Resource Roundup
Some things I have found helpful lately
This week’s post is another Resource Roundup, in which I pass on resources I’ve come across recently that have proved helpful or thought-provoking for youth ministry.
“Bad Therapy?” with Julie Lowe and Philip Monroe - Perhaps you’ve heard of the new Abigail Shrier book, Bad Therapy, that has made a bit of a splash. Some are loving it, others are critiquing it. (I, for the record, haven’t read it.) I appreciated Walt Mueller/CPYU’s approach here in inviting two counselors onto the Youth Culture Matters podcast to discuss the book.
Teenagers Incur Unpayable Emotional Debt by Living at the Speed of Light - In this post, Alberto Romero reflects on a recent thought from After Babel (which, by the way, is killing it with great articles these days). He reflects on the idea of teens missing a life they have never had. When adolescence is filled with technology and speed, rather than joy and connection, what will they be nostalgic about later in life? What they’re missing is part of what we can provide in the church.
Parents and Gen Alpha kids are having unintelligible convos because of ‘brainrot’ language - While I knew some of these terms, articles like help me come to terms with the reality that I can no longer keep up with teen slang. The internet has made for a more rapid rate of language change.
Replika CEO Eugenia Kuyda says it’s okay if we end up marrying AI chatbots - Last time I linked to an article about teens using AI chatbots. Here’s a broader conversation about chatbot capabilities, which go far beyond text-based conversation. Kuyda thinks that by 2025 we will have experience very close to what the movie Her depicted, but that we shouldn’t have kids using these kinds of AI apps yet.