Influencers, Accountability and the Global Cost to Youth

April 7, 2013 Update:   This topic will be the opening plenary at the newly rebranded Yth.org public health conference today in S.F., livestreamed here: YthLive.org at 4pm Pacific time/1pm ET.I can't wait to hear this panel, as I've got questions out the wazoo in terms of opportunities for education, producers' ratings baiting w/scripts, social norming and accountability, and … [Read more...]

Overachievers: Interview with Liz Funk Author of SuperGirls Speak Out!

Mar. 4, 2009 I'm berating myself for not having this interview 'go live' on Eastern time, where teen author Liz Funk (now 20) resides...I'm doing the best I can... ...ESPECIALLY since I got behind the eight ball due to delivering five hilarious "free-range teens" to their respective homes on a school night and didn't get the formatting done...So, alas, it's going live via … [Read more...]

Dora The Explorer: Discover the World, Not the Mall

Feb. 26, 2009 Oh fer cripes sakes. Say it ain’t so. Is Dora the Explorer getting a makeover and turning tween TOO?! Leave her alone! This "age-compression" bit is putting a new dent in my TMJ-clenched jaw as we once again see marketers "vy for the buy" with zero regard for the integrity of the message being delivered. Just LOOK at the cues being sent to ‘tween girls’ as … [Read more...]

Hank Wasiak on “Teens, Our Next Greatest Generation”

Feb. 21, 2009 Great book cover, eh? Kinda drives the point home to "Change The Way You See Everything" doesn't it? The book's not quite out yet, but I embrace the  premise. I know it's more than airy fairy "half is glass empty or half full" platitudes or 'accentuate the positive' Pollyanna-isms because, well...that's not exactly my style, n'est ce pas? I tend to cut both … [Read more...]

A Challenge: Love Yourself. Share Your Story. Find Beauty.

Happy Valentine’s Day dear readers! Like my 'Luvicon?' (You can make one too!) Little did I know when I wrote about ‘thinspiration’ that there was an actual term for sidewinders and commentary that dings so deeply in the developmental recesses of kids’ minds. "Bodysnarking." Dare to share the body image stories that stuck in your childhood mental relay and lend a hand with a … [Read more...]