Emerging trends & STEM

Lego Friends: Please Build on Possibility, Brain Plasticity

January 1, 2012 by Amy Jussel 37 Comments

April 28, 2016 "37 year old son of Lego billionaire takes the helm as Vice Chairman" Congrats, Thomas Kirk Kristiansen, now that you've inherited the Lego legacy, and named your daughter and five female cousins as 'most active owners' in the young generation family mix, I have high hopes we'll see some gender stereotypes disappear and brain plasticity triumph! Here's to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: 2012 Lego, beauty industry, brick box, Buildables, Case for Make Believe, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Cordelia Fine, corporate blunders, Delusions of gender, Does stripping gender from toys really make sense?, early child development, Empowering girls, gender equity, Gender Portrayal, girls-self-worth, Kids health, LadyFigs, Lego femininity, Lego Friends, Lego masculinity, Lise Eliot, media analysis, media mindfulness, media-literacy, nature vs nurture, neuroscience, neurosexism, New Moon Girls, Peggy Orenstein, pink brain blue brain, Play-Patterns-Kids, Pop-Culture, role play, science behind sex differences, sexism, Sexualization, spark change, SPARK! summit, stealth STEM, STEM for girls, stereotypes-girls, Stuart Brown, Tetris, Think Different, toy choice, toy marketing

Using Media to Uplift and Inspire: When to Tune In, Not Out.

December 20, 2011 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

Dec. 20, 2011 True confessions, it’s been a heckuva challenging year, and it got me thinking about what different people do to bootstrap themselves out of adversity in its many forms whether it’s “first world” stress, third world crisis, health, home or holiday blues. I turned to our SY advisory board child development specialist, Dr. Robyn Silverman and pointed the ‘whatcha … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Nutrition & Wellness, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Shaping Youth Tagged With: Cheer for the cheerless, child slavery, CNN Heroes, coping skills, Do Good, Do Something, Facebook suicide reporting tool, GEMSGIRLS, Gen Y, Gen Z, Holiday blues, human trafficking, Inspire Foundation, inspiring minds, intervention, ISIS Advocates for Youth, Kids Are Heroes, Kids health, kids role models, Love146, Media-Influence-Kids, mental health, philanthropy, positive media, resilience, sexual health, social media activism, student stress, teen-suicide-prevention, teens depression, Tune In Not Out, tweens, youth angst, youth outreach, youth resources, youth support

How Can We Use Media To Gift Without Buying?

December 11, 2011 by Amy Jussel 7 Comments

Update: Dec. 12, 2018 Open Call...for any and all ideas to give the gift of TIME to teachers, elders, family and friends and reduce consumption/increase heartfelt meaning in the process! Hit me up with your favorite finds and well-received, positive picks? Dec. 16, 2015 Update For those who appreciated the post "Toy Joy vs Consumption Junction, or one of the original posts … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Consumerism, Counter-marketing, Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Shaping Youth Tagged With: anti-consumption, battling cancer, Buy Buy Baby, buy nothing, catalog shopping, CCFC, Coming of Age In a Crap Economy, commercial free, Consuming kids, consumption, critical thinking, don't buy it, eco literacy, family tradition, financial literacy, freebies, freecycling, gift of time, gift without buying, gifts, giving vs receiving, Good Night iPad, holiday debt, holiday rituals, kids gifts, Me to We, mindfulness, neuroscience of shopping, not buying it, regifting, shop til you drop, student debt, Think Geek, thought that counts, thrifty gifting, virtual gifting

Best Childrens’ TV You’ve Never Seen: Ameba TV

December 2, 2011 by Amy Jussel 6 Comments

Dec. 2, 2011 Heard of Ameba TV yet? For world-weary parents of kids aged 2-12 who'd like to allow media in moderation but are sick of monitoring cruddy channels of influence being served up by 'big media' monetization and merchandising models 24/7, Ameba TV's multi-platform subscriber service is an exhale and a welcome gift. (for about the cost of a flippin' Frappuccino … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Consumerism, Counter-marketing, Emerging trends & STEM, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Shaping Youth Tagged With: AAP, alternative media, ameba TV, AmebaTV, bilingual, Cat in the hat knows a lot about that, CCFC, commercial free, critical thinking, diversity, DOOF, eco moms, encouraging science, green kids, Internet TV, kids quality TV, Kids TV, Know Better Effect, language learning, LG Smart TV, meaningful media, Media management, media messaging, media-literacy, multiplatform media, New Moon Girls, not all screens equal, parental controls, PBS Kids, Preschool programming, prosocial, Ruby Skye PI, screen time, set top box, Sid the Science Kid, STEM, Subscription model, TV alternatives, tweens

Glee Teen Sex: Facts & Opportunities Using CDC vs. Hollywood TV

November 21, 2011 by Amy Jussel 13 Comments

Nov. 20, 2011 Truth is, Hollywood is lying about teen sex. Big time. New CDC research points to numbers that might as well frame Hollywood shows as a public health statistical version of ‘The Lying Game’ since TV consistently paints youth onto a recklessly bleak canvas of stereotyped imagery as impulsively hormonal lusty idiots …when the exact converse is true. Of those … [Read more...]