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Understanding Kids

Teaching to Generation Me: Part Seven

On May 18, I began a 7-part series, offering some thougts about how to teach the Catholic faith to “Generation Me” (those born in the 70s through the 90s; Generation Me, Jean Twenge, M.D.).Click on the following to read: Part One: The Decline of Social Rules Part Two: Excessive Individualism Part Three: You Can Be Anything You Want Part Four: The Age of Anxiety Part Five: The Attitude of “Yeah, Right…No Point in Trying” Part […]

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Understanding Kids

Teaching To Generation Me: Part Six

On May 18, I began a 7-part series, offering some thougts about how to teach the Catholic faith to “Generation Me” (those born in the 70s through the 90s; Generation Me, Jean Twenge, M.D.). Click on the following to read: Part One: The Decline of Social Rules Part Two: Excessive Individualism Part Three: You Can Be Anything You Want Part Four: The Age of Anxiety Part Five: The Attitude of “Yeah, Right…No Point in Trying” […]

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Understanding Kids

Teaching to Generation Me: Part Five

On May 18, I began a 7-part series, offering some thougts about how to teach the Catholic faith to “Generation Me” (those born in the 70s through the 90s; Generation Me, Jean Twenge, M.D.). Click on the following to read: Part One: The Decline of Social Rules Part Two: Excessive Individualism Part Three: You Can Be Anything You Want Part Four: The Age of Anxiety Today, we address another unique characteristic of Generation Me: the […]

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Understanding Kids

Teaching to Generation Me: Part Four

On May 18, I began a 7-part series, offering some thougts about how to teach the Catholic faith to “Generation Me” (those born in the 70s through the 90s; Generation Me, Jean Twenge, M.D.). Click on the following to read: Part One: The Decline of Social Rules Part Two: Excessive Individualism Part Three: You Can Be Anything You Want Today, we address another unique characteristic of Generation Me: “the age of anxiety” The Age of […]

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Understanding Kids

Teaching to Generation Me – Part 3

On May 18, I began a 7-part series, offering some thougts about how to teach the Catholic faith to “Generation Me” (those born in the 70s through the 90s; Generation Me, Jean Twenge, M.D.). Click on the following to read: Part One: The Decline of Social Rules Part Two: Excessive Individualism Today, we address another unique characteristic of Generation Me: the belief that “you can be anything you want to be” You Can Be Anything […]

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Understanding Kids

Teaching to Generation Me – Part 2

On May 18, I began a 7-part series, offering some thougts about how to teach the Catholic faith to “Generation Me” (those born in the 70s through the 90s; Generation Me, Jean Twenge, M.D.). Click here to read the intro and part 1. Today, we address another unique characteristic of Generation Me: excessive individualism. Individualism – Since the time they were very young, Gen Me-ers have been bombarded with messages intended to boost self-esteem. It […]

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Understanding Kids

Teaching to Generation Me (aka Gen Y; Millennials)

Recently I had the pleasure of reading Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled – and More Miserable Than Ever Before (Jean M Twenge, M.D., Free Press, 2006). In her book, Dr. Twenge, herself a member of “Generation Me” (aka, Millennials, Gen Y), those born in the 70s through the 90s, uses findings from a large intergenerational research study (1.3 million respondents over six decades) to reveal how profoundly different today’s […]

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Miscellaneous

Catechists: A Life-Threatening Vocation?

I mentioned in my post yesterday how, in many places of the world, the catechist is seen as one of the most respected people in the Catholic community because he or she is the one who forms disciples of Jesus. The flipside of this prominence is that, in some countries where the Gospel is a threat to the political and economic status quo, catechists are seen as a threat and they are often singled out as […]

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Miscellaneous

Catholic School Catechists

When we use the word catechist, who comes to mind? Typically (at least in the United States), we think of catechists as those volunteers who teach in parish religious education programs as opposed to Catholic school teachers who teach religion classes. Because of this, Catholic school teachers of religion have resisted the title of catechist because it carries the connotation of volunteer as opposed to professional. This is unfortunate, because to be called a catechist […]