eZine 12.15.2009

Another year draws to an end, and teenagers’ iPods have been filled with even more songs. Without a doubt, many of those same songs have filled teenagers’ heads with certain messages.

But, what have those messages been this past year?

Top of the List…Bottom of the Barrel
At the risk of making the biggest understatement of the year, I’ll just say, “Not all music is created equal.”

2009 was a great example of that axiom. Some of this year’s biggest music was inventive, thought-provoking, and encouraging. Unfortunately, several chart toppers didn’t feel the need to stray from the proven recipe of sex, drugs, alcohol, and violence to sell records.

This article will recap all thirteen #1 songs from 2009 by date (according to Billboard), examine their message, and provide links to lyrics and videos so you can inspect them for yourself.

Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
As it might be expected, 2009’s first #1 song was actually a carry-over from 2008. With her girl-power hit “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” Beyonc? took the honor of the artist with the first top song of this year. The song’s lyrics are fairly clean, and center around the heartache her ex feels when he sees her in the club with a new guy. Beyonc?’s response? “If you liked it, you should have put a ring on it.” Take a look for yourself.

The rest of the song’s lyrics can be found here.

“Single Ladies” stayed in the top position until January 10th. Some have called the song pro-marriage because of its lyrics, but the music video, while simple and understated, has Beyonce and Co. dancing in some rather skimpy outfits. Their outfits were just as skimpy when they performed this song at the 2009 MTV VMAs later in the year…in front of 9 million viewers, MTV’s biggest awards show TV audience since 2004.

Just Dance
This tune was the first #1 song for Lady Gaga (born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta), and even though it was Billboard’s top song from January 11 ? January 31, it had actually been released in other countries way back in April of 2008. This song is important for two reasons. First, it was a #1 hit. Second, it introduced America to Lady Gaga.

We haven’t been the same since.

Lady Gaga was one of the biggest names of 2009. In fact, she caused such a stir in 2009 that we actually dedicated an entire Youth Culture Window article to discuss the craze she’s created in a few short months.

The song’s lyrics and meaning are more than a little disappointing. Basically, Lady Gaga finds herself in a club after too much to drink and wonders what she can do. Finally, she realizes she’ll “just dance.” See for yourself.

The song’s full set of lyrics tell the whole, alcohol-induced story. The music video for the song depicts more than its fair share of alcohol being consumed and thrown about.

Unfortunately, “Just Dance” won’t be the last time you read about Lady Gaga in this article.

My Life Would Suck Without You
I wonder what Jerry McGuire would have sounded like if they’d have used this line instead of the more straight forward (and now famous), “You complete me.” We’ll never know. Regardless, this line did make for a popular little ditty the first two weeks of February.

“My Life Would Suck Without You” was the first and only #1 for American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson in 2009…

Main Point: Music may provide a quick fix, but God provides an eternal fix.

The Music Video: “Party in the USA”
No question about it, Miley Cyrus influences a significant percentage of young girls. We may want to ignore this “bubble gum pop queen,” but maybe we need to ask ourselves, “What is her message? And how is that message affecting our students?”

Yesterday Jonathan blogged about Teen Mobile Use over the
past 5 years and then he provided a little bit of insight about
technology replacing “face-to-face” time…

Teens and Mobile Phones Over the Past 5 Years
Posted on Monday, December 14, 2009 11:09 AM
As a parent of two teenagers and a tween, I can assure you that “a cell phone” is still the hot item on the Christmas list of kids today. It’s definitely on my 12-year-old’s Christmas list. She claims that she’s the only one without it.

Little did she know that I could tell her exactly what percentage of her friends have one! 🙂 Yes, 51% of 12-year olds own cell phones. So yes, she’s in the minority, but just barely!

The fascinating fact is how much this percentage has grown in the last 5 years. In 2004, only 18% of 12-year-olds owned a cell phone.

Where am I getting this? Pew Internet just did a study a few months back looking back at teen mobile use over the last five years. Fascinating report! It’s amazing to see the growth in teen mobile phone use! (note: a few weeks ago I blogged about teen media use and showed a similar Neilson report, although that chart showed what percentage of kids get their first cell phone at what age).

Look at the change from 2004 (dark blue) to now (light blue) for ages 12-17:

This entire report is interesting. It includes teens daily activities on a phone, the demographics of teen cell phone users, how many teen cell phone users compared to adults, etc.

I find this chart even more fascinating:

Forget the ages for a second. Look at the mobile time (dark blue) vs. face-to-face time (light blue)! See how much more kids are relying on technology than good ol’ face-to-face time? The funny thing is, kids are becoming less comfortable talking face-to-face.

I keep seeing this fact popping up in new studies. In Chapter 2 of my CONNECT book (in stock within a week) I touched on that very subject, highlighting the decrease in “face-to-face” time and the void that it’s creating in kids lives (I actually blogged about that a while back- people today have less close friends). I think it’s crucial as parents and youth workers to connect with kids “face-to-face.” This is slowly becoming more difficult in today’s society… hence the need for a book helping adults connect with kids. 🙂

What kinds of kids do you encounter in your ministry area? Do you connect with all six types of kids? What does that look like week to week? – Episode #31 (11/9/2009)

In this episode we fly to Canada where the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches interviews Jonathan about one of the most important aspects of ministry: connecting with kids in one-on-one relationships. Enjoy hearing these three Canadian youth workers pick Jonathan’s brain about his brand new book CONNECT, and how adults can connect with today’s ‘disconnected’ teenagers.

Listen to it now for free on iTunes! (CLICK HERE) Or, if you don’t have iTunes already… jump on Apple’s web page for a free download, then click on our podcast page.

Episode Highlights:

• Understand how “big picture” thinking can help lay the groundwork for effective relational ministry
• Hear the plural word for “moose”
• Meet the six types of kids that we will encounter in our ministry areas
• Hear about talking with kids on the “front lines” without sounding creepy
• Learn the first two questions a kid will ask you when you meet them on their turf
• Take a peek at what “making relational ministry a priority” can look like in your ministry weekly