Crosswalk.com aims to offer the most compelling biblically-based content to Christians on their walk with Jesus. Crosswalk.com is your online destination for all areas of Christian Living – faith, family, fun, and community. Each category is further divided into areas important to you and your Christian faith including Bible study, daily devotions, marriage, parenting, movie reviews, music, news, and more.

Jim Liebelt Christian Blog and Commentary

Get guidance on Bible study from C.S. Lewis - Free Course!

Jim Liebelt

Jim Liebelt's Blog

More Than Money, Family and Community Bonds Prep Teens for College Success

  • 2024Mar 28

Note: Beginning April 1, 2024, you can continue to find Jim Liebelt's culture posts at:
 
https://homeword.com/culture-blog/

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by BYU News.

Want your teen to graduate from college one day? Focus on strengthening their social networks within and beyond the family, says a new BYU study.

Building “family social capital” during the teen years dramatically boosts an adolescent’s chances of eventually completing college, according to data from two national surveys analyzed by researchers from BYU, North Carolina State University and the National Institute on Aging. Social connectedness had a bigger effect on college enrollment and graduation rates than a family’s socioeconomic status, a high school environment or a student’s high school grades.

“It’s a really hopeful finding because this kind of capital is more accessible than financial capital,” said BYU sociology professor Mikaela Dufur, a co-author of the paper recently published in PLOS One. “It’s not that easy for a parent to say, ‘Oh, I want my 12-year-old to graduate from college, so I guess I’ll double my income.’ Our research found that investing in family social capital is powerful for all groups, for kids from all class and race backgrounds.”

Families build social capital in a couple of different ways, Dufur said. First, parents form it within the family by bonding with teens and conveying expectations and norms toward their schoolwork, such as by checking in about homework or discussing classes.

Second, families build social capital by developing connections with others in the community, including with the parents of their kids’ friends and with neighbors, coaches or teachers.

To see how long family social capital endures, researchers studied outcomes for over 20,000 students who participated in the 1988 National Educational Longitudinal Study and the 2002 Educational Longitudinal Study. The surveys provided data about family relationships, community connection and educational attainment from students in eighth, 10th and 12thgrades, then followed up two and eight years after high school graduation.

“More than a family’s money or prior education, family social capital had really strong associations with both going to college and maybe more importantly, finishing college,” Dufur said. “That social capital you made with your family back when you were a teenager, that stretches forward and helps you achieve.”

Source: BYU News
https://news.byu.edu/intellect/more-than-money-family-and-community-bonds-prep-teens-for-college-success

What's Hot? 03/22/24

  • 2024Mar 22

Note: Beginning April 1, 2024, you can continue to find Jim Liebelt's culture posts at:
 
https://homeword.com/culture-blog/

Trending Today on X (formerly Twitter) - 3/22/24
 1. Kendrick
2. $ROACH
3. Hazel
4. Daily Wire
5. $DOEGE
6. #FridayVibes
7. Capcom
8. Kdot
9. #WorldWaterDay
10. #fridaymorning
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 3/22/24
 1. Holy Cross women's basketball
2. March Madness
3. Kentucky basketball
4. Duquesne basketball
5. Mar
6. USA vs Jamaica
7. Road House 2024
8. Michigan State basketball
9. 3 Body Problem
10. Kansas basketball
Source: Google

Top Five on Apple Music - 3/22/24
 1. Get It Sexyy - Sexyy Red
2. CARNIVAL - ¥$, Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign
3. we can't be friends (wait for your love) - Ariana Grande
4. Whatever She Wants - Bryson Tiller
5. Beautiful Things - Benson Boone
Source: Apple Music

Top Box Office Movies - Weekend of 3/15/24
1. Kung Fu Panda 4
2. Dune: Part Two
3. Arthur the King
4. Imaginary
5. Cabrini
Source: Showtimes.com 

TV Shows Trending on Streaming Services - 3/22/24
 1. Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV - Max
2. Shogun - Hulu
3. Apples Never Fall - peacock
4. The Gentlemen - Netflix
5. Manhunt - AppleTV+
Source: Reelgood

Trending Today on YouTube - 3/22/24
 1. Olivia Rodrigo - obsessed
2. House of the Dragon | Official Black Trailer
3. House of the Dragon | Official Green Trailer
4. Alien: Romulus | Teaser Trailer
5. skibidi toilet (part 1)
Source: YouTube

Netflix Top 5 TV Shows in the U.S. Today - 3/22/24
 1. Homicide
2. The Gentlemen
3. Physical: 100
4. Brian Simpson: Live from the Mothership
5. The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping
Source: FlixPatrol

Find more culture news on HomeWord's Culture Blog, named in 2024 for the ninth consecutive year as one of the top 50 culture blogs on the planet (#19 of  50)!

Medical Costs for Kids' Mental Health Jumped 31% in 5 Years

  • 2024Mar 19

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

The cost to American families of caring for a child with a mental health condition jumped by almost a third between 2017 and 2021.

It now costs an average $4,361 more per year for a U.S. family to care for a child with a mental health condition, compared to families without such children, a new study has found.

Overall, American families spent an estimated $31 billion in 2021 on child mental health services, which now make up nearly half (about 47%) of all child medical spending, the report found.

The findings “underscore the large financial burden associated with pediatric mental health conditions on the U.S. health care system,” said a team led by Theoren Loo.

The findings were published March 11 in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Network Open.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/mental-health/medical-costs-for-kids-mental-health-jumped-31-in-5-years