Kids & Digital Marketing: Let’s Turn This Tanker Around

Before I founded Shaping Youth, I spent years writing for ocean liners, travel accounts and all kinds of 'high end consumer goods.' It always amazed me watching the little tugs help guide the vessels into port, and I learned a lot about 'trim tabs,' rudders, and engineering momentum. It's no surprise then, that I chose the Queen Mary to depict the behemoth media mandate … [Read more...]

Bullying & the Special Needs Child: “You Must Be The New Kid”

Two weeks from today on March 4th, the makers of the now infamous Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt2 adult video games, debut their teen-rated Bully sequel also known as “Bully 2” or Canis Canem Edit (Latin for "dog eat dog"). Rockstar games' Bully Scholarship Edition shows three of the video game trailers on their new site including, “You must be the new … [Read more...]

Shaping Youth’s Gross Out Game for Good Nutrition

Just returned from Champions for Change, the state summit for a healthier California, and picked up some positive validation that Shaping Youth’s reality show games are on target in the solutions-based arena of obesity intervention. Our nutrition pilot, “Dare to Compare: A Gross Out Game for Good Nutrition” echoes the core concepts and research reflected by … [Read more...]

Top 10 Teen Sex Education Videos: You Decide Who Wins!

“Was sex ed at your school a total drag or did you love it? If you could design a whole new system to for teens to learn about sex and its consequences, what would you create?” Advocates for Youth sent me that blurb in a December call for video entries from young people aged 15-30. Two cute lil’ squiggly cartoon sperm were talking to each other, saying, … [Read more...]

MC Milker Reports on New Digital Toys for Shaping Youth at CES

Shaping Youth continues our series of guest commentary by MC Milker at the Sandbox Summit which wrapped up yesterday in Las Vegas. (full CES media coverage here) Figure I'd better cut to the chase and offer her academic and marketing bio at the end of this piece so you can jump right into browsing the 'new era of play,' what's new in digital content...and see who earned … [Read more...]