USC Media Student Bryn Kressin & Packaging Boyhood Book Winners!

Jan.1, 2010 Happy New Year! This joyous photo of youthful exuberance is Bryn Kressin, at left; one of our Shaping Youth winners of yesterday’s Packaging Boyhood book drawing where we pulled names from those who commented or tweeted about our weekly posts about boys, manhood and media messages impacting the males we love. The other two winners were author/educator Dr. Liz … [Read more...]

Swine Flu School Panic? NGC Now Offers Sick Day Media

Nov. 16, 2009 Tune into the way back machine to get some pertinent media wisdom for today’s H1N1 pandemic scaring the stuffing out of young kids. See the poster at left? It was produced in 1939 at the beginning of WWII as a precautionary poster to quell panic and stiffen resolve if the Nazis succeeded in invading Great Britain. Though never used, it can teach us a lot … [Read more...]

Kids, See How You’re Smart: Use Your Intelligence(s!)

There’s nothing more heart-wrenching to me than a child self-critical of his or her brainpower, tossing off statements about ‘the smart kids” while excluding themselves from this tribe. I see this often in my work at Shaping Youth, and it’s painful to observe, much less ‘counter-market’ because media and classroom ideals often reinforce this type of self-selection. On … [Read more...]