By RTF Staff Writer Shannon Meiers

It was almost midnight. I should have gone to bed over an hour ago. But I couldn’t.  The draw of the shiny blue screen was too much to bear. My red-rimmed eyes darted to the battery indicator on my laptop. 10%. Good. Time for one more status update. Even as I was typing, I happened to glance over at the list of my online friends. Uh oh. My dad was online. This wasn’t good. Maybe he hadn’t seen me. I still had time to escape the horror that was The Parent Wrath. I was going to lose cooperative-child points for sure.

My mind going a mile a minute as I attempted to direct the cursor over the log-out button. But it was not to be. My cursor froze at that precise moment and so did my breathing as I realized I had a new chat message. From my dad. (more…)

By RTF Editor Abbie Miller

It all went down one day in my local Starbucks, where I’d gone after class for a few hours of homework, studying, writing, and mindless Facebook surfing.

As I waited for my laptop to come out of hibernation mode, I looked around at my fellow caffeine worshippers. It was a full house that day, your typical mixture of coffee shop types; a couple businessmen, a young mom with kids in tow, a college study group. And of course, a rather cute guy over at the corner table.

*Note to self: do not spill your drink or fall out of your chair at any point during this evening.*

I gave the space bar a couple of good whacks to get things going, and soon my desktop screen popped up. As I clicked to go to my school website and check my email, a sudden obnoxious digital voice broke the polite semi-quiet of the coffee shop…  (more…)

By Guest Writer Rebecca Good

One Wednesday morning, before five o’clock, I was awakened due to the fact my right leg joints were in excruciating pain. I’ve gotten joint pain in my legs numerous times before, ranging from mild to extreme. This time, it was extreme. The pain was so bad that I just wanted someone to come and cut my entire leg off. (more…)

By RTF Staff Writer Jennifer Grimes

Studying can be a drag sometimes, but I’ve found some pretty nice sites that lend a helping hand. Since school is in full swing, I thought I’d share them with you. (I’m in no way affiliated with these sites, and, though I’d like it a whole lot, I’m not getting any money for mentioning them.) Check them out:  (more…)

By RTF Staff Writer Sam Gardiner

[Originally published here.]

Note from the editor: we’re super-excited to introduce our newest staff writer, Sam Gardiner. Give him a warm welcome in the comments!

You may know Satellites & Sirens as being responsible for “Anchor”, their debut single that climbed the Christian rock radio charts last year. After releasing their debut album Satellites & Sirens in 2010, the band broke away from Word Records and launched their independent career. I recently had the great pleasure of catching up with Geoff Hunker, lead singer of the band, to talk about their new single “Ready To Save”, their upcoming sophomore project Frequency and their touring plans for the future. My questions are in bold, followed by Geoff’s answers in black.

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So, what’s been going on in the Satellites & Sirens world over the past eighteen months? (more…)

By Guest Writer Ashlyn Slamans

How many times have I heard that phrase growing up? It seemed so cliché when I heard my mom repeating that line to me over and over. It didn’t matter if it was movies, music, books… as a young teen I just didn’t get the concept. Of course I didn’t watch the bad stuff or really listen to the raunchy lyrics. But just because it wasn’t Christian doesn’t mean it’s bad, right? (more…)

Anyone who’s ever experienced bullying via the internet knows it can go from “joking” to serious within minutes. This month, we’ll be hearing and reading some real-life stories from people who have experienced cyber-bullying firsthand.

What do you think about it? Do you know anyone who’s been victimized by it? Have you been victimized by it? Have you been the bully?

And what can you do about it?

Click here to watch the video stories of 8 teens.

Leave your thoughts/experiences in the comments below.

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This is a safe place. You can feel free to post anonymously. If you are being bullied and need help immediately, talk to your parents or a trustworthy adult. You do not need to suffer in silence.

If you just want to talk or need some advice, please email us at realteenfaith@gmail.com. We’re always here to listen and help.

photo credit

By RTF Staff Writer Stephany Mendia

I smiled when I opened the email and found out that this month we were focusing on the Internet. This first semester of school I am taking a class called History of American Pop Culture which is about what the title says, America’s popular culture from the 2000’s to the 40’s and 50’s all summed up in about 18 weeks. It’s actually really interesting because we focus on music, movies, fashion, and slang from each decade. We’re starting the eighties on Monday (my teacher said she’d dress like she did in the eighties. Yellow scrunchies? I think yes.) (more…)