2014: The Year Of Redefining Girly

Jan. 10, 2014 Even in just the last 5 years or so since the American Psychological Association Task Force reported about the harm of early sexualization and its impact on children (full 72pp APA study … [Read more...]

Toys R Us Throws Mother Nature Under the Bus In Prankvertising

Nov. 8, 2013 Update! Colbert gives a ‘Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger in his Nov. 6 edition, Forbes adds a resource roundup of the backlash among moms, (though I'd add it's not a gender issue as dads … [Read more...]

Brave Girls Want To Put Media On A Different Frequency!

Oct. 10, 2013 Update: At the end is a newly minted press release/activities update, and this great post by Adios Barbie crams a lot into a small package involving some of the partner organization … [Read more...]

Brave Girls Want: A Movement, Not a Moment.

Sept. 11, 2013 Grand Finale Tally for IndieGoGo campaign ended at 11:59PT: $26,673 Sept. 9, 2013 Today marks the triumph of a grassroots groundswell over colossal corporate branding, with the … [Read more...]

Year Round Media That Matters: Positive Picks for Kids

Nov. 26, 2012 With all the coinage and consumption swirling around Black Friday and Cyber Monday for people hunting “deals” I think it’s fitting to honor the organizations that deliver positive media … [Read more...]

How Can We Use Media To Gift Without Buying?

Update: Dec. 12, 2018 Open Call...for any and all ideas to give the gift of TIME to teachers, elders, family and friends and reduce consumption/increase heartfelt meaning in the process! Hit me up … [Read more...]

Deconstructing Spongebob, Pt2: A Preschool Parenting Lens

Sept. 20, 2011 In part one, the prelude to this post, I tried to frame the notion of critical thinking skills as a sphere to hold up to the light and rotate slowly instead of banging out opinions in … [Read more...]

Deconstructing Spongebob: Reasoning, Research, & Critical Thinking

Sept. 19, 2011 “So, Amy, whose side are you on with the pundits talking and the press reporting about the new University of Virginia Spongebob research?” Whaaaa? Sides? Really? That's cartoonish, … [Read more...]

Reach & Teach: Global Goods That Do Good

May 23, 2011 "Where do you GET these things? How come I never find stuff like this?" Picture a coloring book page with Rapunzel's hair cascading down the castle tower, captioned, “This time, she … [Read more...]

Selling Insecurity For Profit, Telling Kids Creativity Doesn’t Count?

October 26, 2010 I’ll recap Spark Summit takeaways soon, but with Halloween around the corner, I have a few timely tidbits that go beyond the need to Spark Change over sexualized costumes and look at … [Read more...]

Babies Movie: Through The Lens of a Young Teen

May 11, 2010 I tried to warn her, “This isn’t some wham- bam fast-paced action thriller or rom-com dramedy, but Babies IS my movie choice for Mother’s Day, ok?” In preparation, I showed her the … [Read more...]

Media Hypefest: Is Prom the New Wedding? A Teen’s Perspective

May 7, 2010 As the last vestiges of prom wind down along with Girls Rights Week, I wanted to land one last post in the queue exploring media and marketing’s impact on kids' expectations, reality show … [Read more...]

Commodification of Kids: The Backlash Has Begun

April 16, 2010 About a year ago, TruthOut featured a poignant article called "Commodifying Kids, The Forgotten Crisis" by academic Henry A. Giroux, and though I read it with lots of head bobbing … [Read more...]

“Mouse Inc?” Disney Bullies Small & Mighty CCFC From Home?

March 10, 2010 I bought and watched Academy Award nominee  Food Inc. last night, the riveting documentary on corporate pressures leaning hard on farmers that’s nothing short of mafia-style thuggery … [Read more...]

CounterMarketing Consumption Cues: Think Geek Gifting Fun

Update: Dec. 21, 2014 Adding a few more fun finds of DIY holiday hack geekery to keep it simple, and am strongly considering ordering my first RaspberryPi credit card sized computer to inspire some … [Read more...]

Fun Tips for Thanksgiving: Ethics, Priorities & Media Moments

Nov. 24, 2013 Update Springboarding off the seven Forest Ethics tips below, and Sierra Club’s 5 Tips for a Low Carbon Thanksgiving we’ve got some great news to add… KIDS will soon be able to track … [Read more...]

“Bring Your Baby to Life With Your Wii Remote?”

Nov. 2, 2009 Not sure which part of this creeps me out more, the fact that 21st century baby dolls have a Wiimote crammed up the wazoo to ‘bring the baby to life’ as a Wii system accessory, the … [Read more...]

Why 350.org? Fun Edu/Eco Activism Today For Int’l Climate Chg!

Oct. 24, 2009 Kids love "dress up" and DOING things, so today’s the day to blend the two into global fun to seed ‘one world’ thinking with 350.0rg early on, joining 181 countries for the most … [Read more...]

Shaping Youth Father’s Day Letter to President Obama

June 17, 2009 Bill Cosby has always been my favorite star, dating back to my childhood listening to his comedy routines on record albums.  (roar, says the digital dinosaur!) It seems particularly … [Read more...]

Graduation: From What To What? Media Moments Of Expectation

June 10, 2009 Yesterday my daughter ‘graduated’ from eighth grade, and I found myself marveling at the whole commencement falderal as being a bit surreal... It was lovely, in a 'life event' kind of … [Read more...]