katy, 12, is pretending to give her debut performance in front of thousands at madison square garden. with her hair brush in hand, she sings, "i wanna be bad with you baby... make it feel so good. ..."

this scene might be perfectly acceptable to some. to others, this scene is disturbing, because it features a 12-year-old pretending to be one of her idols and singing suggestive sexual lyrics. this scene demonstrates how society strips away the innocence of children and teenagers.

society here in the u.s. is blurs the distinctions between make-believe and real life by negatively influencing this particular girl. sexuality, drug use, and violence in the media have become like the chicken pox virus to today's teens: in some cases, all it takes is one exposure and the youth is immune to future occurences. we've become so immune to this media virus that we no longer even recognize sin. sometimes we might even expect violence and sex to be part of our entertainment.

is it still possible to be innocent at 13, 18 or 21? the answer is yes! society has its own sinful views of what is acceptable and normal. With society lacking Christian influences, it easily persuades people into accepting sin and we fall captive to it. but there is a strength stronger than the temptation to fall into sin. that strength is Jesus Christ.

youth groups around the world, such as cfc-youth for Christ, have an influence on teens that is just as strong as the media's influence. yfc sets its own trends in the lives of teens. here, the most popular trend is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. christian environments such as yfc may not be as glamorous as those encouraged by MTV and HBO, but they do have consecutively high ratings, are commercial-free, and offer better prizes than the local radio station: yfc helps those who are captured by society's negativity to regain their innocence.

yfc fights daily battles against the media and society. it reminds members to be aware of what is influencing them and to choose a better alternative. while mtv. hbo, and radio stations glamorize britney spears and n'sync as their idols, yfc glamorizes Jesus Christ, Son of God, as its role model. who else would be a better role model for youth today, than the most powerful man in the world?

lauren mikula, 18
cleveland