Public Health: DV Grammys, Too Short Of A Memory, Sexualization

Update Feb. 12, 2016 With the 2016 Grammys coming up this weekend, I wanted to add two posts by the author of The Achilles Effect and Boys, Sex & Media as a ponderable question about what we're … [Read more...]

The LAMP Shines Light on Media Literacy: NAMLE Recap

Aug. 5, 2011 In internet time, the couple of weeks that have passed since NAMLE  (the Nat'l Assoc of Media Literacy Educators' conference) may SEEM like a virtual eternity or 'old news' as digital … [Read more...]

Shaping Youth is Expanding: Sneak Peek and Needs Please?

Feb 22, 2011 Breaking into The Power of Play series for a sneak peek into what's occupying so much of my time...expanding Shaping Youth's web presence. No secret that I’m a media maven that's media … [Read more...]

A HUGE Breakthrough for TV: Nuance Trumps Vapid Vixens Aplenty

August 12, 2010 In part one and part two of my posts about ABC Family’s Huge premiere, I hoped to see the show evolve from the hope and promise of some stellar scriptwriter ‘attachments’ to actually … [Read more...]

Steamed About Sexualization? Healthy Media for Youth Act Now!

July 12-16, 2010: Healthy Media for Youth week! Fed up with “boy chasin’ bed swappin’ lip-lickin’ hottie-hoochie booty-bouncin’ appearance-is-everything” cues comin’ at your girls? Yah, so are … [Read more...]

A HUGE Opportunity: Don’t Blow It ABC Family (Pt 1)

June 24, 2010 “An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.”  ---Bill Bernbach Those timeless words of the venerable ad legend capture the power and potential of … [Read more...]

Summer Fun & The War Play Dilemma (+Online Gaming Stats)

May 22, 2014 Adding this article from The Guardian Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare; a non-gamer's guide and Jinny Gudmundsen's Common Sense Media's post, "10 Most Violent Video Games and 10+ … [Read more...]

Sexualization Summit: Save the Date Oct 22, 2010 NYC

May 17, 2010 As irony would have it, on Thurs, May 13, in New York City, a small tribe of thought leaders convened on how to best address rampant sexualization of youth in media and marketing. Each … [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...]

Sex::Tech 2010; Teens & Public Health Converge (Pt. 1 of 3)

Feb. 16, 2010 Ten days from now the mother of all sexual health conferences takes place again in San Francisco with the name Sex::Tech itself conjuring controversy, intrigue, and a bit of … [Read more...]

Author Rosalind Wiseman Brings Youth Editors Into YA KidLit Process

Feb. 8, 2010 I bought a copy of the new YA novel by renowned author Rosalind Wiseman of Queen Bees & Wannabes bestseller fame, called “Boys, Girls & Other Hazardous Materials” ...As soon as it … [Read more...]

Addiction Series Part 3: Media, Medicos, & Critical Thinking

Jan. 15, 2009 Thought I’d wrap up Part Three in this series on digital addiction vs. agency (part one and part two here) with some humorous insights from the medical community that poke fun at some … [Read more...]

SexEd Abstracts Due For SexTech Summit: Not Your Mother’s Media

Nov. 8, 2009 One of our SexTech.org ‘top ten’ posts continues to be the Top Ten Teen SexEd videos created by students, for students in an effort to improve the lousy coverage of an inevitably touchy … [Read more...]

Attention KMart Shoppers: Dating Violence on Aisle3

Oct. 11, 2009 This morning I was in a Sunday reflective sprawl, dogs piled atop the bed, newspaper everywhere, family away, foggy S.F. Bay keeping me nuzzled into my comforter, when I checked in on my … [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...]

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 … [Read more...]

Amy Jussel on The Girl Revolution, Part Two

June 4, 2009 In Part Two of my interview on The Girl Revolution, we got into the 'Secret Life of the American Teenager' media portrayal of a 15-year old 'band geek' and I realized I never got around … [Read more...]

When It’s Not Hip To Be Square: Sexist Spongebob & Burger Shots

April 17, 2009 “Booty is booty?” I say give BK’s agency a boot in the backside out the door for this one… I've been trying NOT to cover this ad absurdity to avoid the media baiting and instead … [Read more...]