Happy Holidays!

As the end of 2009 rapidly approaches, the WC2ed would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Use this holiday break to connect with your family in new and deeper ways. After all, the best things in life aren't things!



We would also encourage you to continue reading our blog in 2010 and sharing it with your friends as well. We hope to keep you up-to-date on topics relevant to teens and healthy relationships.

However, in 2010 we don't want to blog topics to just come from us, but to also have some ideas on what you want to hear about as well. So we'd like to offer you a chance to throw out some ideas in the comment section. We welcome questions, advice or just something you've heard about in the news that you'd like to know more about. We gladly welcome the interaction!

With that, take care and God bless! We will connect with you next year!

What Happens at Fifteen?

I am always amazed at the shear invincibility that teenagers believe themselves to possess. But who can blame them? They are full of life and each new experience gives them a jolt of dopamine and endorphins, flooding their brains with that unique “high” sensation.

With time and through observing the mistakes of others however, wisdom comes. Everyone one of us would want to spare teens – whether it is your own child, a relative, or a neighbor – from painful consequences and the shocking reality of their vulnerable humanity.

This morning I was reminded of a song written by a young adult as she looks back on life as a teenager. It’s a warning to teenage girls especially to be aware of the choices they make during high school.

Choices like naively thinking they will marry the boy who says he loves her. Choices like giving everything to a boy so she can feel wanted. Choices like getting caught up in the fleeting drama of high school without figuring out who you are and who you want to be.

The song is Fifteen, by Taylor Swift.

(You can read the lyrics and watch the video below.)

Fifteen

You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors

It's the morning of your very first day

And you say hi to your friends you ain't seen in a while

Try and stay out of everybody's way

It's your freshman year and you're gonna be here

For the next four years in this town

Hoping one of those senior boys will wink at you and say

"You know, I haven't seen you around before"

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you

You're gonna believe them

And when you're fifteen feeling like there's nothing to figure out

Well, count to ten, take it in

This is life before you know who you're gonna be

Fifteen

You sit in class next to a redhead named Abigail

And soon enough you're best friends

Laughing at the other girls who think they're so cool

We'll be outta here as soon as we can

And then you're on your very first date and he's got a car

And you're feeling like flying

And you're momma's waiting up and you're thinking he's the one

And you're dancing 'round your room when the night ends

When the night ends

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you

You're gonna believe them

When you're fifteen and your first kiss

Makes your head spin 'round

But in your life you'll do things greater than

Dating the boy on the football team

But I didn't know it at fifteen

When all you wanted was to be wanted

Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now

Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday

But I realized some bigger dreams of mine

And Abigail gave everything she had to a boy

Who changed his mind and we both cried

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you

You're gonna believe them

And when you're fifteen, don't forget to look before you fall

I've found time can heal most anything

And you just might find who you're supposed to be

I didn't know who I was supposed to be at fifteen

Your very first day

Take a deep breath girl

Take a deep breath as you walk through the doors

When a floor is more...

Came across this blog entry on the Rated G Romance website. Thought it was so adorable I just had to share!

When a floor is more…

It was our 26th anniversary on May 14th and we spent the better part of the day upgrading our kitchen floor. We installed the new vinyl plank flooring I bought the Mrs. as a present.

Tres romantic, n’est pas? Normally, no. Household upgrades are not romantic for most couples. However, for us it was.

Why? “Quality” time is my lovely’s number one love language. And what did we do? We spent an entire day together talking and working toward a common goal.

Let me spin the story another way to show you what I mean…

I took an unpaid leave day so that we could spend our special day together. We woke slowly, playing the “I love you because” game and snuggling. After a romantic breakfast (she made me my favorite ), we cleaned up and went out to one of her favorite stores. I bought her a little something she’d been wanting for months. The afternoon was full of music and talk of goals and rememberings. At dinner, she took me to a restaurant that I had always wanted to visit. The sun sparkling on the water of the inlet outside our window matched the sparkle in my sweeties eyes.

We finished our meal, went for a walk on the boardwalk, then returned home to more time together. The moments we shared were precious. Midnight approached and it was time for us to head to bed. “Wait,” she smiled, “we need to dance.” Music played (http://blip.fm/~6c084) as we finished our evening dancing in the kitchen.

The fact that we were testing the new floor we had spent the day installing was beside the point. ;-)

By Gregory Blake of RatedGRomance.com

No Sex Please, We're Vampires

(CNN) -- "New Moon," the latest film in "The Twilight Saga" is doing record business at the box office.

In its opening weekend the film grossed $140.7 million -- more than any other film with an autumn release in history.

The tales of teenage vampire love based on the best-selling books by Stephanie Meyer have wooed film-goers without having to resort to acres of flesh being on display.

This distinct lack of on-screen sex runs contrary to the popular trend of portraying teenagers on screen as playing fast and loose with their virginity and affections.

Love and the importance of relationships most definitely rule in "The Twilight Saga" and the formula is proving popular with audiences.

Elizabeth Morowitz, Communications Professor at the University of Missouri and author of "Bitten By Twilight" thinks that this more sensitive approach is the key to the film's success.

"A lot of people ask 'what's so appealing about the Twilight and why is it popular now?' and we think it's because of the relationships and the messages about love in Twilight. In a more conservative environment we've had this push for abstinence education, so we now have a media message that's more congruent with that. So perhaps some teens relate to it in that way," Morowitz told CNN's Katie Walmsley.

The director of "New Moon" Chris Weitz says that sexual abstinence is central to the film's appeal.

"It's not that they can't have sex, they choose not to and I think there's so much popular culture that's saying to young people: 'you'll be cool if you have sex' or 'it's important to be sexy' whereas this series really concentrates on matters of the heart and spirit and I think that's lovely," Weitz told CNN.

A dashing male lead, in the shape of Robert Pattison doesn't hurt either when you're trying to attract a female teenage audience.

But whatever the exact recipe for its undoubted success it looks like teenagers in the "Twilight" world don't like to bite off more than they can chew.

No Joke: Marriage is Good for You!

By Frank Vascellaro
WCCO News, Minnesapolis

Dr. William Doherty, a professor at the University of Minnesota, says that in marriage, good enough is good.

When you got married, you probably heard a few ball-and-chain remarks, but those are just jokes. The reality is that marriage is good for you.

We asked three couples to tell us the favorite things their spouses do for them. Rich Goldsmith says his wife gives a pretty amazing scalp massage.

"She'll just kind of rub my head and it's like, oh, it just kind of caps off my day, makes it nice and takes some of the stress away," He said.

Kari Anderson Slade tried to tell us about her husband Mark's great bear hugs, but her daughter interrupted her.

"And that answers the question," said Kari with a laugh. "We don't do anything for each other anymore because we have her."

Tony Richardson loves something his wife Bridget does every weekend.

"She lets me sleep late on Saturdays," he said.

Their marriages might not be perfect, but they don't have to be.

William Doherty, a professor at the University of Minnesota, says that in marriage, good enough is good.

"A pretty good, a good enough marriage, is something that gives people a sense of stability, a security," he explained. "It's good for us. We kind of know that by common sense, but the research also supports it."

Doherty showed us a long list of the benefits of marriage, complete with citations. Married people have more money. They're happier. They're healthier. They live longer. And their kids do better.

Doherty, who's been married to his wife Leah for 38 years, has a theory about the health benefits of marriage. It's not molecular theory, but a mole theory. He says it's not just that your wife "has your back." She sees it, too.

"Who else except somebody you're married to you sees moles on your back than your spouse, and your spouse may say, 'That looks suspicious, you should have the doctor see that,'" said Doherty. "First of all, it's somebody you're married to who saw it, and secondly it's someone who's going to nag you to go to the doctor."

See the video clip of this news report by clicking here.

Sick of the Lies

For years now, photoshop and other programs have been used to bring normal models to barbie like proportions and out-of-this-world unattainable beauty. I thought I had seen it all, like the slimming of waists, filling out of breasts, and the removing of wrinkles. Take for instance the images of Jessica Alba below. The left is the original, and the right is after the airbrushing.

But the airbrushing has now gone to new levels. I recently received a link to an article called "Image of ultra-thin Ralph Lauren model sparks outrage." The image is incredibly disturbing. The model's body has been distorted using technology, but goes way beyond "trimming and slimming" to the point of making her look like an anorexic.

Here is how the article from Yahoo put it, "The latest such image to cause an uproar is one featured in a new Ralph Lauren advertisement that shows a model, Filippa Hamilton, so emaciated that her waist actually appears to be smaller than her head." Here is the image...brace yourself!

Crazy huh? And we wonder why our young girls have such a distorted picture of beauty! Despite all the bad messages out there, we are lucky to have a few individuals and a few organizations that care enough to stand up and say something. Here are a few that I would recommend:

1. America the Beautiful. A new documentary due out on DVD this fall that asks the question: "Is America obsessed with beauty?" Click the link to watch the trailer and find out how you can get your copy!
2. Operation Beautiful. An organization who hosts a wonderful blog with a simple mission: to post anonymous notes in public places for other women to find. The point is that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. You are enough... just the way you are!
3. Campaign for Real Beauty. Hosted by Dove, this campaign uses video clips and advertising to show young girls what real beauty is about. Below is one of their fantastic videos. Pass it on!

A Local Erie College discusses "Hooking Up and Breaking Down: the Missing Links in Relationships"

It's been a few days since we last published a post. Why? Because we've been too busy!! What a great problem to have. We love interacting with teens and college students. Here is a recent article written by a college student after attending one of our events...

Rappers discuss hook ups, college life
By: Krista Mershimer, staff writer for Gannon Knight News
Gannon University, Erie PA

College is a period of discovery, whether it is educational, spiritual or political. It can also be sexual, a difficult subject to talk about when perceptions about sex and relationships conflict.


This was the topic of discussion in Club LaRiccia Tuesday night: “Hooking Up and Breaking Down: The Missing Link in Relationships.” Sponsored by the Gannon Social Work Club, Students for Life and Student Health Services, the discussion brought together representatives from WC2 ed, a division of the Women’s Care Center, and hip hop artist/speaker Los 1 to reinforce the need for healthy relationships.

Presentation specialist Patty Fitzgerald said that her college experience was important for her personal growth.

“College was a time to make or break me – a defining time,” she said. “Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to healthy relationships.”

The discussion emphasized the four C’s of dating and relationships: communication, cohabitation, consequences and commitment – topics that are often taboo in many relationships. Students were encouraged to interact (pictured below - Katie Cogswell/ Knight) with a panel of their peers and with married couples who discussed issues ranging from first impressions and true love to separation and divorce.

In between role-playing activities, the powerful lyrics of Los 1’s “LifeSkills” CD permeated the room speaking to students about having a positive self-image, making good choices and respecting themselves. Trained to teach lessons on character and sexual purity to teens, the Brooklyn native uses his music to reinforce learning as he travels from school to school across America.

Los 1 (pictured above - Katie Cogswell/ Knight) said the main issue is perception.

“Kids today see sex in the media, on TV, in music, in school and they need a way to navigate through all of it,” he said. “We need to teach these kids to care about themselves.”

Social Work Club President Chris Frye said that sex and relationships need to be discussed.

“It’s real-life stuff and it’s not to be played with,” the senior social work major said. “Having advice from professionals instead of friends can help students make better choices in their relationships.”

Sophomore nursing major Katie Bauer said that the most important thing couples can have in a relationship is compatibility.

“Know your values and stick to them,” Bauer said. “Know what you want out of the relationship and figure out your boundaries early on.”

Sophomore occupational therapy major Maria Crawford said that couples should also be able to trust their partners in any situation.

According to its Web site, the Women’s Care Center in Erie’s motto says it strives to faithfully empower teens to make the best decisions for their future by teaching values of character, healthy relationships and marriage.

“Our goal is to help these youth achieve optimal health and the best life advantage,” Fitzgerald said.

“Prevention is key because that’s how we avoid becoming just another statistic. Its never easy, but it’s common sense: anything worth having is worth working for.”

For more information about the Women’s Care Center, go to http://www.wc2ed.org/. Music from Los 1 can be found at http://www.los1.com/ or at www.myspace.com/los1music

KRISTA MERSHIMER
mershime001@gannon.edu

You Can End Child Poverty...HOW?!

Yesterday I was on the internet when an ad entitled “Obama wants mothers to go back to school” popped up. While I understand how educating single-parent mothers is important, however if we are striving to decrease child poverty the mothers’ education alone is not the answer.


You might be asking, how can that be? What else could decrease poverty besides education?


Try M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E.


Don’t believe me? Read the research below…


August 2, 2002
The Effects of Marriage and Maternal Education in Reducing Child Poverty
by Robert Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.

Maternal education without marriage is generally ineffective in reducing child poverty. The poverty levels of children raised by never-married mothers remain high even if the mother has a high-school or college degree.

Specifically, the analysis reveals the following facts:

• On average, a child raised by a never-married mother is nine times more likely to live in poverty than a child born and raised by two parents in an intact marriage. (see graph below and click to enlarge)

• Overall, nearly 80 percent of long-term child poverty occurs to children raised in some type of broken family or by a parent who never married.


• Raising a child in an intact marriage is roughly two and a half times more effective than adding four years to a mother's education in reducing child poverty. (see graph below and click to enlarge)





• On average, a child raised by a never-married mother with a four-year college degree is three and a half times more likely to be poor than is a child born and raised in an intact married family by a mother who has only a high-school education.


• Children raised in intact married families whose mothers are high-school dropouts spend about the same amount of time in poverty as children raised by never-married mothers who have a four-year college degree.


• Marriage has a significant effect in reducing child poverty, even if the marriage does not last throughout a boy's or girl's entire childhood. Being raised in a married two-parent family for just half of one's childhood reduces poverty as much as adding four years to a mother's education does.

In conclusion the authors note that: the current analysis indicates that, operating together, both marriage and maternal education can play a significant role in reducing child poverty.

The most effective public policy to reduce child poverty would encourage young women both to complete high school and enter into a healthy marriage before they have children. By contrast, a policy that focuses on maternal education exclusively and is indifferent or hostile to marriage is not likely to be successful.

Has anyone told President Obama this?


To read the study in full, http://www.heritage.org/research/family/cda02-05.cfm

Join us on Sept 19 for the Celebrate Life Banquet!

This year, the Women's Care Center of Erie County, Inc (our main office)

is hosting a Celebrate Life Banquet.

We'd love to have you attend on Saturday September 19th at 7pm.

Be our guest and enjoy a wonderful, elegant evening at the Courtyard Marriott with...

...special guest and three time Grammy nominee Michele Pillar.

Michele's has a beautiful voice, compared to that of an angel, but an even more beautiful life story.

Join us for a evening you'll not soon forget. You'll be glad you did!

Click here for more information or to register.

A Valentine's Day Message Good for Today

Evenings come to an end.
But mistakes last forever.

Powerful, isn't it? This poster was created by the Anscombe Society at Princeton University. The society is a group of students "dedicated to affirming the importance of the family, marriage, and a proper understanding for the role of sex and sexuality."

The Society grew out of the desire some students sensed for something better than the sexually drenched college culture.

Here is the perspective of one student:

"I remember my freshman year, in my hallway at Forbes, we went to our
residential adviser for our study break, and there with the soda pop and the
chips was a bowl with flavored condoms," said Joan Claire Krautmann, a
senior from Salem, Ore. "So immediately, when you get on campus, you're just
bombarded with sexual material."

So here's to a Valentine's Day message that we can use on campus - and everywhere - TODAY.

College Event Designed to Dispel Myths and Meet Needs of Local Students

Yesterday I had the opportunity, along with some fellow coworkers, to go and discuss with college juniors and seniors ideas for an upcoming event we hope to have on a local college campus.

When we asked questions about the college climate as it relates to the dating and hookup world, these students answered honestly.  Here are some examples:

"Some people just hookup at a party and then they see if a relationship develops."
"Others come to college with girlfriends, but you never know how long it lasts and what they're up to."

When we asked them what they'd like to know and have us talk about, the following topics were brought up:

• Commitment - Like, how do you know if this person is the one?  How do you commit?  How do you escape divorce?
• Cohabitation - Should we live together after college?  Are we already living together if we have two separate places, but he often stays the night?  Is that wrong?
• Communication - How do you communicate between the genders?  And what's with all the texting and breaking up on facebook?  And are people really talking before they have sex, like "Are we ready to have a baby?  If not, then why are we doing this?!"

Great ideas, huh?  It also gave us a clear picture of the needs of these students and how we can address their questions with our event.

As I was thinking about which topics to highlight in the event, I stumbled upon an article entitled, "Marriage Conference Dispels Myths" published today on Cathnews.com.

Dr. William Doherty is a marriage expert and was a speaker on the panel during the conference.  His assessment is that "we need to dispel the myths about marriage in society today."  So, what are some of those modern myths about marriage?  And are any of the myths evident among the college students we spoke to?

Dr. Doherty highlights five common myths:

1. It's foolish to get married without cohabiting
2. It's best to wait to get married when you are financially secure
3. If a marriage gets rotten it never gets ripe again
4. If your marriage fails your children really want you to find another romantic relationship because they want you to be happy
5. Men aren't interested in relationships

We can't wait to further develop this college event and incoporate some of the above myths.  We'll keep you posted with more details!

Just Guys: Understand and Escaping "Guyland"

Fuller Youth Institute
Brad Griffin and Kara Powell
August 31, 2009

What’s the deal with guys?

Recent research warns of the chronic underachieving, emotionally drifting, and irresponsible “Guyland” of male adolescence...

Excuses and Fears

Much of our culture’s collective anxiety about adolescent guys is caught up in various excuses and fears. Excuses like “boys will be boys” or “it’s a guy thing” have become cultural blankets to cover all sorts of irresponsible and destructive behaviors from young boyhood through adulthood.

Meanwhile we’re overwhelmed by the fears that arise from the behaviors that prompt these excuses in the first place: boys are emotionally closed off, spend too much time playing video games and hanging out online, are too sex-obsessed, lack motivation, and often drift into adulthood with little direction.

More than a few of these fears are valid, but we struggle to find reliable lenses through which to interpret what’s going on with guys. We should say up front that not every boy is the same (thank goodness!) and not every boy lives by the excuses and fears we describe below. But these research trends are worth taking time to understand and respond to, for the sake of the guys—and the girls—in our ministries.

Guyland: The Secret Underworld

According to sociologist and gender studies expert Michael Kimmel, young men ages 16-26 live in a secret world of Guyland that resembles an uncertain holding tank.2 His interviews with over 400 guys led Kimmel to conclude:

Guyland is the world in which young men live. It is both a stage of life, a liminal undefined time span between adolescence and adulthood that can often stretch for a decade or more, and a place, or rather, a bunch of places where guys gather to be guys with each other, unhassled by the demands of parents, girlfriends, jobs, kids, and the other nuisances of adult life.3

Similar to the research of our Fuller Seminary colleague Chap Clark,4 most of the guys in Kimmel’s study believe that they are completely on their own to chart a path through Guyland. By the time they hit high school, they can’t trust their parents or other adults—and most feel like they can’t trust each other either. This is in large part because of the “Guy Code,” learned in boyhood and expanded in adolescence.

The number one rule in the Guy Code is, you guessed it, “Boys don’t cry.” Kimmel observes, “Masculinity is largely a ‘homosocial’ experience: performed for, and judged by, other men.”5 And it’s driven by homophobia—defined in Guyland code as the fear that others might think you’re gay. “That’s so gay” is one of the most common put-down guys use in high school, and it can refer to anything—something you say, wear, or do. So guys spend a lot of their energy attempting to prove (primarily to other guys) that they aren’t gay, that they are masculine enough to warrant independence in the “real man’s” territory. In other words, while many maintain that our version of masculinity is simply hardwired by biology, few account for the way the masculine code is “coerced and policed relentlessly by other guys.”6

To read more of the article: http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/2009/08/just-guys

References
2. Michael Kimmel, Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men (San Francisco: Harper, 2008).
3. Michael Kimmel, Guyland, 4.
4. See Chap Clark, Hurt: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004).
5. Michael Kimmel, Guyland, 47.
6. Michael Kimmel, Guyland, 51.

Disney's Ladies and the Tramps

Washington Times
Monday, August 24, 2009
by Rebecca Hagelin

Culture challenge of the week: Disney's decline

I'll always remember how magical it was to see Tinker Bell flitter across the TV screen. She would touch the top of Cinderella's castle with her magic wand and release a million tiny sparkles that cascaded down the television screen and seemingly into my living room.

Since our family normally attended church on Sunday evenings, it was a rare treat to watch "The Wonderful World of Disney." On that occasion when I was home and could steal away and turn on the TV, I was instantly transported into a world of fairy tales and dreams. Disney was synonymous with innocence, happiness and hope; with Mickey Mouse, virtuous damsels and handsome heroes.

The Disney girls, such as Snow White and Cinderella, were always so innocent, beautiful and kind. They taught little girls that we, too, should be generous and gracious - that our lives should be marked by goodness and virtue. The Disney message was clear: Regardless of your circumstances, you can be lovely and thoughtful, and - if your heart is pure and with a little help from your fairy godmother - you might also find your handsome prince and live happily ever after.

My, how times have changed.

This is not your mamma's Disney. The lifestyles and fantasies they are selling our young women are anything but wholesome. Disney has deliberately and successfully transformed its brand from one of innocence and family entertainment to a purveyor of promiscuity.

A recent case in point is Disney star Miley Cyrus. Last week, I wrote in this column how, once again, Disney created a heroine with a young, innocent image and then morphed it into a trampy one. (Is Miley acting trampy in real life? I don't know. But she has agreed to be packaged as one.)

The larger point is that Disney itself also has morphed. They've gone from selling just childhood fantasies into also selling sexual ones.

This new corporate image was missed by many adults, but to my surprise, it seems that some teens recognize - and are beginning to reject - the newer, uglier Disney.

After Miley's now infamous pole-dancing routine before a nation of teeny-boppers, I remarked to my 17-year-old daughter, "Kristin, it looks like Miley has gone trampy on us."

"Of course," she responded, matter-of-factly.

Surprised by her immediate and total agreement, I asked, "Why do you say 'of course?' "

"Because she's Disney," Kristin said simply.

Wow. I was stunned that my daughter knew what Disney had been up to.

"Who else has Disney turned into a tramp?" I asked.

"Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, the girls from 'High School Musical' - lots of others," she sighed.

The funny thing is that Kristin doesn't even watch the programming. But the characters are such a pervasive part of teen culture, she can't escape them.

How to save your family (and yourself) from being duped.

So what's my point here? Don't blindly trust the brands you have come to rely on.

Today's marketers have become so savvy that they know how to skillfully present themselves to parents in one way, but be something radically different to the teenage population that now wields tremendous purchasing power. While Disney still sells the childhood characters of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck to new moms, it is selling sexuality to our pre-teen girls.

When you hear about a new Disney flick, for instance, check out a reliable movie review before checking out the DVD. The best movie reviews I know are at http://www.pluggedinonline.com/.

And don't let your children become enamored of any media star. Teach them that pop stars are packaged products subject to manipulation by crass marketers. Remind them that young pop icons and their agents are always looking for the next role that will maintain their superstar status, and that they are likely to make mistakes along the way.

You can take heart that Tinker Bell and Cinderella will never change. It's too bad I can't say the same for Disney or their modern heroines.

• Rebecca Hagelin is a family advocate and the author of the best-seller "30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family." For more family tips, visit HowToSaveYourFamily.com

The Ugly Truth Revealed. Hollywood is not the Answer

Over the weekend I saw that the movie TheUglyTruth was playing at a nearby theater. Although the movie came out in late July, this was my first time seeing it advertised.

Just look at the cover. No need to watch the movie, we already know what it’s about!

The placement of the hearts hints at the saying that...

Men give love to get sex and women give sex to get love.

In the classroom, we describe it like this. Sexually speaking, men are like microwaves and women are like crockpots. This analogy highlights that men get stimulated more easily than women because of their visual nature, while women take longer because they respond when they feel connected and romanced.

So while the movie may highlight some truth, the use of this truth to ‘rope’ a man by wearing low seductive tops and short skirts is not the answer.

In addition, the movie hints that men are only after ‘one thing’ and care nothing of the female’s interests or personality. This paints a rather animalistic view of males which I believe to be unfair.

The point of highlighting the microwave and crockpot truth is to teach teens how to dress modestly and to not arouse or manipulate their date. In addition, we stress the need for self-control for both parties and the importance of getting to know each other before getting physical.


And so, we find TheUglyTruth to rather be that Hollywood is NOT the source for romantic advice and certainly NOT the model for healthy and long-lasting relationships.

Marriage is Good for the Brain

Dr. Ranit Mishori
August 9, 2009

Parade Magazine

We’ve known for some time that married people live longer. Now a new study suggests that matrimony may also help keep the mind sharp—warding off age-related issues like memory loss or dementia.

Researchers studied the changes among a group of 1400 people from Finland—starting from when they were all aged 50 or so, then again 20 years later—and reported the results in the British Medical Journal. They found that the individuals with the greatest risk for Alzheimer’s disease were those who were widowed or divorced at midlife and remained so. Being single at midlife was also a risk factor.

This “marriage effect” appears not to be influenced by how much education the individuals had attained, how much physical exercise they got, or whether they otherwise had active social lives—all factors that other studies have found to be important in determining the risk of dementia.

The authors suggest that having a partner might provide additional mental and social challenges that somehow stimulate the brain and delay the onset of dementia.

Of course, getting Alzheimer’s is not dependent simply on lifestyle. This devastating illness involves a complex interaction of factors that include genetics and environment. What is clear, however, is that people who maintain a healthy and active lifestyle—physically, socially, mentally, and perhaps maritally—appear to have a lower risk of developing the disease.

'Black Manifesto' is a call to rally the African-American community

In a powerful column in Erie's Sunday paper, Bishop Dwane Brock voiced his call to action for the black community. "We cannot expect others to do for us what we can do for ourselves," Brock writes.

The piece empowers the reader with the possibilities for a better society, yet it takes a critical look at the downward spiral and reinforced stereotypes plaguing the black community.

The manifesto is a "prognosis for civility," in three major areas:

1. The strength of black women
2. The courage of black men
3. The need to disintegrate stereotypes

Brock highlights "sexual responsibility" as being imperative to the future and health of the community. He encourages teens with the following:

There are activities that you are too good to involve yourself in. Your
attitude must be: 'I will not give in to the societal or hormonal pressures of being sexually active before I am ready to pay the high cost of
consequences.' Your mentality must be rooted and grounded in a hot pursuit of your goals, dreams and vision. These must become your priorities.

In the manifesto, Brock calls black mothers to teach their daughters the dangers of sexual activity and the weight of out-of-wedlock childbearing. For the men, he highlights the dangers of "uncontrollable passion" and how "having multiple sex partners is irresponsible, ridiculous, unheathy and ultimately will backfire on you."

For all adults, Brock's call to action is this:

If the more mature and experienced generation doesn't teach the younger generation, how shall they learn?

Will we, black and white alike, heed this call to action? That decision is up to you.

Read the Erie Times News article by clicking here

Gardasil Controversy

From: WaitforyourMate.com

If you haven’t seen it already, this Good Morning America segment addresses new evidence about the risks of Gardasil, a vaccine approved by the FDA in 2006 to prevent the cancer-causing STD human papillomavirus (HPV).

When it was approved, the CDC and FDA recommended girls (at risk for developing cervical cancer if they are infected with HPV) become vaccinated as early as 11 years old. In the last three years, GMA reports, 7 million Americans have been vaccinated. Of those, 772 cases of serious side effects have been recorded, including 32 deaths.

For concerned parents, this report may be cause to do more research before vaccinating your children. In addition, some parents feel that talking to their teen about sex, in addition to teaching self-control and delay of gratification will keep their child safe from having sex before marriage and thus save them from ALL risks of STDs, including HPV and the resulting cervical cancer.

Read more from Journal of the American Medical Association. It's a great editorial that asks some needed questions!!

Food for Thought

Most parents raise their children with the knowledge that they should eat their plate of veggies before delving in the delights of dessert.

Such a task takes self-control, a character trait that children have very little of. Because they lack the initial willpower, parents help out by putting the cookies out of reach, insisting upon family dinners in which they can monitor correct eating, and offering explanations of why eating vegetables is good for you. This is because self-control is a learned character trait, a muscle that needs to be exercised in order to be strengthened.

The idea that “all kids deserve cookies” or “they are going to eat cookies anyway” doesn’t even dawn on parents. That’s because it’s absurd! Instead, parents are fully convinced of what is BEST for their children, and the responsibility of parenthood drives them to both teach and model habits that lead to healthy living.

But what if parents wanted their children to wait until after dinner to enjoy dessert, but were worried that they might not be able to resist the temptation? Would it be ok for the parents to then tell their children how to sneak dessert but avoid the consequences?

Let’s think about that. Wouldn’t the children then loose all motivation for waiting or even learning to enjoy vegetables, if they knew they could get away with sneaking dessert early? Of course! Our human nature is selfish and if we can take the easy road to gratifying our desires, we will!

What’s more, the resulting consequences would not be immediate. Overtime the unhealthy decision to fill up on dessert would have huge ramifications such as poor nutrition, costly dentist visits, chance of obesity, and risk of lowered self-esteem.

But sometimes it’s not the parents who communicate a permissive message, but others in the community, particularly those who sell the dessert! For example, what if the ice-cream man knew that your child wanted some sweets before dinner and would conveniently make dessert available without your knowledge? Doesn’t that undermine your role as a parent?

What if we were no longer talking about kids and dessert, but teens and sex? The stakes are no longer poor nutrition but sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancy, preventable heartaches, and tainted reputations.

Are you a parent who holds up an uncompromising standard of optimal health in your home? Do you teach and model healthy relationship habits that will instruct your children in the area of self-control?

Or do you tell them to wait to have sex, but if they can’t…here’s a condom? What message are you sending them?

It puts new meaning to the saying, “Having your cake and eating it too.”

FL Quarterback Tebow Leaves Reporters Speechless: "Yes I am" Saving Myself for Marriage

Also says he is grateful that his mother's story has helped women choose not to have an abortion

By John Jalsevac

July 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Last week Florida Gators Quarterback Tim Tebow's photo may have graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, the same magazine that is best known for its annual "swimsuit issue," but the contrast between the two cover stories couldn't have been more glaring.

At 21 years of age and graced with boyish good looks, Tebow is one of the most talked about rising stars of the NCAA; but the football superstar literally left reporters speechless last week when he answered a question during a press conference about whether or not he is "saving himself" for marriage.

"Yes I am," said Tebow briefly, who then indicated he was ready for the next question. However, in the video of the press conference, a reporter is heard stumbling over his words in the background as he tries to ask a follow-up question. Tebow then laughs, obviously reacting to the reactions of the reporters in the room.

"I think y'all were stunned by that," he says. "Y'all can't even ask a question. Wow. I mean, I was ready for that question. I don't think y'all were."

It wasn't the only controversial remark that Tebow made that day. In response to another question about whether or not people may be tired of the volume of coverage devoted to the young football star, Tebow, a devout Christian, said that the level of exposure he receives is a mixed blessing. However, he said, he looks at the positive side that, thanks to his fame, he has been able to share his Christian faith with so many people.

In addition, the football star told the reporters that he believes that the publicity given to his mother's story has helped other women choose not to abort their unborn children.

Tebow's mother, who serves as a Christian missionary together with her husband, was pressured to abort Tebow following a life-threatening infection she suffered while pregnant with him. Doctors pressured her to abort her son to save her own life, but she ultimately resisted the pressure and both mother and child survived the birth.

"There has been a lot of people that have been encouraged not to have an abortion because they heard the story of my mom, or they have been encouraged because they have heard me give my faith on TV or in a report or something," said Tebow. "

You know what, although there has been a backlash, oh, well. You know what, I'll deal with it if I have to. It's not a big deal to me because of the kids and people that have been encouraged by the stories we have tried to tell and by the life that I've tried to live."

Growing up Tebow would often help his parents with their Christian mission work in the Philippines. He was homeschooled by his mother, who instilled in her children strong Christian values.

Tebow was the first home-schooled athlete to be nominated for the Heisman Trophy. "That's really cool," he said at the time. "A lot of times people have this stereotype of homeschoolers as not very athletic - it's like, go win a spelling bee or something like that - it's an honor for me to be the first one to do that."

Click here to watch the video from the press conference

Virginity TAKEN

The other day my husband and I watched a movie called Taken. (Please note: I am not writing to promote or demote the movie in any way). After the heart-beating action was over and the movie came to a tear-jerking end, I began to ponder the value of virginity as displayed in the movie.

Let me give you a brief summary of the movie to help make my point (warning: plot spoilers below):

Kim is a beautiful, lively, 17 years old and the pride of her father, a retired secret service agent. Kim convinces her reluctant father, along with her mother and stepfather, to let her travel with her friend Amanda to Paris. Shortly after arriving the unsuspecting girls are taken by an Albanese gang of human trafficers. Kim’s father vows to find and kill her kidnappers and sets off to use his years experience to save her. Kim’s kidnappers don’t hold onto her for long however, for it is discovered that Kim is of high value – for she is a virgin. Kim is therefore forced into the sex trade, controlled by drugs, clothed in revealing attire, and put on display for the highest bidder. This is how her father finally finds her.

It is certainly an intense plot with a disturbing look at the evils of humanity and the hidden economics of sex trafficking.

But the point I want to make is this. Kim is of value because of her virginity.

Yet earlier in the movie her friend Amanda teases Kim because she hasn’t “done” it yet. It is clear that Amanda doesn’t see virginity as valuable, yet something that upon loosing gains you prowess, popularity and partners. Why is it that in our American culture being a virgin is a terrible thing, a source of peer-imposed embarrassment and media-driven stigmas?

And yet, Kim’s virginity is of value only so that some sick, wealthy, older man can selfishly “take” it from her. The title of the movie Taken brings on a whole new meaning.

It is in light of the vicious, greediness of her perpetrators that Kim’s untouched beauty shines more clearly. It is undeniable that a virgin poses an allure felt by all, not solely men.

(funny how feminists would fight virginity as an “old age” societal constraint of their freedoms…yet I wonder how they would respond to this)

I heard one woman put it like this:

“Virgins poses an allure, not because of their purity, but because of the strength that it takes to pose it.”

To read more on sex trafficking, check out Siddharth Kara’s excellent book
Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery.

BORED this summer?? WE'VE GOT THINGS TO DO!

The following is a MySpace bulletin targeting bored teens posted by one of our staff...

Everyday I see some new teen post something like this on their status:

• BoReD.
• ....ummm....yeah. NOTHING to do!
• Staring at the wall. Txt me!

So, I get the message. You're bored. During the school year you have no free time because you're booked with homework and extracurricular activities.

But in the summer everything seems to slow down.

Some of you think you're too old for camp. Others think you're too young for a job.

So you sit at your computer and tell everyone you have nothing to do.

Well - I've got a couple of GREAT IDEAS for you then!

1. Go to our website. We've got a whole section devoted to bored teens. check it out here!
   
   
   
2. Do you like reading? Do you like the thought of being featured on our website? Click here to find out how to do both!
3. Get outside! Have you gone to 8 Great Tuesdays, the beach, or the free movies at the park? More great ideas are listed here.

There's no excuse for being bored! Find something to do!!

Sexting 101: Miami-Dade schools may be first to teach danger

By Kathleen McGrory

The Miami-Dade school district wants to be a national leader in combating teenage ''sexting,'' the practice of sending sexy or nude photos over a cellphone.

On Thursday, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said he would like to work with government and law enforcement agencies to develop a cutting-edge School Board policy -- and preach the dangers of sending racy pictures.

''This is to protect kids, to make them aware of the legal implications of some of their virtual transactions,'' Carvalho said.

Because ''sexting'' can be considered pornography, young people who send pictures of themselves or their classmates can be charged with a felony.

In Pennsylvania, six teenagers were recently hit with child pornography charges. A teen in Brevard County was forced to register as a sex offender.


If approved by the School Board, the Miami-Dade district's approach to sexting will be comprehensive, said Assistant Superintendent Ava Byrne.

First, school officials will develop a curriculum to be initiated this school year educating students about the issue. The lessons will be designed for students based on their age, Byrne said. Younger students, for example, might learn about the appropriate use of technology, or respect for themselves and their peers.

Additionally, teachers will receive special training, Byrne said.

Parents will be involved, too. The district plans to develop special strategies for them.

''Parents may not know how to initiate the conversation with their children,'' Byrne said.

Mindy Gould, who heads the Miami-Dade Council of PTAs/PTSAs, said she welcomes the opportunity to work with the district on the issue.


''As parents, we have to realize this is something that's going on,'' she said. "I'm glad the district is taking a strong position.''

Sexting is rampant among U.S. teens: One in five said they had sent nude photographs or videos of themselves, according to a survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

What's more, about half the teenagers surveyed said it was common for sexually explicit photos to get passed around among friends.

Teenagers -- and preteens -- communicate with each other through text messages. Many send photos of themselves to their friends.

In Miami-Dade, district policy allows kids to have cellphones in schools, but they must be turned off during classes.

The school system is one of a handful raising awareness about sexting, Carvalho said.

In Broward County, the school district's code of conduct warns that use of a camera phone may result in additional consequences beyond confiscation if used to take pictures that are pornographic or obscene.

Broward School Board member Robin Bartleman brought up the issue earlier this year at meetings on the code of conduct and asked that the district make an effort to educate students on the consequences of sexting.

''They shouldn't be doing it anyway,'' she said. "They need to know that there are serious penalties.''

The Miami-Dade School Board will take a formal vote on the proposed policy at its meeting Wednesday.

If the policy is approved, the district will also begin conversations with local law enforcement and government agencies to review the existing laws. School system officials hope to put together policy recommendations, too.

Marriage celebrated in YouTube smash hit!

ThinkMarriage.org Blog

posted by Michele Olson

If you are on the Internet at all, or watch TV, by now you have seen the unexpected video of what appears to be a normal wedding ceremony except the bridal party dances down the aisle…and culminates with the groom and bride doing the same thing. I saw it last week for the first time and twittered it and laughed my head off. I watched it at least five times because I loved it so much.



This all took place on June 20th in a St. Paul church at the beginning of Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz’s wedding. With You Tube now boasting 1.75 million hits and growing and multiple TV appearances, how people proceed down the aisle may never be the same.


A Saturday Washington Post article talks about the whole story including the fact that they claimed to have only one rehearsal. You can watch the video and read the story here.

Congrats to the fun, gutsy couple who made their wedding their own and wanted to express to their family and friends the joy they were feeling about entering into marriage. Perhaps they have opened the door to more people expressing their personalities in small or larger ways as they express their love in the wedding ceremony.

This is a great boost for how to enter a wedding. Now…what could we do in a compatible way to get people as excited about the marriage in a huge viral move?

How about spreading the word about our :15 sec to a Better Marriage Webisodes. You can access them right here in the right hand column of our blog or at http://www.thinkmarriage.org/

Do you think we could create the same kind of buzz if everyone reading this just started sending them all over the place? Let’s try!

Journalists Link Rising Teen Pregnancy Rates to Bush Administration

Rates of teen pregnancy, STDs rose during 2006-2007. Does this mean abstinence education isn't working?

by Ruth Moon

July 23, 2009

The rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. rose steadily during the Bush administration, U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported earlier this week.

The Centers for Disease Control press release mentions three statistics as “signs that progress has halted in some areas” (the full report is here):

• Teen birth rates increased in 2006 and 2007, following large declines from 1991-2005.
• Rates of AIDS cases among males aged 15-24 years increased during 1997-2006 (AIDS-related data reflect people with HIV who have already progressed to AIDS.)
• Syphilis cases among teens and young adults aged 15-19 and 20-24 years have increased in both males and females in recent years.

U.S. News and World Report's Bonnie Erbe responds to the statistics by directly blaming Bush and the "Christian Right," while The Dallas Morning News's Tod Robberson offers tips for how to educate teens about sex, and Time magazine adds perspective by examining the numbers specifically for young women in foster care.

Not all the data in the release are new; The New York Times reported on some of it in 2007, where Robert Rector, a senior fellow with the American Heritage Association, connected low levels of education with a desire for motherhood without marriage.“We should be telling them that for the well-being of any child, it’s critically important that you be over the age of 20 and that you be married,” he said. “That message is not given at all.”


The Guardian article reports, “Although the CDC does not attribute a cause, groups that support comprehensive sex education have seized on the report as evidence of the failure of religiously-driven policies that shy away from teaching about contraception in favor of emphasizing avoiding sexual contact.”

Most headlines link the Bush administration with the rising pregnancy and STD rates. This brings up the question: If the three things are linked, why did teen pregnancy rates continue to drop for the first five years of Bush’s tenure before rising in his sixth year?

Maybe there’s a good answer for this — if so, please leave it in the comments.

The Guardian quotes Kristi Hamrick with the conservative nonprofit American Values as saying:

“It is ridiculous to say that a program we nominally invest in has failed when it fails to overcome the most sexualized culture in world history. Education that emphasizes abstinence as the best option for teens makes up a minuscule part of overall sex education in the United States.”

In other words, pregnancy rates increased because we were not pushing abstinence education hard enough, and we need to work harder.

What do you think?

Read the original post here

TIME for a Sober Look at Marriage

Posted on the Heritage Foundation blog
In Family and Religion

This week’s TIME magazine cover story, Unfaithfully Yours, dramatically laments the collapse of marriage:

“There is no other single force causing as much measurable hardship and human misery in this country, as the collapse of marriage. It hurts children, it reduces mothers’ financial security, and it has landed with particular devastation on those who can bear it least: the nation’s underclass,” writes Caitlin Flanagan.

Flanagan’s clarion call is backed by demographic trends that have now reached a point where nearly four of every ten babies is born out of wedlock and only half of all teenagers live in intact families. Cause for alarm is also found in a bevy of academic studies revealing the impact of the dissolution of the nuclear family on the life prospects and well-being of adults and their children.

Research has clearly shown the physical, emotional, and fiscal benefits that married couples experience, as well as the devastating impact that the decline of the intact family has for the next generation. Compared with peers living with both biological parents, children and youth in other family structures fare worse in terms of academic achievement, mental and emotional health, and problem behavior. A father’s presence and involvement can make a lasting difference in a child’s prospects for life.

A married father is more likely to be involved with his children–as Flanagan quotes our own Robert Rector– while unmarried fathers are “soon out the door” when the demands of family life inevitably occur.


Surveys have indicated that American adolescents’ attitudes toward marriage tend to be hopeful (76 percent said that the institution of marriage and family life are “extremely important” and 81 percent said that they expected to marry), but trends in their favorable attitudes toward cohabitation and premarital sexual activity belie that hope. Research indicates that cohabiting couples are more likely to experience divorce in a subsequent marriage and premarital sex is likewise related to an increased likelihood of divorce.

A study sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services, “Pathways to Adulthood and Marriage,” reveals that the quality of parents’ marriages has an impact on what youths anticipate for their own future, declaring that “Teens’ expectations of what a romantic relationship should be are undoubtedly influenced by the romantic relationships of their parents.” The downward spiral of the nuclear family is, thus, likely to continue, unless the concept of marriage is once again linked to personal responsibility, obligation, and a willingness to sacrifice. In Flanagan’s words,

“The fundamental question we must ask ourselves at the beginning of the century is this: What is the purpose of marriage? Is it—given the game-changing realities of birth control, female equality, and the fact that motherhood outside of marriage is no longer stigmatized—simply an institution that has the capacity to increase the pleasure of the adults who enter into it? If so, we might as well hold the wake now…The current generation of children [is]watching commitments between adults snap like dry twigs and observing parents who simply can’t be bothered to marry each other.”

Read the original post here.

How do you break up? A Telus mobile ad gives options...

The Future is Friendly?
By Wendy Shalit
July 18, 2008

A TELUS mobile poster recently caught my eye. It was a simple subway ad asking the question, "How do you break up?" Here were my options, according to Telus: "Text, email, call, messenger?" Then at the bottom, without any trace of irony: "Telus. The future is friendly."

Apparently, not friendly enough. Call me old-fashioned, but what happened to breaking up in person? I mean, it's great that Facebook gives me an update whenever "So-and-so is no longer in a relationship with so-and-so," but this always makes me worry that this is the same way so-and-so found out she'd been dumped in the first place.


Lately, I've gotten a slew of Facebook messages connected to breakups-by-text, and so I'm wondering: How do people handle this, emotionally? When someone "unfriends" you on Facebook, there is no real way to retaliate; there's no option to "Mark As, I Didn't Want to be His Friend Anyway'" or "Mark As Enemy." And that's annoying enough, but take a relationship with intimate feelings and potentially intimate body parts involved, and I would imagine that the feelings of rejection are multiplied a thousandfold if someone merely texts you "buh-bye!"

What do you think? Is this really appropriate and I'm missing something? I can see how someone might delude himself into thinking that he's tech-savvy because he's breaking up via a text message. But maybe he--or she-- is just emotionally repressed.

Here's a spoofed version of the Telus ad:

Makes a point, doesn't it?

Subscribe to the Good Girl Revolution here

The Best form of "Life-Control"

Enough said.


To hear more positive messages for our youth, check out our website: www.wc2ed.org

AC Green and the Abstinence Message

Examiner.com article: Why Choose Abstinence?
By: Tabitha Butler
July 17, 2009

I was flipping through the channels and I landed on TBN. The host was interviewing this guy with a afro. Upon further observation, I noticed it was A.C. Green, the former NBA player.

A.C. Green is known for his great basketball skills but also for his stand on abstinence. He spent 16 years in the NBA and not once did he engage in sex...an incredible feat.


The TBN interview was very intriguing because he spoke of the importance of abstinence education for our youth. He has a foundation called the A.C. Youth Foundation. It's about building character, building strong minds and strong bodies, winning and losing with dignity, teamwork and sacrifice. Among many other things, he provides programs that ignites dreams and promotes an abstinence program that says it's okay to wait until marriage.

He created an activities book entitled Game Plan, which uses a positive, sports-themed approach to understanding the benefits of abstinence. The eight-session program helps teens to formulate a game plan for their future and helps them to decide for themselves that abstinence is the healthiest choice.

What better way to promote abstinence than to live your life in that same manner!
Thanks A.C. Green!

Check out reasons to wait...given by the children in his foundation!

Click here to support the A.C. Green Foundation

Click here to read the original article from the Examiner.com

Response to: Schools Should Give Kids Free Contraceptives

Abstinence Education Is the Key
by Moira Gaul, Family Research Council

After 30 years of implementation and evaluation, there is no compelling evidence of contraceptive distribution and instruction programs having had a sustained and meaningful effect on "protective" behaviors—that is, "consistent and correct condom use" in classroom-type settings.

As a public health intervention method, contraceptive programs have simply failed American youth: An STD epidemic currently exists amongst young people. One in four teenage girls nationwide has an STD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the U.S. continues to have the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world; and the toll from the negative psychological sequelae associated with adolescent sex is having an impact on mental health and the pursuit of life-goals.



Decreasing teen sexual activity is key to decreasing poverty, since single parenting is strongly linked to poverty. Research shows that the younger a teen starts having sex, the greater risk of pregnancy. A 2002 study from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy found that almost half of all girls who have sex before age 15 get pregnant. The distribution of contraceptives does nothing to promote healthy relationships, healthy family formation, and marriage, where a greater probability for economic stability exists.

As well as increased risk of non-marital pregnancy, substance abuse and poor academic achievement are associated with teen sexual activity and can affect school drop-out rates. According to data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, those who were sexually active were three times more likely to be depressed than those who were abstinent. By contrast, teens who abstain from sex enhance their abilities to achieve short-term and long-term life goals.

Young people deserve a whole-person approach, including physical, emotional, and psychological dimensions. The primary prevention strategy, or risk-avoidance abstinence approach, provides for a health paradigm in which youth are better able to develop during adolescent years and from which society will benefit.

http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2008/07/schools_should.html

Local Nonprofit Launches Character Curriculum

The Women's Care Center of Erie County, Inc has recently launched Carington's Wild Character Adventure (CWCA), an innovative and exciting character education curriculum designed for Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade.

Years of research, development, field testing and refinement have resulted in the production of the CWCA curriculum!

The CWCA curriculum reflects key components of the Resiliency Wellness education model:

• Skills for life
• High expectations
• Meaningful engagement
• Opportunities for connectedness and bonding

Carington the giraffe leads the “wild” adventure! Children discover the value of character by exploring exotic and domestic animals, each creatively paired with a key character trait.

To take part in the adventure or to find out more: http://www.characteradventure.com/