Free Blog about Kids and Media - Common Sense Media Blog

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The F Word & Coming Out Online

The other night I was watching Sixteen Candles yet again (I can't help myself) on HBO. I was stunned to hear the word "faggot" spoken by characters at least once if not twice.

Juxtaposed against the recent uproar conservative provacateur Ann Coulter caused recently by calling John Edwards the same word, you can see how far we've come in terms of our sensitivity to the reality that words can hurt.

We've also come amazingly far when it comes to the visibility of gay and lesbian teens. Gay/straight alliances have proliferated in high schools across the country and popular teen dramas like The O.C. and South of Nowhere (and others) have had gay or lesbian storylines. But as visibility has increased so has harrassment and bullying of gay, lesbian, bi and transgender youth at school.

Paris and Nicole go to Fat Camp

The media is buzzing about the new season of The Simple Life in which scary skinny rich girls Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton take on the role of camp counselor, including counseling kids at a fat camp (or as E! prefers to call it, a weight loss/ fitness camp).

From the Boston Herald: "So what on earth will Richie, who has admitted to having weight issues, promote to the roly-poly kids? Bulimia? Anorexia? And the only fitness Hilton seems to get is walking the red carpet."

Disney's New Princess

OK, so probably almost every parent of a girl under 5 is getting pretty tired of the whole Disney princess phenomenon. How many tiaras and sparkly wands does one child need?

But when Disney announced last week that it created its first black princess -- the star of the New Orleans-based animated musical The Frog Princess, we said: Phew. It's about time.

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Keep Kids Active During Spring Break

Spring Break is almost here, and while that might mean sunny beaches or ski slopes for some, millions of kids will be spending their time off close to home -- with television, iPods, computers, cell phones, and a host of other media gadgets.

In a world where kids spend an average of 45 hours per week with the media when they are in school, it’s a sure bet that kids on Spring Break are going to look to fill their extended free time with even more television, movies, video games, Web sites and text messages.

Preventing Obesity in Our Kids

The American Academy of Family Physicians put out a tip sheet for parents concerned about preventing obesity in their kids. Among the tips: Limit T.V. watching, and limit fast food to once a week.

We'd like to add something else to that list: Teach your kids to deconstruct media messages. Here are some question to ask your kids, from media education consultant Frank Baker.

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Food For Thought: Media to Digest for Healthier Kids

March is National Nutrition Month, so Shaping Youth is adding to the ADA’s Eat Right Web resources with some fun and worthy positive picks in food media to share with your kids, boost their media literacy IQ, and counter-market the cartoon pitches for empty calorie crud. Here goes:

I’ve always loved the SmartMouth interactive site for kids, but my new discovery is the U.K.’s “Which?” site, revealing kids’ food marketing ploys in a fabulously engaging digital ditty called “The Interactive Bedroom.” The cartoon door entices, “Knock, Knock! Open the door to find out who’s manipulating our children’s diets!”

TV's Wifey Fetish

This article was written by Sara Libby and originally appeared on the Popandpolitics.com blog. It is reprinted here with permission.

From the catty and vacant girls on shows like America’s Next Top Model and Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll to the sexed-up, lingerie-clad corpses on C.S.I., women mostly get short shrift on TV. A new trend is making females even more one-dimensional. The names of the shows say it all.

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Prime-Time Torture

Before 9/11, fewer than four acts of torture showed up on prime-time television each year, according to Human Rights First, a nonprofit, nonpartisan international human rights organization.

But over the last five years, the number of scenes of torture and abuse our kids see has grown into the hundreds, with regular appearances on TV shows like 24, Lost, and Heroes -- which are watched by millions of teens and tweens.

Kids Getting More Obesity Surgery

Need more evidence that obesity is becoming a big problem with kids? According to new research, American teens are having obesity surgery at soaring rates.

The surgery rates for 12-19 year olds tripled between 2000 and 2003, and as many as 1,000 teens may have obesity surgery this year. (Read the full story from the Associated Press here)

Since 1960 the number of kids who are overweight has tripled; childhood obesity is now described as "epidemic" by the medical community. The American Academy of Pediatrics calls the costs associated with childhood obesity "staggering."

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Workshop: The Girl's Guide to Getting REAL Tour

True story:

• 92 percent of teen girls would like to change something about the way they look.
  
• 86 percent of the approx. 10 million American girls and women who suffer from an eating disorder report the onset of their condition by age 20.
  
• 74 percent of girls say they are under pressure to please everyone.

Girls don’t have to let disrespect and unrealistic ideals get them down. They can get REAL instead…

This October, I'm teaming up with the amazing Audrey Brashich, author of ALL MADE UP: A Girl’s Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype & Celebrating Real Beauty, to deliver an empowering workshop for teen girls.