Interactive Games

Tech with Kids: How to Assess Reviews, Find Quality Apps

June 19, 2015 by Amy Jussel 1 Comment

June 19, 2015 One of the thorny questions I posed at the recent Tech with Kids Conference involved how to "review the reviewers."There are a wide array of reputable resources...Common Sense Media … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games Tagged With: #DiversityInApps, #techwkids, #WWDC2015, Apple Design Award, apps for kids, Apps for Traveling with Kids, Apps Playground, Apps reviews, best kids apps, Best Pick App, best practices apps for kids, Common Sense Media, creativity apps, don't pay for app reviews, edtech, educational apps, FTC disclosure law, future of storytelling, Gender and diversity in apps, ipad Apps for Kids, Jinny Gudmundsen, Kid Tech, kids apps, maker movement, media conflict of interest, media-literacy, Reviewing apps reviewers, STEAM apps, Summer fun apps, Tech with Kids, trusted app sites

CCFC: A Positive Pick, Even When Calling Out Negative TOADY Toys

December 4, 2012 by Amy Jussel Leave a Comment

Dec. 4, 2012 No question I continue to land hard on watchdogs that aren’t woofin’ when it comes to media and marketing’s impact on kids, but nobody does it better than Campaign for a Commercial Free … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Counter-marketing, EcoKids-Environment, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Nutrition & Wellness, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Product Placement, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: age compression, apptivity ball, baby media, best toy of the year, Bratzillaz, building brain plasticity, Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, CCFC, consumer watchdogs, corporate profiteering, digital devices, Digital Literacy, Digital Media Learning, digital world, early childhood education, Early-Sexualization, Facing the Screen Dilemma, FTC, Healthy kids in a digital world, impact of excessive screen time, Kids health, kids rights, kids socioemotional health, Lego Friends, media use, media-literacy, Monster High, National Parenting Publications Awards, Nielsen reports, nurturing healthy brain development, power of play, screen time, Susan Linn, TOADY Awards, Truce, value of unstructured play, winx, worst toy of the year

Blizzard’s Snow Job: Security About As Tight As Parental Controls

November 14, 2012 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

Nov. 14, 2012 Call it karma, payback, or just ‘got caught,’ the class action lawsuit against Blizzard Entertainment (makers of mega-hits like Diablo, World of Warcraft, Starcraft etc) is really about … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Shaping Youth, Vapid Values Tagged With: Activision, Authenticator, Battle.net, Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard law suit, childrens online privacy protection act, commodification, compromised accounts, COPPA, Cybersecurity, data breach, data hacks, deceptive trade practices, digital privacy, Ethics-Gaming, FTC, gaming, gaming addiction, gaming violence, kids data privacy, Kids-gaming-secret-codes, Media management, MMORPG, multiplayer games, new proposed FTC rules, opt-out, parental controls, parental permissions, parenting, personal information, privacy-data-youth, security breaches, Terms of Use, U13, undermining parents, workarounds, World-of-Warcraft, WoW

War Games Blitz the Homefront: Halo 4, Call of Duty Livestream

November 12, 2012 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

Nov. 12, 2012 There’s irony noting many who’ve never served in the armed forces are in a firestorm of shoot ‘em ups with newly hyped titles lobbed into the media mix like grenades bombarding the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: AAP, aggression, battle games, battlefields, Black Ops2, Call of Duty, COD, combat, Culture jamming, Ethics-Gaming, gaming, gaming addiction, gaming violence, Halo 4, impact of violent video games, livestream COD, Media-Education-Foundation, media-literacy, Militainment, military recruitment, military service, MMORPG, multiplayer games, multiplayer headset chat, prolonged exposure, PTSD, Seal Team 6 TMI, SEALs in media, Veterans Day, Video game realism, violence and video games, violence studies, virtual healing, Virtual Iraq, War Games, war play dilemma, War realism, women in the military

Life 360: Family Locator Apps-Mapping the Shades of Grey (Part 1)

October 15, 2012 by Amy Jussel 5 Comments

Oct. 15, 2012 Teens call them ‘trackers,’ parents call them ‘tools,’ and the telecom industry refers to GPS and LBS (location based services) as sheer “growth” in a mobile market that’s booming with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Shaping Youth Tagged With: 21st century parenting, Amy-Jussel, Android, child location GPS systems, children check-in, Chris Hulls, critical thinking, family location apps, Family safety apps, family tracker, free Halloween safety app, free LBS safety apps, free range kids, GPS, help parents track children's movements, Interview with Chris Hulls, iphone apps, keep your family safe, LBS, LBS safety apps, Life 360, locate your family, location based services, mobile mapping, mobile-youth-trends, monitoring, monitoring children and media, monitoring social media kids, parental controls, parenting peace of mind, Parenting-Teens, privacy data, Privacy practices, privacy-data-youth, private family mobile networks, reliance on tech, securafone, should you track your kids, smartphones tracking kids, SMS, spying on children, Surveillance-Society, tech tethers, Tech toys, tracker apps, tracking your kids

Mattel’s Manipulative Monster High Marketing Machine: Unkind.

June 15, 2012 by Amy Jussel

June 15, 2012 Last year when I wrote about Mattel’s vampy campy Monster High dolls I purposely didn’t even name their brand, hoping it would quietly fizzle and bury itself in the outcry of parents … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Damaging Drek, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Product Placement, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values Tagged With: anti-bullying, Bailey Shoemaker Richards, big media, brandwashed, brandwashing, Bratitude, Brattitude, Bratz, bullying, business ethics, Buyology, CCFC, childrens rights, Clawdeen, corporate accountability, corporate responsibility, crap detection 101, critical thinking, damaging toys, Daughters, Does Monster High Teach kindness?, Dr Jennifer Shewmaker, Emily-Anne Rigal, girls-self-worth, Goodwashing, halo effect, Hasbro, in-school marketing, kids media influence, Kind Campaign, Mattel, mean ghoul, mean girls, media mindfulness, media-literacy, Miss Representation, Monster High Dolls, Monster High's New Low, neuroscience of shopping, objectification, parenting girls, Peggy Orenstein, PigtailPals, preteen-health, preteen-self-esteem, Pro-social product placement, product propaganda, Pussycat Dolls, Sexed Up Toys, Sexualization, sexualized childhood, So Sexy So Soon, SPARK, spark change, spot the spin, targeting tweens, toxic cues to kids, tweens, unhealthy products, WalMart, worst toys

Sexism in Video Games: Tropes, Trolls and Terrific Upstanders

June 13, 2012 by Amy Jussel 4 Comments

Update YET AGAIN: Oct. 15, 2014 Reprising Anita Sarkeesian's important words, "The most radical thing you can do to support women online" given the cancellation of her Utah State University event … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Damaging Drek, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values, Viral & Buzz Media Tagged With: Anita Sarkeesian, anti-bullying, APA, Bailey Shoemaker Richards, benevolent sexism, bullying, Bystanders, Chell, female gamers, Feminist Frequency, GDC 2012, hate speech, Kickstarter, Lara Croft, media vitriol, misogyny, MMO, MMORPG, objectification, rape culture, Samus, school climate, SeX-Box Exposure to sexist video games, sexism, sexism in video game culture, sexism in video games, sexist attacks, sexualized violence, target women, The Bro Code, Tropes vs Women, Upstanders, video games, violence against women, violence and video games, women and media

Tilt World’s Nicole Lazzaro (Interview) Putting Emotion Into Game Play

April 30, 2012 by Amy Jussel 6 Comments

Sept. 2, 2016 Update Adding a few recent finds along these lines of 'putting emotion into game play' like "Shelter, Paws" and other empathy based critter care games to edge towards seeding compassion … [Read more...]

Filed Under: EcoKids-Environment, Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, People Shaping Youth, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Shaping Youth Tagged With: Amy-Jussel, Arbor Day, climate change, deforestation, eco edu iphone apps, eco heroes, eco literacy, Environment-Kids, Environmental Education, Fiero, Flip the Frog, Games for Change, gamification, gaming for trees, green gaming, healthy-planet, iPhone apps kids, kids causes, Madagascar, Nature Rocks, NCLI, Nicole Lazzaro, Planet Green, plant trees, Playsourcing, seeding green, serious-games, social cause gaming, social change, STEM, Sustainability, Tilt World, TiltWorld, WeForest, XeoDesign, XeoPlay, youth eco advocacy

Oscar Is Worthy! See Chimpanzee, Support Jane Goodall’s Work

April 18, 2012 by Amy Jussel 5 Comments

April 18, 2012 No secret I’m a fan of all creatures great and small, wildly applauding every effort to impart nature’s magnificence to 21st century kids. Whether it’s the brand new launch of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Counter-marketing, EcoKids-Environment, Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, People Shaping Youth, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Shaping Youth Tagged With: Africa, Bruce Sallan, bushmeat trade, C&NN, children and nature network, Chimpanzee Movie, chimpanzees, climate change, Cool the earth, DadChat, deforestation, Disney EARTH, Disney Nature, documentary, EARTH, Earth Day, eco education, eco literacy, endangered species, Environment, Gombe, Green media, Green-Media-Youth, Green-Teens, Inspire Kids to Care, Jane Goodall, JGI, kids and nature, Last Child in the Woods, men in media, nature principle, Nature-Deficit-Disorder, NCLI, orphaned animals, Oscar the chimpanzee, reach and teach, Richard-Louv, Roots and Shoots, save the earth, stewards of the planet, Sustainability, Tilt World, Wyland Foundation

Kids, Media & Intimacy: What’s Love Got to Do With It?

February 14, 2012 by Amy Jussel 5 Comments

Update Feb. 13, 2018 Related research and an excellent NYT read on the need for "porn literacy" given that teens exposure to online porn sites is distorting their lens of peer social norming, healthy … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values Tagged With: AllyKatzz, buffed boy, celebrity, digital youth, Facebook virtual stage, faux intimacy, Glee Teen Sex Facts, healthy relationships, hottie factor, intimacy, Kids health, kids media influence, Mary Kay Hoal, Me generation, Miss Representation, narcissism, objectification, Occupy Valentine's Day, Rosalind Wiseman, Sexualization, social networks, teen dating, text me, texting, TextPlus, tween d-8ing, Tween dating, tweet me, UGC, Valentines Day, virtual stage, Yoursphere

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 … [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

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 … [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

Sesame Street Takes On Bullying in Shows, Talking Points

October 18, 2011 by Amy Jussel 3 Comments

Oct. 18, 2011 “Look at those feet!” Big Bird is told. “They’re ridiculous!” --“They are?”As he tries to get accepted into the “Good Bird Club,” he shifts from “happy to be me” to hanging his feathered … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Product Placement, Shaping Youth Tagged With: anti-bullying, Big Bird, bullying, Bullying Prevention, Bystanders, children, Cyberbullying, digital citizenship, education, Good Bird Club, kid lit, Kids TV, kids-media, Love is not abuse, Love is respect, mean girls, media meanness, media-literacy, Muppets, national bullying prevention month, PBS Kids, preschool, Rachel Simmons, Rosalind Wiseman, school climate, Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop, special needs, Stop Bullying Now, tattling, teaching moments, Trudy Ludwig, verbal abuse, Word Girl

Food Marketing to Kids: Occupy Wall Street Applies Here, Too

October 16, 2011 by Amy Jussel 6 Comments

Oct. 16, 2011 It's Blog Action Day today which coincides with United Nations' World Food Day, so my contribution among 80 countries participating is about food policy, profiteering and public health. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Damaging Drek, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Nutrition & Wellness, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Vapid Values Tagged With: #BAD11, advertising to kids, Blog action day, Blog Action Day 2011, CCFC, CDD, childhood obesity, corporate social responsibility, CSPI, diabetes, digital ads.org, eat real, Fast Food Nation, food and beverage, Food Day.org, food marketing, FTC, Healthy eating research, in-school marketing, Interagency Working Group, IWG, junk food in schools, Morgan Spurlock, Occupy Madison Avenue, Occupy Wall Street, Prevention Institute, School Nutrition Association, Sensible Food Policy, SunnyD sugar spree, SuperSize Me, unhealthy products, voluntary food guidelines, We're Not Buyin It, World Food Day

Deconstructing Spongebob, Pt2: A Preschool Parenting Lens

September 20, 2011 by Amy Jussel 1 Comment

Sept. 20, 2011 In part one, the prelude to this post, I tried to frame the notion of critical thinking skills as a sphere to hold up to the light and rotate slowly instead of banging out opinions in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Product Placement, Shaping Youth Tagged With: AAP, ad-creep, brains and TV, branding-youth, cartoon characters, cartoon-products, cartoons influence, CCFC, child development, childrens cognitive inability to understand, cognitive science, commercial brands, consumption, Critical-thinking-skills, David Kleeman, executive function, fast-paced TV, Karen Dahl, Kids TV, licensed cartoon characters, media watchdogs, media-literacy, merchandising, neuro cognition, Nickelodeon, pediatrics, pester power, Preschool brain science, Preschool marketing, Preschool programming, PTC, self-regulation, Spongebob Research, Spongebob Squarepants, University of Virginia, working memory

Deconstructing Spongebob: Reasoning, Research, & Critical Thinking

September 19, 2011 by Amy Jussel 6 Comments

Sept. 19, 2011 “So, Amy, whose side are you on with the pundits talking and the press reporting about the new University of Virginia Spongebob research?” Whaaaa? Sides? Really? That's cartoonish, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Product Placement, Shaping Youth Tagged With: AAP, ad-creep, AngrySlop, brains and TV, branding-youth, cartoon characters, Cartoon Monickers, cartoon-products, cartoons influence, CCFC, child development, childrens cognitive inability to understand, commercial brands, consumption, Critical-thinking-skills, David Kleeman, editorial cartoons, executive function, fast-paced TV, Kids TV, licensed cartoon characters, media watchdogs, media-literacy, merchandising, mugging of Spongebob, neuro cognition, Nickelodeon, pediatrics, pester power, Preschool marketing, Preschool programming, PTC, self-regulation, Spongebob Research, Spongebob Squarebutts, Spongebob Squarepants, University of Virginia, working memory

Selling Reluctant Readers: 10 Marketing Tactics To Amp Up Fun

August 27, 2011 by Amy Jussel 10 Comments

Feb. 14, 2017 Valentine's Day Update: More ways to encourage reading, with therapy dogs (via MindshiftKQED Learning) and a few "Kidlit" picks for Valentine's Day that streamed across my desk, here … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, 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: Amy-Jussel, Andew Aydin, banned books, behavioral change, book gimmicks, Boys and Reading, celebrity readers, childrens reading resources, comic books, comics in the classroom, decline in reading, digital media, digital storytelling, edu tech, education, forbidden fruit, Gamification of reading, Getting Boys to Read, graphic novels, GuysRead.com, Harry Potter Alliance, kidlit, Kids & Family Reading Report, kids choice, kids reading less, kids reading more, March, March Book Three, March Book Two, Mo Smells Pink, Nate Powell, online reading, operation teen book drop, PBS Kids, PBS Reading, pleasure reading, Read Kiddo Read, readergirlz, reading, reading games, Reading is Fundamental, reading resources, Real life heroes, Reluctant Readers, Rep. John Lewis, Room to Read, Scholastic study, Storybird, storytelling, Super Why, superheroes, SuperHeroes Documentary, SuperWhy Storybook Creator, teaching with graphic novels, teen lit, Teen Read Week, Tornado Warning, using marketing tactics, Will Smith running and reading, YA books, YALSA

The LAMP Shines Light on Media Literacy: NAMLE Recap

August 5, 2011 by Amy Jussel 3 Comments

Aug. 5, 2011 In internet time, the couple of weeks that have passed since NAMLE (the Nat'l Assoc of Media Literacy Educators' conference) may SEEM like a virtual eternity or 'old news' as digital … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Counter-marketing, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, People Shaping Youth, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth Tagged With: 140EDU, Ad satire, Amy-Jussel, BlogHer 2011, children media management, Collaboratory, collective intelligence, collective knowledge, critical thinking, Culture jamming, digital media, DigitalAds.org, Douglas Engelbart, Douglas Rushkoff, Emily Long, Erin Reilly, Kelly Mendoza, kids-food-products, kids-media, Lamplatoon, Lampoon, long form blogging, Media Education, media influence, media-literacy, MediaEd Lab, Mohammed Bilal, My Pop Studio, NAMLE, NAMLE 2011, National Assoc of Media Literacy Educators, Renee Hobbs, short attention span world, The LAMP, USC Annenberg, Youth-Media

Harry Potter Alliance: Using Pop Culture Pervasiveness Positively

July 17, 2011 by Amy Jussel 1 Comment

July 17, 2011 No, I haven’t seen the Harry Potter grand finale yet.Yes, it’s been covered from every angle, dominating Twitter streams, Facebook status lines and yielding the largest weekend box … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Counter-marketing, EcoKids-Environment, Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, People Shaping Youth, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Shaping Youth, Viral & Buzz Media Tagged With: Amy-Jussel, Andrew Slack, blockbuster movies, change agents, changing the channel of influence, Climate Crisis Horcrux, Darkness of Darfur, digital activism, Dumbledore's Army, fandom, Gen Y, Harry and the Potters, Harry Potter Alliance, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, have fun do good, Helping Haiti Heal, HP Alliance.org, HPA, HPAlliance, human rights, inspiring minds, JK Rowling, JK Rowling's Radiohead moment, kids-media, largest weekend boxoffice, Leaky Con 2011, make a difference, Media-Influence-Kids, media-literacy, Mobilizing Youth, Pottermore, Quidditch, reach and teach, send out a howler, social change, social justice, social media activism, social media mobilization, spark change, summer hit movies, teaching moments, The weapon we have is love, Twilight saga, world changing

Grab-n-Go Squeezable Pouch Foods: Ease or Eww?

June 30, 2011 by Amy Jussel 29 Comments

Oct. 16, 2015 Update: Heads up on the voluntary recall of GoGoSqueez pouches with these summer 2016 pull dates, which have had mold discovered in them. I first found the mold in our own stash in … [Read more...]