Prejudice comes in all colors and cultures, with striations even among one race itself. Yesterday at the Back to School debriefing, kids returning from abroad mentioned “race on race” profiling and caste systems that carved up color in slivers of skin tone. Whether it was a ‘hired help’ situation or a local village vibe, race and social theories abound, … [Read more...]
Two of Shaping Youth's stellar Advisory Board team, Dr. Sharon Lamb & Dr. Lyn Mikel Brown at Packaging Girlhood wrote this fabulous Op Ed about the Bratz Film and its purportedly 'cleaned up' message. They plopped it on their blog, and gave me permission to do the same for our readers as "guest editorial" on the next page. I've written about the toxicity of the Bratz … [Read more...]
Is it a NeoPet? A Puffle? A goofy avatar? A virtual world icon or some sort of currency to buy virtual goods in a tween space? Animal, vegetable or mineral? Windows promo maybe? Nope. They're not even for kiddies. Those colorful mutant blobs of cartoon playfulness dotting billboards and bus signs are Windorphins (win+endorphins, get it?) brought to you by…eBay. The … [Read more...]
When my tween says, “Forward that to me, will ya mom?” I know I’ve landed on a site that’s caught her eye, so if this real-time data tracking techno tool is ancient news for you on the 'forward to a friend' circuit, bear with me. Worldometers come in a variety of forms and factoids, clicking off rapid fire statistics from teen pregnancies, health info … [Read more...]
Update Dec. 12, 2014 Eight years after the original movie debut, Hollywood history lessons are still permeating pop culture, choosing what kids 'take away' from film. Check out this markedly true tenor on gender roles from the author of Redefining Girly Melissa Wardy, as her daughter contextualizes messages to girls and uncorks conversations about what makes it into a film. An … [Read more...]
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