Archives for 2009

Meaningful Manga: Graphic Novels and Growth

Update: May 21, 2014 Our friends at Reach and Teach have added another clever manga style illustrated book called "A is for Action" which merits an update! I love the seeding of social change in a fun fresh manner. The A is for Action book and HelpTakeAction.com website are a result of a teacher-initiated action research project published in the IB Journal of Teaching Practice: … [Read more...]

The Perfect Gift for a Man: Reinventing Manhood (Book)

Dec. 9, 2009 And now for the GOOD news! Yesterday for I wrote about ‘boys being turned into monsters’ with toxic marketing proliferation about what it means to be masculine, rolling out narrowcast perceptions and gender roles thinner than a crepe. Today, meet 30 men who donated their stories, time and talent to author The Perfect Gift for a Man: 30 stories about reinventing … [Read more...]

Turning Boys Into Monsters: Energy Drink Leaves A Foul Taste (Again)

Dec. 8, 2009 It’s Tuesday, time for our weekly “Packaging Boyhood” focus, so what better time than the holiday season to sound the 'red' siren on the 'green' brand that tween and teen boys are sucking up to...Monster energy drink. With everything from motocross and macho madness to the thumping, screaming, ‘over the top’ rebel yell, Monster ‘packs a vicious punch’ by … [Read more...]

Is There a Possibility the FCC Hasn’t Seen The Irony Here?

Dec. 6, 2009 Samuel Johnson once said, “Our aspirations are our possibilities.” I love the limitless empowerment in the short phrase, so when I heard there was going to be a new online DIY craft show called ‘The Possibility Shop’ with Jim Henson’s name attached, I thought perhaps there would be a “possibility” that media would be used to create a sort of eco-Etsy style … [Read more...]

CyberBullying Tragedies and Internet Safety: eModeration Part3

Dec. 3, 2009 Just visited the excellent Connect Safely forum to pose the industry question, is there ANYthing that digital moderators or online advocates could’ve done in the child safety realm to prevent the loss of 13-year old Hope Witsell due to the suicide/sexting case? Obviously, Hope's case (visual at left/MSNBC) was on mobile phones, but cyberbullying/bodysnarking and … [Read more...]