Obesity Risk Twice as High in Hispanic Children

Maria Nadel, our Spanish translation expert is putting the finishing touches on our 'mind & body' media literacy log as Shaping Youth's “Dare to Compare: A Gross Out Game for Good Nutrition” kicks off a new session with 5th graders this Friday. Evidently, not a moment too soon… A study published in the American Journal of Public Health finds that … [Read more...]

7 clues to a New Year’s riddle for the 7th year of 2000

This landed in my e-mail from some pals of mine, and it seems worthy to toss out there to get kids thinking along these lines and open up some dialogue. Yes, I’m being ambiguous on purpose so I won’t spoil the fun. To challenge yourself, write down your guess after reading each clue; then, after reading all the clues, see which (if any) of your guesses is … [Read more...]

A Shaping Youth Roundup of Kids’ Media/Mktg. Notables

I left my ‘round-up’ ritual back in my editorial magazine days but my au courant colleagues and content partners have worthy ones so I’ll defer to their musings. Ypulse publisher, Anastasia Goodstein posted “Reflections on the year in youth culture” which gets my vote for the most articulate wrap up of four key trends: The ‘totally … [Read more...]

Preteen Podcasts: Media, Middle-school & Growing Up Too Fast

The past few weeks Shaping Youth has recorded some preteen podcasts to hear what kids from public and private schools have to say about body image, celebrity hype, products, brands, teen media and how it all relates to the middle school experience. Yowza. It may not quite be Fast Times at Ridgemont High out there but I’m feeling quite Jurassic about the 'wannabe world,' … [Read more...]

A snapshot from the teen camera lens: 48 hours of blogging

Three-quarters of girls age 8-12 would like to change something about their bodies, and by 16 more than one-quarter already want plastic surgery? Egad. I decided to track the Dove self-esteem forum to review the most recent 48 hours of 'teenspeak' and see how much these stats are 'media spin' or over-reporting. Not many, I'm afraid. Check it out... Dialogue has now surged … [Read more...]