Emotional Health of Incoming Freshmen at an All-Time Low

(Article first published as Emotional Health of Incoming Freshmen at an All-Time Low on Technorati.)

This year college educators are bracing themselves for a growing challenge in the classroom. According to an annual survey conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles, involving more than 200,000 freshmen at 279 four-year colleges and universities, the emotional health of college freshmen hit an all-time low this academic year. The report was released Wednesday.

According to the findings, 52% percent of the students rated their emotional health high or above average, down from 64% in 1985 and down 3.4% from 2009. Some colleges and universities are being proactive and putting initiatives in place to help students who exhibit problems, but teachers are the first line of defense since they are the ones who observe the students regularly in a classroom setting. On the other hand, teachers are not as equipped to detect signs of emotional struggle as they are in the area of teaching.

According to the findings, female students reported lower levels of emotional health than male students did; forty-six percent of the former compared with 59 percent of the latter. A student’s emotional health is important because it bears on his or her ability to succeed academically, and if due attention is not given to emotional problems, other complications will follow.

The findings of the study suggest that the state of our economy contributed to the all-time low of the emotional health of incoming freshmen. For instance, 4.9% of the students reported that their fathers were unemployed, also an all-time high. Plus, the number of freshmen reporting unemployed mothers, 8.6%, also continued to increase. College is already stressful for freshmen.  It’s the time when many of them leave home and their longtime friends for the first time. Even if they attend college locally, they all have to adapt to college life. The peer pressure there can be fierce. Though students believe that a college education will help them get a better paying job, the cost of a college education continues to rise, and the current job market for recent college graduates does not paint a pretty picture of employment possibilities for these freshmen upon graduation.

In the report, the students are self-rated. Their feelings about their emotional health were not subject to the assessment of health professionals. But that’s why we should take heed. Real or imagined, a growing percentage of our teens in college believe they are less than emotionally sound. That makes the problem real.

Blessings We Take for Granted

I make it a habit to render thanksgiving to God daily. But this past weekend, I had a couple of experiences that made me realize how we tend to take many of God’s blessings for granted. First, I was at an Office Depot in line waiting for my turn to be attended to by the cashier. As I waited, a man entered the store and came in my line of sight near the cashier. This man was blind, and had a dog to guide him.

He told the cashier he needed some assistance to pick out some office supplies. The cashier asked the man what items in particular he needed so as to determine which section of the store he needed to go to. He replied that he needed things from several areas in the store. And so the cashier called for an employee to come and assist the blind man.

As he and the employee proceeded to shop in the store, I was convinced this was going to take a while. Then I thought about myself. I had come into the store, selected several items, and in five minutes I had finished shopping and was ready to check out. And so I thought to myself, how often do I go through my day, taking it for granted that I can see and need no one to lead me around to do the simplest of tasks. The truth is that when I offer thanksgiving to God, I don’t thank Him for my sight as often and as seriously as I should.

Later that same day, I went to the hospital to see a friend whom I used to pastor; this lady was in her sixties. She was a strong person of faith who had spent her life feeding the poor and homeless and helping those in need. But her health took a nosedive during the past few months. When I came in the hospital room, she had just finished trying to feed herself. While I was there, she tried to reach for something to drink that was on her dinner tray, but her hands trembled so badly, she couldn’t grab the glass. I picked it up and positioned the straw in her mouth so she could drink. And I thought to myself, thank God that I am blessed with health. Believe me, the mere ability to feed oneself is a blessing.

I almost always start my prayer time with praises to God and thanksgiving, before I make any petitions for anything. But what these two encounters did for me (or to me) this weekend was help me more deeply appreciate these two areas in which I am blessed. And I can extrapolate the impact of that experience to many other areas of my life where my thanksgiving should come from a deeper place in my heart.

God has blessed us in so many ways that we think little about. Let us not take any of them for granted. Sometimes, God has to help us in this area by bringing us face to face with those who lack what we have. In prayer, we should think on our blessings more intimately. As we go through our day, and we are reminded about an area in which we are blessed, we need not wait until we get home to thank Him. Rather, let us do it then and there. Consider what the psalmist said, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2).

Vatican Adds Pressure to the Berlusconi Sex Scandal

(Article first published as Vatican Adds Pressure to the Berlusconi Sex Scandal on Technorati.)

The temperature of the heat surrounding the sex scandal involving Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi just got hotter; the church has spoken. The 74-year-old leader is accused of having had sex with a then-17-year-old Moroccan girl nicknamed Ruby the Heartbreaker.

Though he did not mention Berlusconi’s name, Pope Benedict XVI said on Friday that public officials must “rediscover their spiritual and moral roots.” However, when the Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was asked to comment on the Berlusconi scandal, he said the Vatican was concerned and following the developments “attentively.”  Moreover, he said there must be a “more robust morality, a sense of justice and legality” among everyone, particularly those in public office.

Berlusconi has denied the charges. So has Ruby, though she admits he did give her money to help her out. Berlusconi argues that the charges against him are politically motivated. Italian opposition parties have called for his resignation, in light of the accusations, but Bertone’s comments this week were the first from the Vatican specifically addressing the scandal.

According to the Italian news agency ANSA, on Friday, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, head of the Italian bishops’ conference, said the scandal would be discussed Monday at a meeting of the conference’s main decision-making body.

Not unlike some politicians of our day, Berlusconi’s alleged conduct is not consistent with the image he would like to portray. He has tried to establish his conservative coalition on a platform consistent with the church’s key positions, including family life and social issues. Upon such a platform, accusations such as have been leveled against Berlusconi become much more of a stigma than they would for platforms void of such moral claims. It is for this reason that the church’s criticism of his alleged conduct adds to the trouble of his already fragile political existence.

The Camden, NJ, Layoffs Underscore Budget Woes for Cities and States

(Article first published as The Camden, NJ, Layoffs Underscore Budget Woes for Cities and States on Technorati.)

A huge budget deficit and declining state aid have forced the City of Camden, NJ, to lay off about half of its police force and one-third of its firefighters. This week’s move threatens to make a city deemed as unsafe even more unsafe. Based on 2009 data, the city was ranked by CQ press, which compiles such rankings, as the nation’s second most dangerous city. In the two previous years, it ranked first.

The need to cut services and spending to reign in budget shortfalls is understood. To take action to tackle the problem is the responsible thing to do. But layoff nearly half of the police force in one of our most dangerous cities? Hum, let me think about that:  its crime rate and drug problem were out of control when it had a full police force, and now the same city has decided to cut its force almost in half. The increased unemployment as a result of the layoffs coupled with substantially reduced police protection and fire-fighting capability are a bad combination for such a city.

That does not seem to be the most prudent thing to do, but if the budgeting decision city officials made was the best plan of action among its options then that really underscores the tough decisions our cities are faced with.

Camden is not alone. In Albany, NY, for example, Mayor Bloomberg has proposed budget cuts in an effort to reduce the fiscal year 2012 deficit gap to 2.4 billion dollars. Though the final form of the budget will not be known until next month, some expect the city to fall as much as $10 billion short.  Under that scenario, the city also stands to lose up to 2 billion dollars in state aid if there is an across-the-board reduction at that level, which will increase the city’s fiscal year 2012 deficit gap by that amount.

This budget-cutting exercise at the city and state levels is not the exception but the rule these days. Painful cuts in services to reduce spending are coming to your city or town, if they have not already. There will be no perfect solution. But the Camden layoffs highlight the need for municipalities to do a serious sanity check on where they allow the budget ax to fall.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.--What Made His Dream so Profound

(Article first published as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.--What Made His Dream so Profound on Technorati.)

The message Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is best known for is his “I Have a Dream” speech, which he delivered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington’s history.  One profound line in this speech: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Consider the time in history that he said these words.  Then, blacks in the South lived under a system of segregation known as the Jim Crow laws. They resulted in racial segregation in all public facilities, supposedly with “separate but equal” status for blacks. These laws effected economic, educational and social disadvantages, and they were a daily reminder that African Americans were not regarded as being equal to whites.

Attempts by blacks, and whites who joined them in the marches, to protest the injustices of their day were met with fierce opposition. The protesters were subjected to jail time, dogs, high pressure water hoses, police brutality, house burnings, even murder. Dr. King received death threats throughout the time of his civil rights work.

The Civil Rights Act was enacted in 1964, which outlawed major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, including racial segregation. In the following year, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, which outlawed discriminatory voting practices, the result of which had been widespread disenfranchisement for African Americans. But King’s “I Have a Dream” speech predated both of these landmark pieces of legislation. This means that as he stood before the Lincoln Memorial and articulated his dream over 47 years ago, African Americans had no legal vehicle by which to leverage positive change on the national level.

So, which of these aforementioned conditions do you suppose inspired Dr. King to believe that the realization of his dream was possible? What was the vehicle by which he saw any encouraging light at the end of the tunnel? I say none of the above. Yet against the backdrop of those dark times, and after all that he had endured, he could see America stepping into her moral best. Not in the distant future, but in the very generation of his then-young children. To me, that’s what makes his dream so profound. And I’m just wondering, if he were here today, how would he judge our progress toward the realization of his dream?

Ignorance of the Scriptures

You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to be a Christian. There is no rite of passage into Christianity that requires one to read the Bible. Yet the Bible is one of the most priceless treasures God has given us. He used holy men to pen the same. Why did He do that? Was it that He was just bored, having finished His creations with nothing else to do? I think not.

Three of the reasons God gave us the Bible are so we might learn His ways, know His will for us, and know His grand plan for the future. This knowledge we need in order for us to mature as Christians. Interestingly, Jesus said to the Sadducees, “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures” (Matthew 22:29).

Let’s briefly look at each of the three reasons stated above. One of the things that kept Israel in trouble with God was that they knew not His ways. Eventually, their ignorance caused them to be led into captivity in Babylon. You see, God is holy. Those who walk with Him must be holy as well. Yes, He is love, and that’s the side we like to emphasize. But we must remember that He is holy also. If we are ignorant of the Scriptures, then we will be ignorant of the ways of God, and not knowing His ways, we can’t properly interact with Him.

God also gave us the Bible so we can know His will for our lives. As an example, consider James 1:12, which says, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation….” This verse tells us the will of God when we are tempted. We are not to yield to the temptation. We are not to argue that we are only human. Neither should we use the lame excuse that until God removes this weakness, we can’t help ourselves. Rather, the will of God is to remain faithful even when we are strongly tempted. Moreover, we know that if He so commands us, He will give us the strength to obey His will. This is just one of many examples. The Bible is filled with declarations of God’s will for us. We need to learn of these so we can please Him.

Finally, in the Bible God shows us the big picture. Many people today are troubled by the state of this world we live in. It pains me to see the road this world has taken. I don’t want to sound like the bearer of bad news, but things on earth will get even more trying as we approach the return of our Lord. Some may wonder, how is God going to fix this mess. But that’s the question that I have no difficulty answering. He reveals His master plan in His Word. We need not let our heart be troubled. God has an awesome future and a better place for His people.

As a preacher, I am sometimes amazed at how ignorant of the Scriptures some believers are. This is understandable for babes in Christ, but more perplexing for those who have been attending church and serving therein for many years. Some churchgoers in this latter category have major difficulty finding the place in the Bible the pastor tells the congregation to turn to for the reading of the Scripture. What’s the big deal? It’s exactly what Jesus said: “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures.” You see, God has not called us to walk in error but in truth.

The Tucson Tragedy and Our Political Process

(Article first published as The Tucson Tragedy and Our Political Process on Technorati.)

At this point, we have no idea of the motivation behind the senseless shootings and killings in Tucson, Arizona, yesterday. What we do know is that fourteen persons were injured and 6 people were killed, and that we have a suspect in custody. But since curious minds want to know, and we demand that our news be instant, people have been speculating as to the motives behind the shootings so they can fill in the blanks before the facts come out.

That has led the media to focus on the heated rhetoric and events leading up to passage of the health care reform bill last year. During that time, a number of Democratic lawmakers received death threats and were victims of vandalism because of their support for the bill. Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head yesterday, and who is currently in intensive care following surgery, was one of the victims of said vandalism during the intense months leading to passage of the health care reform bill.

Again, this may have nothing to do with the Tucson tragedy. But the implications of what happened yesterday, coupled with the threats that were directed against our lawmakers during the heated months leading to passage of the health care reform bill, ought to concern all Americans--liberals, conservatives, moderates, etc.  Here is the deal: we can’t have our lawmakers living under threats and fear, and expect them to serve properly.  If we allow such a climate of intimidation to become pervasive, it will negatively affect the integrity of our political process.  Lawmakers should never have to choose between fairly representing their constituents and bowing to threats to protect their families or their own lives. We must all do what we can to stem this tide.

Republican leaders have decided to postpone Wednesday’s scheduled vote to repeal the new health care law. In light of the Tucson tragedy, that is a good gesture, given the passions that this subject ignites.

There was a time when our political process was fueled by debate, however passionate, campaigning, and the voting booth. But some Americans are set on violent means of expression.  Our political process may not be perfect, and no one always gets what he wants, but resorting to threats and violence is something we should all be able to agree on as being bad for our country.

What is the State of Our Medical Industry?

(Article first published as What is the State of our Medical Industry? on Technorati)

I don’t want to come across as an alarmist. I believe that the observations I will share represent the exception and not the rule. On the other hand, the nature of a couple of events surrounding the medical industry that made the news this week I find sickening.

First, I saw a portion of 60 Minutes on last Sunday, regarding the Glaxo Case.  The pharmaceutical giant pleaded guilty to a felony on last year, and agreed to pay the government $750 million to settle.  The company was making bad drugs, some weaker than they were supposed to be, some stronger, some were manufactured with water tainted with bacteria, and even different drugs were being packaged together, according to whistleblower and the plant’s former control manager, Cheryl Eckard. The settlement was the conclusion of her complaints that had begun six years earlier. Out of the settlement, she received $96 million dollars. To me, it is inconceivable that a company entrusted with such a critical aspect of people’s health would be so negligent, and persist to do so for that many years.

Then later this week came the report on Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s infamous study that claimed a link existed between childhood vaccine and autism.  By comparing Wakefield’s reported diagnoses with hospital records, British journalist Brian Deer says that Wakefield and his colleagues altered facts about the patients that were part of their study to support Wakefield’s claims. This fraudulent study had the impact of causing many parents to shun the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine for their children, fearing it would make them susceptible to autism. Again, to me this impropriety is the unthinkable. Is there any line we won’t cross these days?

Of course, accidents happen in the medical industry just as they do elsewhere. But then these were not accidents. Those who perpetrated these crimes against humanity knew what they were doing. Thankfully, I have been blessed with some of the best doctors in the medical field. And I believe that most physicians really care about the people they serve. But there are bad ones out there. Going to see them can cost you much more than you want to pay.  According to HealthGrades’ Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, released in April 2009, an estimated 92,882 potentially preventable deaths among Medicare patients occurred in our hospitals from 2005 through 2007.

End of the Word Predicted to Begin May 21, 2011

(Article first published as End of the World Predicted to Begin May, 21, 2011 on Technorati.)

Harold Camping, an influential Christian radio broadcaster and president of Family Stations, Inc., says the end of the world will begin on May 21, 2011. The 89-year-old retired civil engineer bases his calculations on his studies of the Bible. According to him, the true believers will be taken to heaven on the May date, while everyone else remains on earth for a period of torment, concluding with the end of time in October. The event he predicts to occur in May is known in Christendom as the Rapture of the church.

Camping and his followers are trying to warn as many people as they can about the end of the world. To get the word out, they are using billboards and bus stop benches, traveling caravans of RVs, and volunteers passing out pamphlets. Camping previously predicted the end would occur in 1994, but turned out to be wrong. Other religious leaders have offered their errant predictions in the past as well. But this time, Camping asserts that “Beyond the shadow of a doubt, May 21 will be the date….” On his website, he lays out the Scriptures and the clues given therein to illustrate how he came up with the May 21 date.

Camping has received criticism from leaders within the Christian community for his latest prediction.  For one thing, Jesus Christ Himself taught that no man knows the day or the hour of His return (see Matthew 24:36). However, the Bible does give a number of signs that signify when Jesus’ return will occur, and warns that Christians live in readiness for Christ’s return. Consequently, past horrific events such as the Katrina disaster and the Haiti earthquake have occasioned predictions of the end of the world, but each date has come and gone without incident.

(NOTE: To read my related post entitled, "The End of the World--What the Bible Says About It," click here.)

Copyright © 2011 by Frank King. All rights reserved.

Facebook is "Number One"

(Article first published as Facebook is "Number One" on Technorati.)

According to Experian Hitwise, Facebook was the most visited site in 2010, taking the number one spot from Google.  Facebook was also the most searched term for the second year in a row. However, if the analyses by Hitwise were to include You Tube in its calculations, Google’s properties would outrank those of Facebook.   Moreover, according to Hitwise, four of the top ten search terms were variations of Facebook, and they represented a 207 percent increase in searches over 2009.

What do these astounding statistics surrounding a social network say about us as a culture? Clearly, Facebook meets a perceived need in the lives of people.  You don’t have 500 million users, and the traffic suggested by Hitwise’s analyses unless there is a profound chemistry between the users and the product.  But what is it? Given the amount of users, I am sure that Facebook means different things to different people, but whatever it is, people are loving it. And where are users finding the time to indulge themselves so much?  Free time? The boss’ time? Family time? Do-it-yourself-projects’ time? Etc.

Based on the phenomenal increase of traffic this past year as suggested by the activity of the search terms, Facebook will continue to grow in the foreseeable future.

Now for “friends,” that flagship word at Facebook. First of all, there are Facebook friends and there are real friends—at least that used to be the case. But with a half of a billion Facebook users in the world talking about their friends, do we really know if they are talking about their Facebook friends or their real friends? Or perhaps they use the two interchangeably. So, looking into the not too distant future, and given the robust presence of Facebook, is it possible that over time there will be a blurring of the meaning between Facebook friends and real friends so that we can no longer tell the difference? My point is that the time people spend interacting with friends via the Internet may be at the expense of developing social skills person to person.  I hope the answer to that question is and will forever be no, but as the saying goes, never say never.