Rachel Simmons Chats About Mythbusting “Mean Girl” Media

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...]

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...]

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...]