Current Affairs Archives - Page 11 of 11 - Joyous Family

Atstinence Class Effectiveness

April 12, 2007 By Connie Allen Leave a Comment

Results were just released ordered by Congress regarding the effectiveness of sexual-abstinence education programs for our youth. The major finding is that students who take part in abstinence classes are just as likely to have sex as those who do not. In addition, the youth in the study report having similar numbers of sexual partners, with or without the abstinence classes.

These findings indicate an important principle in child development. Children are children and will make choices based on who they are as people in alignment with their natural development. When we try to get them to stop being children based on what we tell them, we are seldom successful. Have you noticed?

Children pay attention to their own inner feelings and perceptions about reality. You can talk until you are blue in the face, and you will seldom see any results. In order to change their behavior, children’s inner feelings and perceptions of reality need to change. This is an inner change, not affected much by your good ideas.

What changes children’s behavior is their experience and what they see around them. This is where you can affect change. All the atstinence classes in the world and reminders about morality will not stop children from having sex.

Filed Under: Children, Current Affairs, Education

Heavy Metal Music-Is It Really Bad for Kids?

March 21, 2007 By Connie Allen 1 Comment

During the last several years, heavy metal music has been getting a bad rap by the media and many experts and theorists about child behavior. These experts believe heavy metal music leads to increased violence and other “problems” we see in young people today. But is this really true?

This week a study from Britain found that heavy metal music may help to relieve mental tension in young people. Psychologists at the University of Warick in England interviewed more than 1000 students at the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth. Researchers report, “They tend to listen to it to release the tension and pressure they feel, a kind of cathartic release.”

Young people report liking songs about politics and about darker, more complex material than your average pop song. Researcher Ken Waller concludes, “It’s probably a perfectly healthy way to cope.”

If you want to listen to the full segment on the BBC’s The World, go here: http://www.theworld.org/ and listen to the archive for today, March 21.

The music of each generation is a reflection of the times in which they live. This music is often deeply criticized for the decline of youth by the older generation.

In my parents’ generation, it was the jitterbug. When I was young, it was the dangerous hip swinging of Elvis and the long-hair radicalism of the Beatles. For today’s young people, it is rap, hip hop, heavy metal and the controversial music of Marilyn Manson, which my son Orion informs me is industrial heavy metal.

Heavy metal music was the music I used to find most abhorrent…until Orion became the drummer in a heavy metal band. I see how much he loves it—the darkness, the complex rhythm patterns, the rawness, the emotional edginess.

Doug and I go to many of his concerts. Much to our amazement we love them! Most of his shows start at 11:30 PM to midnight. This means we leave the house about 10:30, just when our bodies and minds are screaming, “What are you doing? It’s time to go to bed!” It’s worth every minute of it.

By the way, his band Echoes of Fear have a recording from their new CD online. Simply click here, http://www. myspace.com/echoesoffear Then turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy!!

Remember, the amazing drummer is my son!

Filed Under: Children, Current Affairs, Parenting

A Profound Encounter

January 24, 2007 By Connie Allen Leave a Comment

Today we visited the Angkorian temple of Angkor Thom, a large complex of several unique temples north of Angkor Wat, the "mother of all temples." Toward the end of our time here, we visited the Terrace of the Leper King, a rather uninteresting-looking platform with a headless statue on the top. On the south side, these is a hidden terrace about 4 feet wide that winds through four tiers of well-preserved stone carvings.

As we wound our way along the terrace, we came to a man sitting on the ground missing both feet and much of one leg, a victim of landmines. He was begging for money, and I turned my head away and looked down, feeling extremely uncomfortable. Not wanting to look and see and acknowledge.

Around another bend, we found another man with virtually no legs at all; and we hurried past, wanting to ignore his humanity and pain. After a few feet, I said to Orion, "We have to figure out how we want to handle and respond to these people injured by landmines."

After a few moments of discussion, we reversed our direction and gave each man some money, for which they were both heart-touchingly grateful, responding with huge warm smiles and bowing. We felt so much joy and love connecting with these courageous, heart-centered men.

One of the men, the man with short stumps for legs, began to talk with us in clear English, telling us about the landmine he stepped on in 1987 ago when he was 24 and was fighting against the Khmer Rouge. His name is Ontai. Every day he rides his hand-pedaled, 3-wheeled bike 1.5 kilometers to come to this place to beg. He lifted his sleeve and showed us his powerful muscles. He was so loving and so appreciate of our financial support and our company. We bid him a warm farewell.

Before leaving this temple complex, we visited Ontai again, taking him another dollar and the best of the three apples we had with us. He smiled warmly when we returned and took the apple, asking the name of this fruit in English. We told him, "Apple", and he repeated it after us.

We visited a few more minutes and took photos of each of us with him. We then bid him a final good-by as we wished each other happy lives.

As we walked away, I glanced back briefly and saw him cupping the apple in both of his hands and looking down at it intently. I heard him say quietly, "Apple," as we walked away.

As we left the hidden terrace and walked back out into the bright light and warmth of the day, my eyes filled with tears.

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Travel

Reflections on China

November 28, 2006 By Connie Allen Leave a Comment

China is such an experience in contrasts–the modern and the ancient, the stark and gray with the ornate and colorful, rigid political controls and spontaneous, child-like laughter and being-ness.

The first thing that strikes me in Xian is the grayness–the gray skies covered with rain clouds and lingering pollution, gray-walled buildings void of decoration or trim, neutral colored skyscrapers. The Cultural Revolution destroyed so much history and this trend continues as China rushes toward modern times. A country in transtion…

The second thing Is the sheer numbers of people. The streets and sidewalks are a constant dance among pedestrians, bicycles, taxis and buses. The rules of the road are loose, and it is a free-for-all, with everyone jockeying for their best position. The blessing in this is that traffic moves slowly, and everyone looks out for everyone else, even when it’s done grudgingly. This photo shows a very uncrowded street. Just imagine every square foot of concrete taken by a car, bus, bicycle, pedestrian. That will give you a more realistic perspective.

An indication of the numbers of people is the primary school in which I volunteer in the afternoons. In a relatively small space, there are over 4700 students in grades 1 – 6. The classrooms are small and crowded with 40 – 60 children per class. There is no heat even though the temperature is in the low 40’s, and the children wear their winter jackets, as do I.

This photo is of a very, very small percentage of the school children who were gathered for an outdoor assembly.

The beauty is in the heart and warm smiles of the people. I am treated like a movie star on campus. Children come up to me, eager simply to say "hello", and many classrooms cheer and clap when I walk in the door, even though they have never met me. At the end of each class, the children spontaneously rush toward me with their English books in hand to get my autograph. They’re pretty aggressive in all of their enthusiasm, pushing and shoving and practically knocking each other and myself down. Today, I’ve got a plan to create a structure in which they get their much-desired-autograph, and I get to enjoy standing solidly on my feet while doing it. 🙂

This innocent, open child-like spirit is found throughout the city, including the adults. They are spontaneous, focused, sincere, hard-working people. They are eager to learn and uninhibited in their joyous, enthusiastic expression. I find it heart-warming and beautiful. I’d love to experience more of it in Western society. We’ve lost something precious in our desire to succeed and look good.

Another thing that has been quite interesting about my time here in Xi’an is its history. It was the capital city of China for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. It is the home of the Terracotta Warriors, which I will visit this coming weekend, and was the starting /end point of the Silk Road.

Yesterday I walked down to the Muslim District, a fascinating blend of Chinese and Muslim. There are kabobs for sale by street vendors, Chinese-looking men wearing fez hats, and beautiful tea shops. And everywhere there is the constant flow of people walking and bicycling.