Aug. 31 2011 Transitioning back to school is tough, especially when media and marketing blitzes the ‘what could be’ fear dynamics of peer acceptance based on what you wear, how you look, and who you sit with at lunch. (Target's music teacher ad/video sums in satire well, "if your kids want to sound cool, they need to look cool") Now toss in the social media promises and … [Read more...]
Rachel Simmons Chats About Mythbusting “Mean Girl” Media
Recap of White House Conf on Bullying Prevention, Pt.1
Mar. 17, 2011 Unplugging for a day is a respite, but being gone for a week amidst news of tsunami disasters and first ever media moments like the March 10 White House Conference on Bullying Prevention plunged me into perpetual ‘catch up’ mode…Toss in this week’s March 16 FTC Privacy Hearings on Do Not Track policies and datamining behavioral profiles (see key quotes from … [Read more...]
Depravity Gone Viral: A Thin Line For Humanity on Facebook
Sept 17, 2010 Deep breath. In. Out. Hold. Center. Ommmm… I’m trying REALLY hard to abstain from a kneejerk reaction to the ‘dare to share’ assault and twice-raped (by media) teen in Canada who had photos of her horrific ordeal plastered onto Facebook by morally bankrupt bystanders. You could say it was "Over the Line" as MTV's anti-bullying digital literacy youth site "A … [Read more...]
Safety Expert Uses Media Literacy to Deconstruct McAfee Study
July 2, 2010 When I first saw this note in my social media stream it raised my media literacy eyebrows to explore further. It said, “Interesting: McAfee has a very diff take on their own study than does CNET's Larry Magid." First thing that popped into my brain was, “That's NOT surprising, research is only relevant when one can deconstruct the background of who’s doing … [Read more...]
Using Kid Lit To Read The Right Message About Bullying
April 18, 2010 Many of you know I clench when I hear the word ‘reporter’ (even though I’m one and the same, it’s different when you’re behind the keyboard) because media has powerful potential to ignite infernos and give too much heat to ill-placed words, creating drama instead of preventing same....So imagine my exhale when today’s edition of the Chicago Tribune rightfully … [Read more...]