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TEENS & PARENTS GIVE ADVICE TO EACH OTHER ABOUT THEIR MEDIA USE

TEENS' ADVICE TO PARENTS:

 --Parents should get off media more when we're doing something as a family like shopping or amusement parks

--Parents should put more safety features/parental controls on computers (3)

--Turn on Google safe search (6) ("for kids AND adults")

--PLEASE don't look at porn. (4) ("and if you do, don't tell me about it")  :(

--Stop watching "Real Housewives...."

--Stop watching "Dr. Phil" and telenovelas

--Don't get addicted

--No cell phone use when you're driving

--Parents: just because you don't SEE kids doing it doesn't mean they're not

--Parents SHOULD know what their kids are doing on the internet. But don't spy  (2)

--Some friends online are better friends than people I know in real life. Even if they do not know my real name or see my picture. It might sound naive, but good people do exist online.

--Check the "history" often

--Just because they were your friends in high school doesn't mean you have to reconnect with them. they may not be wholesome for you now

--don't click on random links

--Limit media time (5) ("use a stopwatch")

--I wish my mom would spend less time on the phone because she works a lot, so when she's on the phone at home, it feels like she's not there

--Spend less time on the phone (texting, tweeting, facebook) and more time with ME!

--Invite your child to do something that doesn't involve screen time (e.g., go for a bike ride, walk, or play a family board game. pray together.) Don't spend hours on the computer because your loved ones/children only go online because they're bored or lonely. They need you to fill their hearts with your presence.

--It would be nice to watch movies together as a family so that media could be family time instead of splitting us apart. Also, it can be aggrevating when you guys (parents) watch movies and tell me to leave (because it's  inappropriate). I think we should pick movies that interest everyone in the family.

--Be careful what you share with YOUR friends about OUR lives

--I wish my Mom would turn off the Wi-Fi at 9pm so I could get my homework done because I'm addicted to Tumblr and my One Direction blog. Peace & Love.

--I wish everyone would stop technology use at 10pm

--Not everything we look at it porn. don't be so suspicious/afraid when I'm alone in my room on my laptop and such (2)

--Use your technology MORE often, get more in touch with it (4) (don't be afraid of it. learn how to use it.)

--Stop asking me questions all the time. There's this thing called Google. Just because you're old doesn't mean you can't learn things on your own.

--Don't be so clueless

--Instead of always being on the computer, do something else. like workout.

--Just give me advice, don't ORDER it

--Talk to your kids, then trust them (2)

--Spend more time with your family than watching tv or using computer (4)

--Don't use your phone/devices/computer ALL the time (7)

--I'm proud of my parents for not being on their electronics all the time.

--Sometimes turn off the computer and spend time with your kids, do family stuff (5)

--Don't let kids have computers in their rooms, particularly when they're developing, like 8-14. teach them limits and what's wrong BEFORE they have the capability of getting into it

--Please don't use the SAME sites as me: Facebook and Twitter (4)

--When parents post on their childrens' social media sites, they not only embarrass them, but also their friends

--Parents, when advising teens about media use, try to talk about positive uses for media as well as negative. Many teens do not like the idea of parents or anyone else controlling their lives.

PARENTS' ADVICE TO TEENS:

--Don't ignore life for media. enjoy real life and unplug. go outside: the graphics are great!

--Make sure parental controls on computers/devices

--Too much media time is erasing who you are

--Remember, your surfing time can be seen, too (2)

--Employers will check on what you're doing on computer (also before they hire you) (2)

--Don't post anything you wouldn't want your grandparents to see

--The choices you make will live in your heart forever, as well as the shame and regrets. People will remember you according to your choices. Be the person you want others and God to know you as.

--"I can't be with you all the time. PLEASE remember what we talked about!"  Love, Mom

--Our TV at home can get porn (satellite). I pray no one in our family will never use it.

--Use common sense

--WHENEVER you're with your family, don't prioritize your phone over us!

--Be careful not only about sharing YOUR personal info, but family members', too!

--Talk to your parents! (3) ("you can always ask me any question")

--No phones/devices at the table (4)

--Less YouTube

--Don't give out too much info and choose your online friends wisely (2)

--Pay attention to what's going on around you. Don't be rude to people around you by using your devices and ignoring what people are saying. We need human contact and verbal conversations.

--What you text never goes away and can always be forwarded forever (4)

--Don't use screens after 9pm, for example: make that family time--reading, praying, GAMES, talking to fam  (6)

--What you see on media is not necessarily reality, your worth doesn't come from societal approval but from God. Everyone is NOT doing it. Saints are different.

--Parents should disable ability to send/receive pics on kids' cell phones. Contact your cell phone carrier for how.

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MOVIE REVIEW: "HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA"

I know. You’re singing “Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania” in your best Eagles’ voice. Unfortunately, the filmmakers did not riff off this 4-syllable-similarity in the movie. However, everything else about this movie is fun, fun, fun. If you’ve seen the trailer, you made a mental note to see HT, didn’t you? Well, you won’t be disappointed. A grand ghoulish and ghostly time for the whole family. (It’s not the least bit scary, only hilarious. Think TV’s “Munsters” or “Addams Family.”)

So much time, energy and creativity is poured into animated films these days that they really do outshine so many other genres, especially if they keep in mind the adults watching and address both adults and kids at the same time.

If you liked “Despicable Me,” you’ll love HT. It features a strong non-buffoon/non-wimp-father-figure (Dracula) and his teenage vampire daughter, Mavis. Dracula has built the “Hotel Transylvania” as a “refuge” and “sanctuary” for all his fellow monsters (EVERY single kind of monster is included in the film). What are they escaping from? Torch-bearing, garlic-wearing, wooden-stake-wielding HUMANS! But a happy-go-lucky backpacking teenage human, Jonathan (Mavis’ age, of course), finds his way into the castle-hotel. Dracula wants to kick him out, but sees that Mavis is a bit sweet on him. Rather than ruin her 118^th (sic) birthday party, he disguises Jonathan as a party-planning teen Frankenstein, and plans to expel him after the party. Things go awry and Daddy Drac has to confront his control-freak ways, fears, and reconsider what is truly best for Mavis.

HT carefully avoids too many monster puns, while milking the tropes for all they’re worth. Lots of truly guffaw-worthy stuff and plenty of icky gross-out humor for the kids.

What’s different/good about this story? Dad really loves his daughter and wants to protect her. (Mom is deceased.) Jonathan also really loves Mavis and wants to do what’s good for her also. However, both Dad and Jonathan choose the road of deception as the way to go. But Mavis is not stupid, and can’t be cooped up forever. I love that Mavis is not a brat, but she pushes back. I love that Mavis is 18 (not 14 or 15) and really is ready to take responsibility for her life. Too many films, animated and otherwise, routinely make kids, pre-teens and young teens wise beyond their years, omniscient snarksters that have to endure their bumbling, often morally deficient, immature, and apologetic parents. Drac eventually apologizes (as parents should when they’re in the wrong), but not for his conscientious care and protection of Mavis.

I love that there’s a sense that young love can become true love (for both Drac and his deceased wife, as well as for Mavis and Jonathan), and that the goal of true love is to commit to each other, wed, build young lives together, help each other grow, etc., rather than “have fun” for twenty years and first think of settling down when you’re forty. There is a slight overtone of “the one” (there’s only ONE person out there just for you—which I strongly disagree with), but I think the point is that when you feel a “zing” for someone (and they feel it for you)—NOT to be confused with normal but random, non-personal, sexual attraction—you should pay attention to that. As one of my favorite, “model,” happily-married, “still having fun,” older-couple-friends say: “There’s GOT to be chemistry.”

This is Dracula’s story, and it’s beautiful to see the lengths to which he will go for his daughter’s happiness (without her even knowing). He bolsters himself saying simply: “I’ve GOT to do this.”

OTHER STUFF:

--THEOLOGY OF THE BODY? Uh-huh.

--I didn’t want to tell you right away—in case you didn’t know—that ADAM SANDLER does the voice of Drac. I didn’t know till after seeing the movie, and I’m so glad because I really, really, really can’t tolerate Sandler, but he is FANTASTIC as Drac. Must go back to his opera-singer-with-cape-singing-the-news-on-SNL-days.

--LOVE the future-son-in-law, future-father-in-law conversations and bonding sessions….

--Dracula has very good reasons for distrusting humans.

--“I come to drink your blood! Bleh, bleh bleh!”

--“Holy rabies!”

--“I speak frozen.”

--“Why is he picking his nose?”

--The sarcastic shrunken head!

--Drac’s rap song at the end….

--Jonathan captures well his generation’s wonder, positivity, “it’s all good,” “roll with it,” adventuresome, joie de vivre, thumbs-up spirit.

--HT was directed by a guy named Tartakovsky. Ha ha ha. Bleh, bleh, bleh.

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YEAH, OUR CATHOLIC YOUTH ARE SO DISENGAGED....

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LATEST MUST-HAVE THEOLOGY OF THE BODY RESOURCES

www.pauline.org  actual Theology of the Body text: “Male & Female He Created Them--a Theology of the Body,”
“TOB Made Simple” & more
www.christopherwest.com  books, free downloads, DVDs, CDs (also, search for Christopher West and Jason Evert YouTubes)
www.theologyofthebody.net  largest compilation of all kinds of resources / speakers. Fr. Loya DVDs / Spanish TOB
www.ascensionpress.com  line of TOB books.
 “Biology of the Theology of the Body,” Vicki Thorn, RN (the science to back up TOB)—she also founded
                       “Project Rachel” for post-abortion healing—Her DVDs/CDs: www.theologyofthebody.net
www.taborlife.org  Fr. Thomas Loya—premiere TOB speaker, available also for retreats, men’s porn recovery, etc. His study group: www.ustream.com/channel/theology-of-the-bodyPast classes are archived.
Pope Benedict’s intro to TOB: “On the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World” www.vatican.va 
www.WhyGenderMatters.com Dr. Leonard Sax

BEST THEOLOGY OF THE BODY INTRODUCTIONS?
--Christopher West DVDs (study series)
--"Love and Responsibility" by Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II) www.pauline.org / Want easy version? "Men, Women and the Mystery of Love" by Edward Sri
--The actual text: "Male and Female He Created Them--A Theology of the Body" John Paul II www.pauline.org (Christopher West did a verse by verse commentary on the text, also available from www.pauline.org)
--"Men and Women Are From Eden" by Mary Healy (a very short, complete overview with Scripture quotes & study questions)
--"On the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World" by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict).  www.vatican.va
--Theology of the Body Made Simple by Anthony Percy (covers Genesis), very small book
--Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West, medium-sized book
--Theology of His/Her Body (2 books in one) by Jason Evert (great for teens, mostly relational stuff)

SPANISH: www.TheologyOftheBody.net--Spanish DVDs: http://ascensionpress.com/products?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=God%27s+Plan+for+a+Joy-Filled+Marriage-Spanish+Edition+DVD+%286-Part+Study%29
--"Good News About Sex & Marriage" by Christopher West  in Spanish from www.ascensionpress.com
--The Theology of the Body text is available in Spanish from Pauline Books & Media, Chicago: 312-346-4228

TOB MARRIAGE PREP COURSE: www.TransformedInLove.com

FOR TEENS: “God’s Plan for Your Life—Theology of  the Body for Teens”  (textbook) www.pauline.org
“Theology of the Body for Teens” (DVDs, workbks, leader’s guide) www.ascensionpress.com
“Theology of His/Her Body” by Jason Evert (2 books in one, great intro to TOB, very easy read!) www.ascensionpress.com
“The Thrill of the Chaste”  by Dawn Eden (NYC rock journalist living “Sex and the City” lifestyle, Catholic convert)
“Wait for Me” by Rebecca St. James (practical ideas)
www.TOBET.org—teens evangelizing teens with TOB (peer ministry) Monica Ashour’s group out of Texas, can be replicated

RESOURCES BY / FOR WOMEN:  www.WomenMadeNew.com Healing for Women (www.DemandYourDignity.com)
Karen Doyle: “The Genius of Womanhood” small gift-style book  www.pauline.org
Sr. Prudence Allen, RSM: "The Concept of Woman" (she's big into the complementarity of the sexes)
Janet Smith: "Why Humanae Vitae Was Right--A Reader," "Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later," "Life Issues, Medical
         Choices," "The Right To Privacy"
Kimberly Hahn: "Life-Giving Love--Embracing God's Beautiful Design for Marriage"
Alice von Hildebrand: "The Privilege of Being a Woman"
Sr. M. Timothy Prokes, FSE: "Towards a Theology of the Body and Mutuality: The Human Image of Trinitarian Love"
           http://www.christendom.edu/grad/acad/grad%20prof%20pages/prokes.shtml
Sr. Therese Auer, OP (Nashville Dominicans) has written something on TOB for use in schools (her specialty is
          philosophy) stauer@op-tn.org615-256-5486
Sr. Sara Butler: "The Catholic Priesthood and Women" (world-class theologian, Sister was a proponent of women's
          ordination for many years, until coming into contact with John Paul II and Theology of the Body)
Katrina Zeno: “Discovering the Feminine Genius” (formerly "Every Woman's Journey") www.pauline.org and "The Body Reveals God—an
             Introduction to the Theology of the Body"
Mary Healy: "Men and Women are from Eden"—great little intro and study guide
Mary Shivanandan: "Crossing the Threshold of Love"
Patty Schneier: CDs from http://www.onemoresoul.com/(talks to parents, teens, and a powerful personal testimony)
Steve Harvey: “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man” (with reservations! Harvey is OK with sex before marriage)
John & Stasi Eldredge: “Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul”
“Women, Sex and the Church—a Case for Church Teaching” (compilation of women scholars) www.pauline.org
“Woman, God’s Masterpiece,” must-hear 2-CD set by Christopher West
“On the Dignity and Vocation of Woman,” “Letter to Women,” “Women—Teachers of Peace,” all by Pope John Paul II
“My Peace I Give You: Healing for Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints” by Dawn Eden 

RESOURCES FOR MEN: Books by John Eldredge (e.g.,“Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul,” “Fathered by God—Learning What Your Dad Could Never Teach You”), “Be a Man!” by Fr. Larry Richards, anything by Dr. Phil Mango: www.theologyofthebody.net,  

MUST-SEE MOVIES: “Fireproof,” “Courageous”—what does it mean to be a man?

EVOLUTION DVDS: Creation or Evolution? (hint: it's both) VISION VIDEO
Theology of Body & Evolution-Dr.Sternberg www.theologyofthebody.net

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING: “Humanae Vitae”  www.vatican.va
Janet Smith: "Why Humanae Vitae Was Right--A Reader”
Kimberly Hahn: "Life-Giving Love--Embracing God's Beautiful Design for Marriage"
Patty Schneier: CDs from http://www.onemoresoul.com/ (talks to: parents on TOB for teens, teens, & a powerful personal testimony)
Billings Method of Ovulation: www.boma-usa.org, 
“Couple to Couple League”

INFERTILITY (and other issues of women's health): www.NaProtechnology.com natural,
moral, safe, effective medical treatments (also for other
feminine problems) based on lastest science. 
Nat’l Center for Women’s Health: www.popepaulvi.com
book: "Facing Infertility" www.pauline.org

HOMOSEXUALITY / SAME-SEX ATTRACTION:
www.courageRC.net  (also for youth, Spanish),
Books: “Homosexuality and the Catholic Church” by Fr. John Harvey
“The Heart of Female Same-Sex Attraction” by Janelle Hallman www.ivpress.com 

PORNOGRAPHY: www.ReclaimSexualHealth.com     www.tinyurl.com/PornPreventionResources    

PRO-LIFE: www.humanlife.org free chastity, relationships, pro-life resources     www.rockforlife.org – info, T-shirts, etc.
“180 Movie” YouTube (pro-abort teens change minds on spot)
“Unplanned” DVD & book by Abby Johnson, former director of one of the largest Planned Parenthoods in America

SEX ED: www.familyhonor.org
Other resources: http://hellburns.blogspot.com/2012/05/theology-of-body-sex-ed.html#.UYifk6Jwr0c

TEEN HOMEWORK: Watch YouTubes by Jason and Crystalina Evert, Christopher West, music vid “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul? by Gnarls Barkley about “person,” Vicki Thorn YouTubes (science & biology of TOB)

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MORNING PEOPLE NEED NOT APPLY

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WOMEN SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

Do All Women Think Free Birth Control Is a Good Thing?
Does Sandra Fluke Speak for All Women?

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