Shaping Youth at Sundance: Film Finds +Parenting Perspectives

Feb. 21, 2014 For the first time ever, Sundance Film Institute added a Sundance Kids division, to introduce and inspire youth with indie films...alas, I couldn’t find anyone who knew about it.It's been a month since Sundance, and though I've asked around repeatedly, even fellow media/screenwriter pals like Dana Moe Halley, who is covering some of the films focusing on families … [Read more...]

Unplug: On Summer Hiatus For Digital Detox (Again)

August 17, 2012 Long time readers know I'm a huge fan of 'digital detox' to give writing a break, focus fully on family at the end of summer, and regroup for the back to school scene... I've written about the daunting demands of an 'always on' culture and the need for a screen free exodus multiple times in posts like "Media Unplugged: Clamping the IV Digital Drip"... And … [Read more...]

Media Unplugged: Clamping The IV Digital Drip (Pt1)

Dec. 14, 2015 Update Don't miss this Wall Street Journal article, "Is your Doctor Getting Too Much Screen Time? which is a huge patient/service complaint and a disconnect especially among seniors navigating health care systems often being told to do things online when they are not even conversant in that "language." It's a digital health "epic fail" on the transition tactics … [Read more...]

Media Slave? ReShaping Habits For More Summer Fun

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 … [Read more...]

Media Addiction vs. Agency: The Context of Control Part Two

Jan. 13, 2010 My brother AND my mother sent me this little cartoon jab which left me snickering and simultaneously standing up to stretch. As evidenced in part one of addiction vs. agency in media management, I'm not the type to be consumed by disordered terminology, symptoms and panic statistics flinging about... If I were, I might have seen it as a dire familial sign or … [Read more...]