Shaping Youth BETA BLOG

September 1, 2010 It’s the first of September, as the first day of school angst bubbles up throughout the nation on either side of this ‘premiere’ week. (many have started school already, some are about to)

A welcoming ‘first day?’ Hardly. This is classic online product placement meets mean girl drek in “First Day: The Series,” an abysmal branding collaboration between  K-Mart and Alloy Media. “A new series from the executive producers of Pretty Little Liars” made me wince,  knowing full well that Alloy isn’t exactly on my BFF list (per my piece about their Gossip Girl show) And that they’d be bringing their behavioral blights on the trashy media landscape to relentlessly push their vapid values via digital engagement to kids.

I suppose I should be relieved this horrid absurdity is limited to a ‘merchantainment’ digital ditty rather than a full blown TV series, but they’ve hit a new low by giving us a snapshot of “what’s wrong with our culture” in a handy compressed 8-series, 8+minutes each episodic, which enables them to skirt the FTC rules of product integration by taking it online to target kids with snark, sneers and oh, yes, LOTS of sales pitches. Careful retailing industry, branding backlash could cost you even more in this recession.

Lest you think I’m exaggerating the teencentric crud and cues, here’s a transcript of some of the opening dialog, as the bonafide mean girl upends her older sibling in her own “pathetic” home: “First day of school determines who you’re gonna be friends with, which determines if a guy is gonna like you which determines if you’ll ever be kissed, because after awhile you build it up and you get all nervous, until you’re 25 and totally unkissable…and…” Yadayada. Trust me it gets even worse. (more…)

August 19, 2010 Today is World Humanitarian Day and I definitely needed this inspiring humanitarian video to gain some perspective on humanity. (fab 4 mins after the jump, and a how-to disable vid on Facebook Places too!)

I don’t know why anyone would give a flying fig about my whereabouts, but I DO know I’ve had my own personal safety blogger moments and am frankly unwilling to be bait for someone’s pranks, so color me incredulous when Facebook once again set my default geolocation settings far beyond “Only Me.” Not quite a Beacon privacy breach, but still danged arrogant if you ask me. Yep, I started out my morning of media moments wanting to ‘chuck it all’ and “go off the grid” on a digital hiatus from humanity itself.

From this morning’s Twitter tabula rasa/wiped slate data access vanishing act in Casper the ghost style to fiddling with how to disable Facebook’s “Places” location feature on their newly premiered check-in vehicle, I definitely needed a dose of “grouch be gone”  lest I take this great NYTimes article literally and “go outdoors and out of reach” pronto!

Everyone already knows I’m a fan of pulling the plug and dialing down the drama intermittently to get mindshare back and to put peer reality shows on summer hiatus but escaping from digital humanity on Humanitarian Day? Well, kinda ironic… (more…)

August 9, 2010 Consider this a ‘preliminary post’ to address the Eminem/Rihanna video controversy that’s scorching the blogosphere with the Love the Way You Lie lyrics being deconstructed to a farethewell. (read the comments on EW’s music mix, Jezebel, The Guardian, an important one from the Gainesville Sun/GatorSports angle, and  CB, “where escapism can be smart” just to name a few)

Far beyond the flames of dysfunctional relationships and abusively unhealthy dating drama depicted in the video, the notion of media literacy deconstructing this conversation is an important one to uncork with teens, albeit a tough and potentially traumatic one.

I’m out of my league here, as I feel like it’s all hairsplitting when it comes to violence and abuse in relationships. To me, so-called “common couple violence” is oxymoronic at best (what’s ‘common’ about wailing on each other?) so that’s part of the ‘social norming’ backdraft I’d like to PREVENT entering the lexicon (or heads!) of developing teens who may take a media cue that “rough stuff is passion play”…Turns my stomach, really.

So, I have a call in to Susan Risdon, press liason for the NDVH National Domestic Violence Hotline in Washington and the Love Is Respect National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline to try to untangle the verbiage and lexicon that’s stymied many a social media conversation about what does and doesn’t constitute “DV.” (dating violence? domestic violence? can they be used interchangeably?)

When BOTH parties are sparring with verbal/physical toxicity, does this merit a different category than when the power-base of terrorism whirls through like a tornado coming from only ONE-side of manipulation, control and intimidation? These are the kinds of semantics that I don’t remotely pretend to know, despite having just read the upcoming book Tornado Warning by Actionist(TM) Elin Waldal, her own poignant survivor’s memoir of teen dating violence and its impact on her worldview and her kids. (more…)

July 21, 2010 Can you hear the drumbeat, Hollywood? It’s getting louder.

Girl advocates like Jessica Lawrence head to Capitol Hill to discuss H.R. 4925 tomorrow to share firsthand data about how depictions of women and girls in the media affect youth health and are landing sideways.

Small business entities like Melissa Wardy of  Wisconsin based PigtailPals has devoted an entire product line to “Redefining Girly” hoping to accentuate a fresh, girl-positive reality for our children. (WI is legislative home-state for HR 4925)

Today we’ll hear from both of these advocates for girls in part two of our Healthy Media Youth Act coverage, asking some tough questions about whether this bipartisan legislation has sharp teeth to be actionable and chomp down on worst offenders profiting on the backsides of kids, or whether it’s more of a nibble, nosh and nudge to stop devouring childhood and raise awareness for consumer action. (more…)

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 we. It’s damaging, destructive, and fouling up a healthy sense of sexuality and self-worth as girls are objectified and ‘sold’ a bill of goods about behaviors, bodies, and what society values with a narrowcasted fixation that’s head-spinningly unhealthy.

This week, HR 4925 is coming to the forefront of the national dialog to raise awareness for a three-pronged approach to healthier media messages about girls and women via a legislative bill that:

a.)    creates competitive grant programs that encourage media literacy and youth empowerment

b.)    facilitates research on depiction of females in media and the affect on youth

c.)    establishes a National Taskforce on Women & Girls in the Media to promote healthy, balanced, positive images for the benefit of all youth.

What can parents do about sexualization via media literacy?  How can YOU help with H.R. 4925? Read the summary. Read the full HR 4925 document. Read who else is advocating for the bill and why. Then urge your congressional representative to cosponsor/sign on to the bill. (call/write/click/send, lots of action steps after the jump) (more…)

July 3, 2010 With the TEDxOilspill recap of innovative solutions airing on pbs last night (complete with faux BPGlobalPR masked man Leroy Stick) Oil, and WorldWildlife Fund Free e-cards reminding that almost a quarter of the world’s mammals face extinction within 30 years, Independence Day is taking on a bit of an oily sheen to me.

Seems “patriotic duty” is veering toward using media’s might to turn red, white and blue celebrations “green” with awareness, education, and “independence” from oil, in a nonpartisan, nonprofit call to action for the future of the planet’s beings…

So while NBC blitzes Broadway with Bieber and the Macys parade fireworks fandango, I’m going to spark some red white and blue ideas for greener living which I think our founding fathers would give a nod toward, to enhance sustainability and protecting our seas.

There are tons of July 4 patriot games and new media apps for US Presidents perfect for picnic play, but I’m opting for basic beach clean up after our July4th annual BBQ on the island here, to ‘make some waves’ with youth and remind that America the Beautiful literally needs to be “from sea to shining sea.” Enjoy the 4th everyone! (more…)

July 1, 2010 For those mumbling, “COPPA schmoppa, there goes Amy into policy wonk land, please translate media jargon into usable tidbits” I’ll offer a few primers…

What is COPPA? Why do we need it? (see DigitalAds.org for an interactive show-n-tell which all ages can grok for an ‘aha’ moment on food and beverage marketing targeting kids in the digital age) Who are some of the key advocates involved with COPPA?

And…for those who have been waiting on pins and needles to hear what new roles and rules are taking shape with mobile, video game and behavioral ad marketing to kids, the COPPA coalition has provided an update (summary here) to keep the FTC abreast of the ever-expanding spectrum of targeting kids as it pertains to privacy protections and digital (er, human) rights. This was a huge discussion at the Ypulse 2010 Mashup as marketers, academic researchers and tween moderators/online community leaders grappled with compliance, ethics, and ‘what ifs’ to try to get a handle on loopholes that need closed, as well as misinterpretations of age restrictions and residual fallout from a policy and practices standpoint.

Here’s the full release, the gist of the filing, and what the COPPA coalition specifically asks the FTC to do: (more…)