THEY GET IT!
Created by Elizabeth Ybanez of McDowell High School. The cartoon appeared in the student magazine called Blue and White Times during the February Valentine's Day issue.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Fatherhood Highlight at the Super Bowl
Renae Smith, National Fatherhood Initiative's Special Assistant to the President, wanted to share this reflection on the Super Bowl. Here are her thoughts:
The New Orleans Saints’ 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV certainly was a thrilling moment for the city of New Orleans, still rebuilding after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Saints fans across the country rejoiced as their team won its first Championship in franchise history at their first Super Bowl appearance – including my crazy friends who jumped around the living room yelling and giving high-fives when cornerback Tracy Porter intercepted Peyton Manning’s pass for a 74-yard touchdown, turning the game for the Saints.
But in the midst of the excitement, television viewers got a glimpse into a touching moment between a father and son when Drew Brees, quarterback of the Saints and MVP of the game, brought his one-year-old son Baylen onto the field to experience the victory celebration. The little guy seemed quite fascinated with the flashing lights and action around him, securely held by his father, who protected the little boy’s ears from the noise of the stadium with headphones. It was clearly an emotional moment for Brees, kissing his son, whispering to him, and maybe holding back a few tears – as you can see in this video.
During the Vince Lombardi trophy presentation, Brees put what he was feeling into words: “What can I say? The birth of my son this year as well, during the first year of his life we get a Super Bowl Championship - he’s been my inspiration as well, so it just doesn’t get any better than that.” It seems to Brees that as great as winning the Super Bowl is, it doesn’t beat being a father.
The television cameras captured another Saints dad experiencing the excitement with his children – linebacker Scott Fujita holding his two-year-old twin daughters.
My dad told me after the game was over that there’s something in every father that wants to share these special times with their kids. Though most of us have never been Super Bowl Champions, we each have small moments of victory and celebration that are made all the more sweet just by having our children there with us.
The New Orleans Saints’ 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV certainly was a thrilling moment for the city of New Orleans, still rebuilding after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Saints fans across the country rejoiced as their team won its first Championship in franchise history at their first Super Bowl appearance – including my crazy friends who jumped around the living room yelling and giving high-fives when cornerback Tracy Porter intercepted Peyton Manning’s pass for a 74-yard touchdown, turning the game for the Saints.
Better than lifting the Lombardi
But in the midst of the excitement, television viewers got a glimpse into a touching moment between a father and son when Drew Brees, quarterback of the Saints and MVP of the game, brought his one-year-old son Baylen onto the field to experience the victory celebration. The little guy seemed quite fascinated with the flashing lights and action around him, securely held by his father, who protected the little boy’s ears from the noise of the stadium with headphones. It was clearly an emotional moment for Brees, kissing his son, whispering to him, and maybe holding back a few tears – as you can see in this video.
During the Vince Lombardi trophy presentation, Brees put what he was feeling into words: “What can I say? The birth of my son this year as well, during the first year of his life we get a Super Bowl Championship - he’s been my inspiration as well, so it just doesn’t get any better than that.” It seems to Brees that as great as winning the Super Bowl is, it doesn’t beat being a father.
The television cameras captured another Saints dad experiencing the excitement with his children – linebacker Scott Fujita holding his two-year-old twin daughters.
My dad told me after the game was over that there’s something in every father that wants to share these special times with their kids. Though most of us have never been Super Bowl Champions, we each have small moments of victory and celebration that are made all the more sweet just by having our children there with us.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Speak their Language this Valentine's Day
Ever give someone a thoughtful gift only to see them politely thank you for it instead of the thrilled “It’s what I’ve always wanted” exclamation you were hoping for? What about your spouse who may say “I love you,” but then walk by the piles of laundry and stacks of dishes?
What you may come to find is that you and your loved ones speak different languages when it comes to love. You may be thinking “Really, is that possible? Isn’t love supposed to be the universal language?”
Well not according to Gary Chapman author of the book The 5 Love Languages. In his book, Chapman uncovers the different ways people feel loved:gifts, words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time and physical touch. And the trick is, we tend to give love in the way we want to receive love.
Not sure what your love language is? No problem! Take the quiz below to find out what you are.
And when you’re done, try to figure out the love languages of your loved ones. Don’t forget to send them a Valentine’s Day e-card that speaks love to them!
Find the 5 Love Languages cards here: http://www.fivelovecards.com/
So celebrate this Valentine’s Day in a fresh new way by truly loving your special someone in their language.
What you may come to find is that you and your loved ones speak different languages when it comes to love. You may be thinking “Really, is that possible? Isn’t love supposed to be the universal language?”
Well not according to Gary Chapman author of the book The 5 Love Languages. In his book, Chapman uncovers the different ways people feel loved:gifts, words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time and physical touch. And the trick is, we tend to give love in the way we want to receive love.
Not sure what your love language is? No problem! Take the quiz below to find out what you are.
And when you’re done, try to figure out the love languages of your loved ones. Don’t forget to send them a Valentine’s Day e-card that speaks love to them!
Find the 5 Love Languages cards here: http://www.fivelovecards.com/
So celebrate this Valentine’s Day in a fresh new way by truly loving your special someone in their language.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Finding Her Confidence: Miss America 2010
Caressa Cameron is 22 years old and a senior broadcast communications major at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. She is an average girl who is 5 foot 4 inches and wears a size 7.
But for Caressa, she’s accomplished something that many girls only dream of. On Jan 30, 2010 Caressa was crowned Miss American 2010. She is only the third Miss Virginia to ever win the national title.
See a picture of Caressa and anyone would quickly admit she’s beautiful. Hear her talk and you’d say she’s intelligent. Listen to her sing and she’ll stun you with her full and confident voice.
However, before she won Miss American and before she competed for Miss Virginia, Caressa Cameron would admit she was an awkward teenager at Massaponax High School. Watch the video below to hear her talk about what it was like to be teased and how she learned to embrace her unwanted nickname, Wolverine.
See the video by clicking: here
Thursday, February 4, 2010
New Study: Abstinence Education Effective; Comprehensive Sex Ed a Big Flop
New Study:
Abstinence Education Effective; Comprehensive Sex Ed a Big Flop
Robert Rector Senior Research Fellow
The Heritage Foundation
A new study released Feb 1st, shows that abstinence education is highly effective in reducing sexual activity among youth. It also showed "safe sex" and "comprehensive" sex ed programs to be ineffective.
Students participating in an eight-hour abstinence program showed a one-third decrease in rates of sexual activity compared to non-participants. This decrease persisted a full two years after they attended the class.
By contrast, safe sex (promoting only contraceptive use) and comprehensive sex ed (teaching both abstinence and contraceptive use) programs didn't affect youth behavior at all. Students in these programs showed no reduction in sexual activity and no increase in contraceptive use, in either the short or long term.
The study, involving black middle-school students, appears in the February 2010 Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, published by the American Medical Association. Employing state-of-the-art evaluation techniques, the study used random assignment to place students into four groups: a group that received instruction solely in abstinence; a safe-sex group instructed in contraceptive use; a comprehensive, or mixed message, group taught both abstinence and contraceptive use; and a control group that received health education unrelated to sex.
The abstinence program proved very effective in delaying the onset of sexual activity. Students in this program were one third less likely to initiate sexual activity when compared to students in the other three groups. And if these same students did become sexually active, they were not less likely to use contraceptives than other students. By contrast, safe sex and comprehensive sex ed classes had no effect on student behavior; students in these classes did not reduce sexual activity nor increase contraceptive use when compared to the control group.
This study, conducted by Drs. John and Loretta Jemmott of the University of Pennsylvania, joins a long list of evaluations demonstrating the effectiveness of abstinence education. Prior to the current study, there had been 15 scientific evaluations of abstinence education, 11 of which had shown that abstinence programs were effective in reducing sexual activity. (See this 2008 Heritage paper for a review of these earlier studies.) However, the new Jemmott study is the first evaluation showing positive results which employed full random assignment. As a result, it cannot be dismissed on methodological grounds.
Click here to view the study
Click here to read the editorial
Abstinence Education Effective; Comprehensive Sex Ed a Big Flop
Robert Rector Senior Research Fellow
The Heritage Foundation
A new study released Feb 1st, shows that abstinence education is highly effective in reducing sexual activity among youth. It also showed "safe sex" and "comprehensive" sex ed programs to be ineffective.
Students participating in an eight-hour abstinence program showed a one-third decrease in rates of sexual activity compared to non-participants. This decrease persisted a full two years after they attended the class.
By contrast, safe sex (promoting only contraceptive use) and comprehensive sex ed (teaching both abstinence and contraceptive use) programs didn't affect youth behavior at all. Students in these programs showed no reduction in sexual activity and no increase in contraceptive use, in either the short or long term.
The study, involving black middle-school students, appears in the February 2010 Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, published by the American Medical Association. Employing state-of-the-art evaluation techniques, the study used random assignment to place students into four groups: a group that received instruction solely in abstinence; a safe-sex group instructed in contraceptive use; a comprehensive, or mixed message, group taught both abstinence and contraceptive use; and a control group that received health education unrelated to sex.
The abstinence program proved very effective in delaying the onset of sexual activity. Students in this program were one third less likely to initiate sexual activity when compared to students in the other three groups. And if these same students did become sexually active, they were not less likely to use contraceptives than other students. By contrast, safe sex and comprehensive sex ed classes had no effect on student behavior; students in these classes did not reduce sexual activity nor increase contraceptive use when compared to the control group.
This study, conducted by Drs. John and Loretta Jemmott of the University of Pennsylvania, joins a long list of evaluations demonstrating the effectiveness of abstinence education. Prior to the current study, there had been 15 scientific evaluations of abstinence education, 11 of which had shown that abstinence programs were effective in reducing sexual activity. (See this 2008 Heritage paper for a review of these earlier studies.) However, the new Jemmott study is the first evaluation showing positive results which employed full random assignment. As a result, it cannot be dismissed on methodological grounds.
Click here to view the study
Click here to read the editorial
Friday, January 29, 2010
Teen Pregnancy: bogus problem, bogus solution
The following is a blog by Robert Rector, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. The blog was featured on National Review Online on Wednesday Jan 27, 2009.
The Guttmacher Institute recently released a report raising alarm over a one-year increase in teen pregnancy. “Safe sex” experts quickly pinned the blame on abstinence education.
This is a bit hypocritical. In the decade after the federal government began its meager funding of abstinence education, teen pregnancy fell steadily. Safe-sex experts never linked that decline to abstinence education. But when the news went bad, they swiftly identified abstinence programs as the culprit.
But did teen pregnancy actually rise in 2006, as Guttmacher claims? It depends on what you mean by “teen.” For most people, “teen pregnancy” implies pregnancy among high-schoolers, girls under age 18. According to Guttmacher’s own data, the pregnancy rate for 15- to 17-year-old girls barely changed, and the rate for girls 14 and under (the group most affected by abstinence programs) actually dropped.
By contrast, the pregnancy and birth rates for young adult women aged 18 and 19 rose sharply.
The rise in pregnancies and births in this age range is part of a much larger story: the collapse of marriage and explosive growth of out-of-wedlock births in lower income communities.
Between 1997 and 2007, the percentage of births outside of marriage rose from 32.4 percent to 39.7 percent of all births in the U.S. Very few of these non-marital births occurred to minor girls; most were to less-educated young adult women aged 18 to 26. Since non-married moms are less likely to postpone childbearing than those who patiently wait for marriage, it should be no surprise that the ongoing collapse of marriage in low-income communities would lead to a bump in the birth rate among 18- and 19-year-olds.
In the grand scheme of things, the issue of “teen” pregnancy is dwarfed by its much larger cousin, the disintegration of marriage. Marital collapse is a catastrophe for taxpayers and society; the welfare costs alone exceed $250 billion per year. As noted, little of this problem results from teenagers getting pregnant in high school. Of the 1.7 million children born out of wedlock in 2007 only 136,000 (or 7 percent) had mothers under age 18.
“Teen pregnancy” is largely a red herring, hyped by the Left because it supports their agenda of condom promotion and permissive sex ed in the schools. Of course, condom proselytizing is a bogus answer to real social problems. Contrary to conventional wisdom, lack of access to birth control is not a significant factor contributing to non-marital pregnancy among teens or non-teens.
Harvard sociologist Kathryn Edin recently conducted a survey of lower income men and women who had experienced (or, in the case of men, caused) one or more non-marital pregnancies. The survey asked whether the individuals had, ever in their lives, been in a situation where they wanted to use birth control, but could not afford it or could not obtain it. All answered no.
Many laughed at the suggestion that their pregnancies had been caused by a lack of access to contraceptives, noting that contraceptives are abundant and aggressively promoted by schools and clinics in their communities. Of all the non-marital pregnancies reported in the study, not one was caused by lack of availability of contraceptives.
The explosive rise in out-of-wedlock births is due not to a lack of contraceptives, but to a crisis in the relationships of young adult men and women in lower income communities. Couples no longer see the need to be married before having children, and they lack the skills to form stable relationships. Ironically, young non-married parents yearn for eventual stable marriages and healthy families, but they utterly lack the skills and understanding to fulfill their aspirations.
Another irony: One of the greatest sins of abstinence-education programs (in the Left’s view) has been their effort to teach low-income youth that it is best to marry before having children. This affront to political correctness has outraged the Left and has been a principal motivator behind the drive to remove abstinence education from the classroom.
Next year we can expect the out-of-wedlock childbearing rate to top 40 percent. A chilling number, but one which won’t affect the Left’s campaign to promote bogus issues and bogus solutions.
— Robert Rector is a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
____________________________________________
The Guttmacher Institute recently released a report raising alarm over a one-year increase in teen pregnancy. “Safe sex” experts quickly pinned the blame on abstinence education.
This is a bit hypocritical. In the decade after the federal government began its meager funding of abstinence education, teen pregnancy fell steadily. Safe-sex experts never linked that decline to abstinence education. But when the news went bad, they swiftly identified abstinence programs as the culprit.
But did teen pregnancy actually rise in 2006, as Guttmacher claims? It depends on what you mean by “teen.” For most people, “teen pregnancy” implies pregnancy among high-schoolers, girls under age 18. According to Guttmacher’s own data, the pregnancy rate for 15- to 17-year-old girls barely changed, and the rate for girls 14 and under (the group most affected by abstinence programs) actually dropped.
By contrast, the pregnancy and birth rates for young adult women aged 18 and 19 rose sharply.
The rise in pregnancies and births in this age range is part of a much larger story: the collapse of marriage and explosive growth of out-of-wedlock births in lower income communities.
Between 1997 and 2007, the percentage of births outside of marriage rose from 32.4 percent to 39.7 percent of all births in the U.S. Very few of these non-marital births occurred to minor girls; most were to less-educated young adult women aged 18 to 26. Since non-married moms are less likely to postpone childbearing than those who patiently wait for marriage, it should be no surprise that the ongoing collapse of marriage in low-income communities would lead to a bump in the birth rate among 18- and 19-year-olds.
In the grand scheme of things, the issue of “teen” pregnancy is dwarfed by its much larger cousin, the disintegration of marriage. Marital collapse is a catastrophe for taxpayers and society; the welfare costs alone exceed $250 billion per year. As noted, little of this problem results from teenagers getting pregnant in high school. Of the 1.7 million children born out of wedlock in 2007 only 136,000 (or 7 percent) had mothers under age 18.
“Teen pregnancy” is largely a red herring, hyped by the Left because it supports their agenda of condom promotion and permissive sex ed in the schools. Of course, condom proselytizing is a bogus answer to real social problems. Contrary to conventional wisdom, lack of access to birth control is not a significant factor contributing to non-marital pregnancy among teens or non-teens.
Harvard sociologist Kathryn Edin recently conducted a survey of lower income men and women who had experienced (or, in the case of men, caused) one or more non-marital pregnancies. The survey asked whether the individuals had, ever in their lives, been in a situation where they wanted to use birth control, but could not afford it or could not obtain it. All answered no.
Many laughed at the suggestion that their pregnancies had been caused by a lack of access to contraceptives, noting that contraceptives are abundant and aggressively promoted by schools and clinics in their communities. Of all the non-marital pregnancies reported in the study, not one was caused by lack of availability of contraceptives.
The explosive rise in out-of-wedlock births is due not to a lack of contraceptives, but to a crisis in the relationships of young adult men and women in lower income communities. Couples no longer see the need to be married before having children, and they lack the skills to form stable relationships. Ironically, young non-married parents yearn for eventual stable marriages and healthy families, but they utterly lack the skills and understanding to fulfill their aspirations.
Another irony: One of the greatest sins of abstinence-education programs (in the Left’s view) has been their effort to teach low-income youth that it is best to marry before having children. This affront to political correctness has outraged the Left and has been a principal motivator behind the drive to remove abstinence education from the classroom.
Next year we can expect the out-of-wedlock childbearing rate to top 40 percent. A chilling number, but one which won’t affect the Left’s campaign to promote bogus issues and bogus solutions.
— Robert Rector is a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
It Starts with You!
That's the thought behind Operation Beautiful. A website which initiated a movement which seeks to post anonymous notes in public places for other women to find. The point is that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL.
Here's a few of the most recent postings:
--------------------------------------------
Here’s a message from a DAD! Michael wrote, “I’m the father of a beautiful soon-to-be 17 year old daughter, and my wife and I wanted to say thank-you to Operation Beautiful. She asked me to help solve a problem with her laptop and her desktop wallpaper was a picture she took of multiple post-it notes with OperationBeautiful.com phrases. When asked, she shared that she always has some with her and puts them in bathrooms and other girl places (fitting rooms, etc.) whenever she gets the chance. She recently rented Step-Up and took a picture before sending back to Blockbuster. I hope it makes it to the next renter!”
Alexis wrote, “When I found out about Operation Beautiful, I cried. I’ve been struggling with my own self confidence and an eating disorder. When I found out about what everyone was doing it made me so happy. After visiting the site I decided to post up a few myself because I know a lot of girl in my school that are going through the same thing . I posted a bunch in my school bathrooms and they stay up usually for the day.”
So check it out and start leaving some of your own notes...whether it's for your wife, daughter, coworkers, friends, or a random stranger. Be the difference in their day!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Not Buying into The Proposal
Last night my husband and I watch the Proposal. As the movie began you see Sandra Bullock dressed in an all black suit playing the role of Margaret, a “witch” like manager of a publishing firm running a strict shift among her employees. Enter Andrew, played by Ryan Reynolds, as the overworked yet ambitious assistant.The plot thickens when Margaret learns of her near deportation to Canada due to an expired Visa. Grasping for a way out of her predicament, Margaret decides to blackmail Andrew into marrying her, thus saving her career – and as she tells Andrew – his as well.
The twist comes when Andrew has to take Margaret along with him to his hometown in Alaska to celebrate his grandmother’s 90th birthday. The pseudo-couple are under pressure to prove the genuineness of the relationship or else be accused of committing fraud.
The parts of the movie which astound me are the sly messages about sex woven throughout the movie.
For instance, when the couple arrives at Andrew’s parents’ home they are led into a bedroom with one big bed. Margaret notes the bed and asks, “So where is Andrew’s room?” To which his parents rely something to the effect of, “We aren’t so silly as to assume that you both aren’t already sleeping together.”
Talk about setting high standards for your only son and his supposed fiancé! And not only does this send the message that sleeping together before marriage is expected, but it also communicates that parents should be supportive of this arrangement!
Later Margaret is resting on the bed, while Andrew is on the floor. She begins to share more intimate details of her life, revealing her softer side despite all her attempts to prove her hard headed, independent feminism. She shares about her parents’ death, details of her tattoo, memories of her first concert, and (of course Hollywood!) – the length of time since she has last been with a man sexually – 1 ½ years.
Andrew silently listens and when Margaret finishes he admits he is “Processing.” Then he bursts out, “You haven’t had sex for 18 months!”
As if a person becomes less of a person if they have had periods of abstinence in their life!
When speaking with youth we ask the question – is sex a need or a desire for an individual? With the need to reproduce and continue the human race aside, sex is not a need. I joke around and ask the students, “If I walk around the Erie cemetery, would I see a tombstone that said ‘Here lays Joe Smith. He died because he didn’t get any.” To which the students chuckle and realize the lie that they have become to believe.
The lie seen in virtually every movie, television show, music lyric, magazine cover, internet site, and product ad.
Teens begin to believe that they must have sex in order to prove something. Prove they are a real man or woman, prove that they are cool, or even…sadly…that they can get attention and love (or so they think).
You see, that’s the problem in Hollywood. Too may people have confused not only sex as a need instead of a desire, but also confused sex with love.
They take something that is an emotional need for all of us – love – and twist it so that we believe that sex equals love. Even beyond that, they equate lust with love!
So parents, think critically about the movies you watch and discuss the underlying messages with your teens. And teens don’t be conned! Learn to decipher the lies from the truth.
(The use of the Proposal is for discussion only and I am in no way recommending or supporting the film.)
Friday, January 15, 2010
Waffle Wedded Wife
One of the biggest moments of this couple’s life has turned into a Youtube sensation! Whether he is concentrating on his last “single” breakfast, or just has a simple case of a twisted tongue, the groom slips up during the vows causing his wife to go into a laughing frenzy.
Regardless of one’s position on faith, it’s always in your best interest to make smart choices regarding sexual activity in order to work towards the healthiest future possible for you.
Check out this couple as they describe how they successfully waited till marriage to engage sexually with one another!
Check out the video here!
(Blog taken from Project Yes You Can!)
Regardless of one’s position on faith, it’s always in your best interest to make smart choices regarding sexual activity in order to work towards the healthiest future possible for you.
Check out this couple as they describe how they successfully waited till marriage to engage sexually with one another!
Check out the video here!
(Blog taken from Project Yes You Can!)
Monday, January 11, 2010
Overcoming the Winter Blues
Stuck inside for days, watching the snow pile higher and higher? If so, you may be looking for new ways to brighten up your day and overcome the winter blues.Here are a few tips to either keep your kids active or cheap date ideas for you and your special someone. Enjoy!
- Have a Bahama vacation - in your living room! Require everyone to wear summer clothing and to sit on beach blankets on the floor. Play limbo and serve hawaiian chicken
- Embrace the snow - build an Igloo! Gather your snow shovels and gardening tools and hit the outdoors. Pile the snow and create a new hangout. Complete the deal with blankets and pillows.
- Take a trip - a coin flip trip! Get in the car and hit the road. All you need is a coin and a road map. The instructions are easy: each time you come to a stop, flip a coin to decide which way to turn. Heads you turn left, tails you turn right. Use the map to help you get home!
- Dress to impress - at Salvation Army! Give each person $5 to use to buy one article of clothing for another secret person in the party. Shop until you find the most hideous outfits you can find. When you arrive home, present the outfit to the secret person. Then make everyone wear their new look to dinner and enjoy the laughs!
- Eat around the world - in your hometown! Make a goal to each at a new restaurant from a different culture each month. From Indian, to Japanese, to Middle Eastern, there are plenty of new tastes to try.
Once you try one or two from the list, let us know how it goes. Leave us a comment!
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