Shaping Youth BETA BLOG

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 hit my home front, my daughter and her ‘BFF’ clamored to snag it from me, lured in by the cover visual alone.

Mean Girls writer and co-star Tina Fey had a snarky testimonial on the front with a visual that clearly caught their eyes:

“You can’t put this book down…or it will talk about you while you’re out of the room.”

My daughter picked it up first, “What’s this?”

“Oh, that’s a new novel I’m checking out…You know the movie “Mean Girls?” Well, Rosalind Wiseman wrote the Queen Bees & Wannabes book that it was based off of…Same writer.”

(I’ve learned not to offer up too much information lest any selection be branded ‘…a Shaping Youth thing’ so kept my mouth shut entirely and let her lead the way)

She’s not one to read anything that she hasn’t handpicked herself, so I stayed silent and watched as she cautiously inspected it, flipping the book jacket over repeatedly, thumbing through the pages and reading the inside flaps… “Looks kinda good” she finally pronounced. (more…)

Jan. 25, 2010 What kind of wit and wisdom flourishes at She’sGeeky?

W.I.T. as in Women in Technology and also wit as in the funny, guffaw-level humorous antics of tell-it-like-it-is attendees. The wisdom? From top industry pros to young 9 year old tweens converging in leadership to create ‘The Girl Effect’ up close and personal…it’s powerful potion this weekend.

She’s Geeky is an agenda-free, supportive, intellectual haven for girls and women  who embrace technology as a catalyst for world changing where you can goof around with the best and the brightest sans pretense, intimidation, or any semblance of not fitting in. Why? Because no one fits in and everyone fits in…The UNconference runs the gamut of über-geek techno-speak to esoteric thought leaders thriving on like-minded souls. (updated list of proposed topics here)

It’s the kind of room where you can let out one of those sitcom snort-laughs and not even blush a bit; despite the fact that you’re surrounded by bigwigs, students, startups, and seasoned serial entrepreneurs ready pay it forward for the next generation of STEM leading ladies. (science, technology, engineering, math) And laugh? Believe me, you WILL laugh.

You do not get this level of social clout in one small setting without the wit flingin’ fast and the commentary pithier than a Carville-Matalin debate…It’s rebel rules, baby. And these women rock. (Follow SG on Twitter here) (more…)

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 J Myer (who writes about ending gender harassment/bullying in schools) and Suzette Valle (who writes about young Hollywood’s influence on kids and teens at Mamarazzi Knows Best) As I perused Bryn Kressin’s blog to inform her of her win (not sure she even know she entered) I found this great slideshare preso (after the jump).

Bryn’s student experience abroad (sheesh, looks like something out of an idyllic ad campaign, great photography, too!) inspired me to ‘pay it forward’ to other teens and high schoolers that might need that extra ‘go for it’ nudge to splash in a larger pool of collective knowledge and firsthand experience…I love it! (more…)

Dec. 23, 2009 Shhhhhh…I’m snagging one of the new “Smencils” that just arrived today ’cause I figure ‘less is more’ and ‘variety is the spice’ when it comes to stocking stuffers…She doesn’t need a whole ’set’ right?

A whiff here and there and she’ll get the gist of the theme…100% recycled newspapers turned into a rainbow of scents and colors. I like finding inexpensive toys that appeal to big kids too (ahem, obviously) so I’m secretly coveting this little $5 waddling penguin as a desk toy because it makes the ‘She Geek’ in me smile, reminding me of the Linux logo!

It appears to be a typical wind up critter, but like the other scores in my post yesterday from Reach and Teach ‘ten under $10′ it’s FAR from some lame ‘kids meal’ toxic action figure, it comes from a green eco-sustainable company, Plan Toys with lots of feel good factor here…

Each lil’ fella is made of  “…natural rubberwood recycled from rubber tress no longer able to produce latex; wood is stabilized with a time consuming chemical-free kiln drying process. Non-formaldehyde glue is used in place of the traditional toxic wood glue. Non-toxic, water based dyes provides colors.”

So just by gifting it hopefully you’re tickling the imagination of what ‘can be done’ on a shoestring budget while imparting your own values of ‘choices’ when it comes to what companies get your hard-earned green.   (more…)

Dec. 20, 2009 In my last post I went for ‘free media finds that are priceless year-round,’ today I’ll nudge it up a notch to prove you can gift meaning and mindfulness without spending a fortune (not even a Hamilton!)

I attended the Peace and Social Justice crafts fair and barely made it past the Reach and Teach table and Free the Children’s Me to We booth finding tidbits to use in my own media literacy and counter-marketing work that ranged from the leather look Self Esteem Passport ($6.95) and Diary of a Would Be Princess ($8) to cartoon novels like “Dude, That’s Rude” ($8.95) and “Who Would Want Those Apples Anyway” about organic fare and kids’ perception of flawed fruit. ($4.95)

Like other favorite finds such as the Truce Toy Action Guide (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment) Reach and Teach is big on nonviolence, healthy living, anti-commercialism, and human rights, so it’s quite a good fit of cool, curated finds in a catalog of goodies…Kinda like one stop shopping at an arts fair with juried entries of someone with similar tastes! (more…)

Dec. 16, 2009 Got gifts? Not sure when we jumped from “Black Friday/Cyber Monday” to bold-type headlines of “last minute gifts!”—but I’m still holding my own on the ‘haven’t stepped in a mall’ front…

So today I’m going to add a few FREE ‘last minute finds’ that are literally and figuratively priceless.

To up the ante and make it tougher, I’ll remove the physical ‘givens’ like hugs and help and chore coupons and focus exclusively on media freebies beyond the obvious ‘iPhone apps’ since not everyone is a mobile maven.

First on my list? An excellent post by Koka Sexton (an avatar sounding name if ever I’ve heard one!) on “22 most unknown free things anyone can have,” ranging from distinguished MIT open courses to comic books, BBC language lessons to Sephora samples. Quite frankly, it puts my picks to shame…but since I’m focusing only on MEDIA magic, we’ll start off with free gaming that uses a charity spin!

Games That Give.net is a new site where worthy causes receive the ad revenue which makes the games free! Their theme line? “What are you playing for?” Choose which cause to champion, and their newly launched site (already about to turn over the $10K mark in donations!) will donate 70% of their ad rev to the charity of your choice on the site. So if kids are  gonna have extra screen time, blizzards or not this winter break…make it count! Here’s more about their team. Second find? (more…)

Dec. 15, 2009 You know how ‘simple pleasures’ end up being the holiday hits of the season? The gift of time…attention…freebie finds…perspective. (My  Gilmore Girls getaway to wrap up the gift of time in a media package is still being talked about in my home!)

Anyway, every year I get a kick out of ‘predicting’ which little gifts get the ‘uber-cool’ nod, and they’re usually the unexpected ones that appeal to the ‘kid’ in kids…(remember the ‘wiener whistle’ scene with Judge Reinhold playing Neil  in The Santa Clause movie?) Last year my pick was the artsy ‘Smencils’…rainbow hued, scented colored pencils, complete with corn-based biodegradable ‘freshness tube’…

This year, I’m thinking maybe it’ll be the “colorflame” candle stocking stuffers that light up in purple, red, green, blue and orange. For $3, that’s a lot of wow factor for my Jan. 4 bday cake! Plus, I bought ‘em recalling the retro  ‘oohs & ahhs’ of my childhood when my dad would let me toss those colorful crystals into the fireplace.

Oh, c’mon admit it…Haven’t you ever dug into the DIY chemistry questions of kid stuff…like how to color fire, or how those cryogenic carnie creations of “Dippin’ Dots” are made? It seems it’s still the simple stuff that gets the hoots and hollers…So I get a kick out of backflipping the message to a variation on the theme that still ends up being a hit, albeit more affordably. (more…)