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The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens

5 stars (Breakthrough Book!) - I purchased this book for my teenager before sending her off to college as a freshman. She doesn't like to read, and basically dislikes books, so I was hoping she would at least skim through it and pick up some of the principles in this book. To my surprise she started reading it and never put it down! I have not read the book, but there must be something very practical and relevant in this book if it grabbed my 18 year old daughters attention! She thought it was great! 1 stars (Condescending Fluff) - It's appalling to me that this book has such a high rating as of today. I received this book from a relative when I was 14, and its condescending tone combined with the fact that it tries too hard to be "hip" effectively turned me off to it. Had I receieved "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" I may have read it. Five years later and after reading some glowing amazon.com reviews, I decided to give it a fair shot. Unfortunately, my initial impression was dead-on. This book is filled to the brim with vague fluff and moralistic, cliches. Despite that the book is marketed as written "by a teen for teens," Covey writes in a heavy-handed, righteous manner comparable to an authoritarian parent. Covey bludgeons the reader with anti-sex, anti-smoking, anti-anything-the-masses-think-is-bad propaganda. He neither cautions in an objective manner, nor enlightens. Instead, he appeals to vanity, which we know teenagers are full of (*cough*HYPOCRITE*cough*). In his diatribe against smoking, he mentions TERRIBLE side effects like *gasp* bad breath and... YELLOW FINGERTIPS! Let's not forget-- teenagers think they're invincible! They would NEVER take heed if we warned them that smoking causes CANCER AND DEATH. And therein lies the problem with the premise of the whole book: It doesn't give enough credit to the teen population as a whole. It presupposes that most teens are ignorant about life. NEWSFLASH: Time does NOT equal wisdom. S...
Fireside :: Self-Help & Success :: Teenagers :: Success :: Self-Help :: Psychology :: Psychological aspects :: Motivational & Inspirational :: Life skills guides :: Conduct of li :: The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens

 

Soul Searching- The Religious And Spiritual Lives Of American Teenagers

5 stars (A Non-Christian Nation) - Christian Smith and Melinda Denton have produced a wonderful analysis of the religious condition of teenagers (ages 13-17) in the USA. They collected survey data on 3290 teenagers and then followed up with more extended interviews of 267 of those surveyed. The initial survey gave an over all picture of the religious character of these teenagers including their affiliations, participation, beliefs and experiences. The interviews provided an in-depth exposure of what these teens really believe. As it turns out, the seeming wide-spread acceptance of religious life by teens (only 16% were "not religious") is largely to a vague, self-defined religion which the authors defined as: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. The teens believed in a generally disinterested divine power who supervised a system to provide personal peace and prosperity for nice people, or perhaps to help them them be nice. They adhered to a religion that is helpful, but not entirely necessary. While there were those who could be described as believers in Christianity as defined by the Bible, and also those who denied any religion, the clear majority favored MTD. The book is a "must read" for any who would like to better understand the status of the spiritual interests of youths. It also is valuable for all who would generally understand American culture. While the authors make no such claim, it is likely that the youths' view of religion is likely the common view of our age. At the least, it surely will be the increasingly dominant religion as these youths enter adult life. For parents and youth workers who are interested in true spiritual life for their children, it shows the arena in which their own youths reside. It should stimulate good thinking and discussion of how properly to intervene in what turns out to be a huge spiritual void in the lives of professing spiritual/religious youths. This is an excellent book. 5 stars (The Best Resource Available T...
Oxford University Press :: Spirituality :: Adolescents :: United States :: Teenagers :: Spiritual life :: Sociology of Religion :: Sociology :: Social Science :: Religious life :: Children's Stud :: Soul Searching- The Religious And Spiritual Lives Of American Teenagers