REMINDER: Students are requested to attend the 11:00 am Sunday service, led by the YRUU youth group, and stay for pizza and discussion at 12:30. There will not be a 5:00 pm class. RSVP here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0544afac2aabfe3-pizza
Movie Nights for Parents and Adolescents!
Please join us for two movie nights with your adolescents. Recommended for parents of youth from fourth and fifth grade through high school. Childcare will be available!
Sunday, April 23, 5:00-7:00 pm – Miss Representation:
Miss Representation exposes how mainstream media and culture contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America.
The film draws back a curtain to reveal a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see – how the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls makes it difficult for women to feel powerful and achieve leadership positions.
In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message we receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 33rd out of the 49 highest income countries when it comes to women in the national legislature. And it’s not better outside of government. Women make up only 4.6% of S&P 500 CEOs and 17% of directors, executive producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films.
Stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists, and academics, like Katie Couric, Rosario Dawson, Gloria Steinem, Margaret Cho, Condoleezza Rice, Rachel Maddow, and Nancy Pelosi, build momentum as Miss Representation accumulates startling facts and statistics that will leave the audience shaken, but armed with a new perspective.
– See more at: http://therepresentationproject.org/film/miss-representation/
Sunday, May 7, 5:00-7:00 pm – The Mask You Live In:
The Mask You Live In follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America’s narrow definition of masculinity.
Pressured by the media, their peer group, and even the adults in their lives, our protagonists confront messages encouraging them to disconnect from their emotions, devalue authentic friendships, objectify and degrade women, and resolve conflicts through violence. These gender stereotypes interconnect with race, class, and circumstance, creating a maze of identity issues boys and young men must navigate to become “real” men.
Experts in neuroscience, psychology, sociology, sports, education, and media also weigh in, offering empirical evidence of the “boy crisis” and tactics to combat it.
The Mask You Live In ultimately illustrates how we, as a society, can raise a healthier generation of boys and young men.
– See more at: http://therepresentationproject.org/film/the-mask-you-live-in/
Yours in faith,
Robin
What happened in your child’s class this week
The question is not whether we will die but how we have lived. — Joan Borysenko, psychologist
Talk about the quote. What does it mean to you?
WHAT WE DID TODAY
Today’s Big Question is “What happens when you die?” We talked about some different answers to the question which come from a variety of belief systems. We heard what a Unitarian Universalist minister said when he had cancer and expected to die soon. We found out that UUs talk more about heaven- and hell-like situations on Earth and what to do about them, than we talk about an afterlife. That is because many UUs believe we live on after life through what we did when we were alive—as well as in the memories of our families and friends. We also explored rituals to memorialize people after they die.
ANSWERING TODAY’S BIG QUESTION
What do family members have to say about the question: “What happens when we die?” What does your family do so relatives who have died live on, through you?
VISIT THE DEAD
Go to a cemetery and look at the gravestones. What can you learn from them? Do those messages help the people buried there live on? Are there flowers and mementos? Why do people put them there?
SHARED SEARCH
Go through a family photo album or “family tree.” Choose somebody you know little about who has died. Find out as much as you can about that person so they can live on through you.
REFLECT ON YOUR BELIEFS
Ask another big question: Is anything worth dying for? Patrick Henry was a famous patriot who said, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death.” Was he right? What do you think is worth dying for?
PHOTO CHALLENGE
Photograph a cycle of life and death. You might start with a seed, photograph a flower as it grows through the summer, and photograph it again when it dies in a frost. You might photograph spring buds and then beautiful dying leaves.
FAMILY FAITH IN ACTION
Find out about capital punishment in your state. Do you have a death penalty? Does it make sense to you to kill somebody to show that it is wrong to kill somebody? Do you agree with the UUA that capital punishment is wrong? What can you do about it? Try sending an e-mail or writing a letter to your governor. If the state does not have capital punishment, watch for news stories about criminal justice. Do the jails and prisons in your state have enough money so they can help or rehabilitate criminals and not just punish them? If not, send an e-mail or a letter to the governor saying you want things changed. But if you do not agree with the UUA that capital punishment is wrong, what should you do in that case?
UPCOMING EVENTS
CONSTRUCTION HELP NEEDED! At our April 9 Children’s Chapel, we will be building a Little Free Pantry. We have a project manager who will help us design and build the pantry. We need tool-handy parents to help with the building and installation of the pantry. We especially need someone who has experience with installation of a structure on a post. Click here for examples! Please email Robin Slaw if you can help.
Family Game Night and Potluck, Saturday, April 22, 5:30-8:30 pm. Join us for a meal and games! Families of all types are invited! Bring your favorite games to share. Mark your calendars now!
Parents & Caregivers as Sexuality Educators! Next class Sunday, March 26th, 5:00-7:00 pm Facilitated by Doug Miller, Steph Silver, and Robin Slaw.
Yours in faith,
Robin
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