Shaping Youth BETA BLOG

July 27, 2010 “Why aren’t you posting on Shaping Youth every day like you used to, Amy? Are you on summer hiatus like the networks?” Um, I guess that’s what you’d call it.

Frankly, it never occurred to me that I needed to ‘inform’ people that I was trying to eke out some ‘white space’ and life balance in the name of healthy media consumption, because it seemed like an obvious extension of our Shaping Youth nonprofit philosophy: “Don’t let media define you.”

True, there’s plenty of exciting media action that will impact youth, educators and ALL consumers of media, from mixes, music, mashups and mobile with the new Fair Use and DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) rulings.

Today’s  online privacy hearings in D.C. with Q&A of industry media pros from Facebook, Google, Apple and all the media giants are watchworthy for anyone and everyone. (especially those of us with high school teens quoting 1984 and freshly minted mind games after seeing Christopher Nolan’s Inception last week planting the seed for me pondering where privacy starts and stops in the ol’ noggin!)

Truth be told, if I kept on top of every single way that media and marketing is impacting kids 24/7, my office white board would like a subway map and my to-do list would be circular ‘To infinity and beyond!’ (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 9, 2010 “There’s an obsession among many teens today for all things vampire, and it looks like the craze is now leaving a mark…literally.”

So goes the opener for CBS News Early Morning Show this week titled “Teen Twilight Trend: Love Bites”…Coupla things here: First, in our media-hyped culture of ‘three makes a trend’ I’d like to lob the powerball question into the “who says so” media literacy 101 line of inquiry, and add that the only reason I’m even commenting about it is two people I respect were on the show: Dr. Michael Rich of CMCH Boston (aka The Mediatrician) and Radical Parenting’s youthful sage, Vanessa VanPetten.

To both their credits, they deflected whether or not this was indeed a ‘trend’ vs sensationalist seeding of a ‘TwiHard’ trilogy of love bite-themed stories (two more BEFORE the Early Show aired, here and here and scads thereafter) and instead, they both focused upon the unhealthy aspects of both the physical and mental degradation of teen dating cues when ‘ownership’ and ‘possession obsession’ comes into play.

Second thing I’d like to point out is the immediate inclination for copycat media influences to bubble over into a brouhaha blame game blurring the lines between cause and effect as we see so often in horror flicks and antisocial nutcases gone awry tying their personal responsibility on what pretty much amounts to a ‘Twinkie defense.’ (Read “Teen Bites 11 people, Blames it on Twilight” to catch my drift) (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 2, 2010 When I first saw this  note in my social media stream it raised my media literacy eyebrows to explore further.

It said, “Interesting: McAfee has a very diff take on their own study  than does CNET’s Larry Magid.”

First thing that popped into my brain was, “That’s NOT surprising, research is only relevant when one can deconstruct the background of who’s doing the study.” Both McAfee (anti-virus giant) and CNET’s Larry Magid (tech reporter and co-founder of Connect Safely) are extremely credible resources, so how do you make sense of data when it comes to stats and studies skewing points of view with such vast polarity?

Rule number one, read “How to Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff” an oldie but goodie that my parents used to summon whenever they had a smartypants at the dinner table. Number two. Summon your own critical thinking skills. McAfee’s business is based on fear-driven motivational triggers in the tech realm, CNET’s business is delivering tech news and reviews…it seems only natural that a study on youth online safety would trigger different levels of pragmatic information.

Number three. Evaluate the headline. The minute I saw the study name, “The Secret Online Lives of Teens” my thoughts went to ABC Family teen soaps versus academic white paper; it smacks of sensationalism and sales. I’m not saying the McAfee study is invalid. I AM saying… (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…)