Gun-Owning Liberals and Church-Going Men
ICYMI
Hurricane Helene has ravaged the east coast, flooding several communities and killing over 100 people. You can help the recovery process by donating to the Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Relief fund.
A Recommendation
Carey Nieuwhof’s leadership podcast offers a dose of Christian wisdom, personal vulnerability and practical career advice. Carey’s interviews with Jon Tyson, Jim Collins, and Matt Chandler are among our favorites.
Articles
New research suggests that distracted scrolling at home drains creativity at work.
The Three Altitudes of Leadership — and how to avoid altitude sickness.
“Believing Alone Is A Spiritual Problem, Not Just A Civic One”
Mike Woodruff talked with Collin Hansen about how the media has changed over the last 20 years and what the future might hold.
Paywalled
Two notable trends surrounding young men: they’re living at home (WSJ) and they’re more religious than their female peers. (NYT)
Drake Osborn, pastor of the Church profiled by the NYT, reflected on “When the New York Times Visits Your Church.”
Ross Douthat offers an explanation for why young men are flocking to church while young women are fleeing from it. (NYT)
TGC entered the fray with their own reasons for why young men are staying at Church.
More and more Liberals are becoming gun owners. (WSJ)
“Is Culture Dying?” (New Yorker)
More Christians are watching porn and fewer think it’s a problem. (CT)
Derek Thompson has 3 theories to explain why you have no time on your hands. (The Atlantic)
The Headline Of The Week
Two contenders: “You’re Killing Me, Walz” after the VP debate and “The White Sox Even Lost At Losing” after they failed to set the record for most losses in a season.
Deep Dive
American K-12 Education Post-Covid (according to last week’s “State of the American Student Report”)
In short, it’s not good. “the average American student is “less than halfway to a full academic recovery” from the effects of the pandemic.”
Students are not catching up. They’re falling further behind. The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a nationwide testing company, reported that in 2023-2024 the gap between pre- and post-Covid test score averages widened by an average of 36 percent in reading and 18 percent in math.
It’s worst for low-income students and low-performing students. “The gaps between the lowest- and highest-achieving students are growing wider, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The 30-state Education Recovery Scorecard found that students in predominantly low-income school districts saw more significant initial learning losses and that low-income students within school districts are making a comparably slower recovery”
The Challenges to Recovery
Students are not going to School: Twenty-six percent of students were considered chronically absent in 2022-23, up from 13 percent in 2019-2020.
The Students who are present are taught by burnt out Teachers: Approximately 8 in 10 teachers said they find the job overwhelming and that the state of education has gotten worse over the past five years. According to the Pew Research Center, more than half expect conditions to worsen over the next five.
There is widespread grade inflation: Results from the ACT suggest that students are less prepared for college than they were pre-pandemic; college readiness is at a three-decade low. More than 43% of test-takers met none of the exam’s four major benchmarks.
There is a lack of mental health resources: An estimated 17.4 million K–12 students had mental health needs, but schools could serve only 1.1 million, according to a McKinsey analysis.
What can you do? Summer School and Tutoring are the two most effective tools for helping students recover from the pandemic’s losses.
One Last Thing
Tim Keller’s 17 minute talk on pluralism is gold. You should listen to it and then follow it up with the full 90 minute discussion Keller had with Jonathan Haidt regarding “The Closing of the Modern Mind.”
