Life USA – a Christian option to build the character and confidence of boys – 7/01/24

Trail Life USA – a Christian option to build the character and confidence of boys – 7/01/24

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Trail Life USA – a Christian option, for those concerned about how the Boy Scouts of America have changed

Trail Life USA offers camping, outdoor adventures, a process for advancing through ranks and badges, and connects boys and male teens with adult role models.

In some ways this seems like what Boy Scouting has been doing for over a century. However, Trail Life has only been in existence for about a decade. In those ten years, participation in Trail Life has mushroomed to over 60 thousand — that as Scouting USA (the new identity for Boy Scouts) has dropped by fully half, from two million to one million.

While COVID, child safety scandals, less emphasis on outdoors activities (and more on electronic devices) and a general decline in the status of many membership-based organizations, today’s guest says the BSA’s departure from its traditional values is a big reason why. Trail Life USA is a national Christian ministry with the goal of building the character and confidence of boys.

 

Trail Life’s CEO Mark Hancock tells us about the specifically Christ-centered and boy-focused programs for boys from kindergarten through high school. Their activities are a response to national research that too many boys particularly do not have strong, helpful, positive male role models. Today’s Family Life Interview delves into the reasons Hancock sees successes where Trail Life troops have been started in all 50 states.

 

 

 

For follow-up information

Find more about Trail Life, how to charter a troop, and where to find a program for your sons: www.TrailLifeUSA.com

Here is a report on why Boy Scouts are faltering while Trail Life is growing:  “No Longer an ‘Alternative'”

A former pastor (and dad of two sons) now leads Trail Life USA:  Mark Hancock’s biography
Real Answers – Reducing Anxiety in our Children – 6/05/24

Real Answers – Reducing Anxiety in our Children – 6/05/24

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:31 — 7.6MB)

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“Real Answers” on Family Life

How parents can reduce stress and anxiety in our children and teens

“You are the parent. You will be your child’s strongest influence, and that is a mantle you really need to take up.”

 

Christian counselor Christopher Anderson explores how your family be a positive influence on young people who are facing social anxiety, cultural stresses, and the everday growing pains of growing up.

Some of his recommendations:

  • Spend intentional quality time with children (even as young as toddlers). Do meaningful activities and have meaningful conversations with your children and teens
  • Ask them specifically if there are any matters that are raising internal concerns for them — from school, with friends, anywhere
  • Choose the information intake flooding into their lives:  reduce the clutter of e-device information, and increase age-appropriate emphasis on Scriptures

 

Real Answers is one of our Wednesday News Features from Family Life News — from our radio broadcasts, app streaming, and website downloads.

Bible Quizzing Nationals – Local youth on the way to Wisconsin – 4/16/24

Bible Quizzing Nationals – Local youth on the way to Wisconsin – 4/16/24

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Bible Quizzing Nationals – Local youth on the way to Wisconsin – 4/16/24

Teams of teens and preteens from the Twin Tiers are among the young people from coast to coast who gather in the Wisconsin Dells this week for the Bible Quizzing Nationals.

What is Bible Quizzing?

Young people and their coaches invest large blocks of time to memorize large swaths of Scripture. At local, regional and national competitions, teams of five pop up out of their seats, answer questions based on the wording of a Bible verse, and quote the full verse — word for word.

Ten members of the local teams sponsored by Family Life Ministries gathered to answer Greg Gillispie’s questions about Bible Quizzing, the tournament process, and the personal benefits which come to those who pour time and effort into reading and studying God’s Word.

By the way, FLM sent four teams to Nationals in 2023, and two of those local teams placed in the Top Four!

Additional information:

Learning about eclipses, attendance, and financial aid – Issues in Education – 4/08/24

Learning about eclipses, attendance, and financial aid – Issues in Education – 4/08/24

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:20 — 10.1MB)

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  • Eclipse Impact at School
  • Chronic Absenteeism
  • Later School Start Time
  • More Glitches with FAFSA Forms

Dr. Ralph Kerr with the Teaching and Learning Institute discusses the weighty issues impacting our public school families each Monday on our “Issues in Education” Noon News Feature and online Podcast. Find out more about TLI and about Dr. Kerr’s work at WhyRun.org.

Inside Out – Girls & Social Media – 04/19/23

Inside Out – Girls & Social Media – 04/19/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:18 — 23.8MB)

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Girls and Social Media 

With more girls than ever reporting that they feel sad or hopeless, The Gospel Coalition’s Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra talks with Martha Manikas-Foster about social media’s impact on girls. They also talk about the precautions adults might put in place before approaching social media as a mission field.

 

More girls than ever feel sad or hopeless. Social media may be the reason why.

“In 2009, we know about a third of American high school girls had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness,” reports Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, senior writer and faith-and-work editor for The Gospel Coalition. “But by last year, so this is about 10 years later, it was up to 57 percent. Which is the highest recorded level of teenage sadness ever.”

Zylstra observes that the increase in sadness tracks with the rise of smartphones and social media. Smartphones make it possible to check on your internet friends more often than when you had to wait until you opened your laptop to get connected.

How we spend our time makes its mark on us, and girls are averaging five hours a day on social media. During those hours girls are comparing themselves with others–often people they don’t know in person—and they repeatedly feel that they fall short.

Disembodied online relationships impact us differently from in-person friendships, Zylstra says, in part because when you walk alongside a friend, you see them on both their good days and bad days. Online you see only the best snapshots of a person’s day. “And if you have 500 friends,” Zylstra says, “every day somebody’s having a good day somewhere. But you’re constantly feeling like, ‘My day never measures up.’”

Listen in on our 18-minute conversation about the impact this is having. You’ll also hear Zylstra’s suggestions for how adults who feel called to on-line ministry might wisely approach social media as a mission field.

Listen to the podcast that inspired this conversation here and read some of her other writings here. 

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