Shaping Youth is in the Philadelphia Inquirer Today

Sept. 2, 2009 For a media shy writer wonk who likes to fly under the radar, you might say I’m a ‘glutton’ for punishment each time I agree to making a comment to the press. The Bebé Glotón toy story originated at Thingamababy about the Spanish breastfeeding doll with slurpy sounds and strap-on-bib; human not included. Since then, it's taken off into controversy land and … [Read more...]

One Teen’s View on Going Green: Use Eco as an Equalizer

August 27, 2009 One of my Title I school students said, "We recycle in my house...it's called hand-me-downs." Hmn. Since then, I've been attuned to the "green is for those who HAVE green" eco-mindset and kept track of echoes in our cross-cultural moshpit of a neighborhood. In part two of our Teens Turning Green piece, I’d asked Shaping Youth 16-year old writing intern … [Read more...]

Consuming Kids: Selling Value As A Virtue

July 28, 2009 In another ‘silver lining’ of our economy’s challenging moments, seems “consuming kids” are self-reining and prioritizing the value of purchases, with fashion taking a nosedive and techno-media holding steady. (Reminder, we’re screening Consuming Kids again at my place on Friday, so RSVP, it’s free!) When I interviewed Mike Berenstain of Berenstain Bears, he … [Read more...]

Nature Rocks: Reconnecting Families With Nature

June 5, 2009 It's World Environment Day...where you can Twitter for Trees, and 'green your routine' and engage in all kinds of green media pursuits and still miss the meaning of getting kids OUTSIDE... As one of my heroes, Last Child in the Woods author Richard Louv said, “We have an entire generation of ecokids that can “click for a cause” but still not know what poison ivy … [Read more...]

HopeLab Launches “Sticky Notes” Blog To Make Their Thinking Visible

May 31, 2009 I know our friends at HopeLab have been active on Twitter and their own Facebook group and use SlideShare and all that, but as I’ve said many a time, microblogging and 140 character sound bites don’t quite get into the ‘deep dive’ I’m seeking when it comes to solutions-based thinking. Richard Tate has just announced HopeLab’s new “Sticky Notes” blog which will … [Read more...]