Winter Break Ideas to Keep Kids “Consumed”

To continue our series on Shaping Youth’s ways to "market mindfulness," I’ll first shine the spotlight on Ms. Freddi Zeiler, who at age 14, decided to make a difference in the world and set out to find where that enthusiasm should be funneled. Voilà ! A Kid’s Guide to Giving! It’s my Shaping Youth tween/teen book pick for our advisors this … [Read more...]

Shaping Youth Through Philanthropic Fun

Update: 2013 Along these lines, check out StartEmpathy.org with clever little videos by "Empathy Explorer" Ed Stockham; a visual media depiction of our peer to peer "in her shoes" exercise in this 2007 post below. My media ‘avatar’ is more Murphy Brown than Mother Teresa, so I need to redirect those of you who envision me as idyllically sealing organic preserves, leading the … [Read more...]

Media, Kids & Grief: Different Ages & Stages of Loss

Beloved Billabong (immediate left) died in my arms yesterday, leaving behind his littermate sister who is a canine basket case, as much as I am a human one. Can dogs die of a broken heart?As my remaining 9 year old (dog) and 12 year old (daughter) curl up in Bill’s spot to be near his scent, whimpering intermittently with woe, I realize life lessons usually take the form of … [Read more...]

The Golden Rule? McDonalds Pays Off Good Grades

Yesterday Ad Age reported, “McDonald's has found a nifty way to reach kids even as TV ad options toward the demographic shrink: Advertise on report cards.” Um…"nifty?" How about subversive? Opportunistic? Manipulative? Hypocritical? Undermining parents' values? Shaping Youth already called ‘em to task for the sour ‘apples and milk’ … [Read more...]

The Big Give: Kiva, Oprah, & the Reality TV Juggernaut

“If reality television is indeed here to stay, its evolution into philanthropic programming is, for this viewer, a welcome one,” writes Kate Golden, E.D./Editorial Chief of Changing Our World in this prescient newsletter, “onPhilanthropy.” Ditto that...In triplicate. But where IS Oprah’s “Big Give?” I've been waiting for a year … [Read more...]