Archive for the ‘American Academy of Pediatrics’ Category
Posted by Marti Weston on May 16, 2013
Listen to a Los Angles CBS video about the controversy and read the story.
In light of the extraordinary negative media messages about body image in children’s lives, ensuring the strength and confidence of preadolescents and teens is a continuing challenge for parents and teachers. So much of the advertising markets thinness, popularity, sexuality, and one type of attractiveness, so it can be difficult for adults to counteract the effect of the of this pressure on a child.
Sometimes the entire ethos of a company emphasizes values that we do not want children in our care to adopt.
A distressing article over at the Huffington Post, A Message to Abercrombie’s CEO from a Former Fat Girl by Sara Taney Humphreys, highlights how one company has made exclusion, intentionally or otherwise, a part of its mission. Humpheys’ article isn’t about something that happened recently, but rather a quote from a 2006 Salon article about the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch. While the article is more than six years old, the comments are disturbing, especially given the number of children who like to shop at Abercrombie and the many others who struggle with body image. Below is a quote from the Salon article.
As far as Jeffries is concerned, America’s unattractive, overweight or otherwise undesirable teens can shop elsewhere. “In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” he says. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either.”
You can also listen to this ABC Chicago television story (after an airlines advertisement), including interviews with teenagers — many of whom can fit into the Abercrombie clothes but choose not to buy them. The teens are demonstrating at one of the stores in Chicago.
You might also want to look over the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) statement on media and children.
Posted in advertising, American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, marketing to kids, media messages, parents and technology | Tagged: Abercrombie & Fitch, advertising, American Academy of Pediatrics, body image, exclusion, exposure to advertising, media messages, Salon | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on April 15, 2013
Check out helpful links for parents are at the end of this column.
We are all still reeling from the explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
For parents of digital kids, who with their children take all-the-time media access for granted, the greatest challenge is to figure out how to moderate what their youngsters see and hear in the days immediately following an event. It’s especially difficult because adults often want to be updated continuously by media resources.
Here’s a Boston Globe article with suggestions about how parents can help children feel safer and more secure after frightening events. Written by pediatrician Claire McCarthy for her MD Mama column, the piece also offers links to additional resources on parenting after scary, media saturated events. Dr. McCarthy reminds parents that they can get their updates from smartphones and laptops rather than keeping a radio or television turned on.
This graphic links to the MGH article.
Best Quote
“…as parents, we don’t get the luxury of processing and dealing separately from our children.”
Massachusetts General Hospital, where many injured people were taken, has posted How to Talk to Kids Following the Boston Marathon Tragedy, including the excellent graphic on the left.
You might also find it helpful to read blog posts, one that I wrote after the 2011 tsunami in Japan, Media Literate Disaster Discussions Balance Concern With Hope, and another, Talking to Children About the News.
Resources for parents and educators are also available at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) website.
Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, and media, digital kids, parents and technology, when tragedies strike | Tagged: Boston Marathon, BostonGlobe, Claire McCarthy, frightening events, media, parenting digital kids | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on April 12, 2013
Designed using images from the Apple website.
I love my iPhone and iPad, and I cannot do many things without them. For children under 13, however, use time should be carefully monitored by each family. Kids today are playing independently with powerful devices, and they — the devices and the children — are not intended to interact in isolation and for long periods without adult supervision.
An article that provides food for thought, Your Phone Verses Your Heart, appeared in the March 23, 2013 New York Times. Also, check out the American Academy of Pediatrics media resources – the pediatricians are making recommendations because they know what they are talking about.
Just today I asked a group of device-savvy fifth graders, most around age 10, if they know anything about SnapChat, the app that deletes pictures in one to ten seconds (leaving plenty of time for a recipient with poor judgement to take a screen shot and save the photo). Just about every hand went up. During a lesson a few months ago I asked them how many of them know how to make a screenshot — and they can all do it in a lot less than ten seconds. Read my SnapChat review here.
A Few Social Media Supervision Suggestions Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 21st Century parenting, acceptable use, American Academy of Pediatrics, digital devices and gadgets, digital kids, parent child conversations, parents and technology | Tagged: acceptable use, American Academy of Pediatrics, digital devices, family conversations, parenting digital kids, setting digital limits, social networking | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on April 2, 2013
For several months I’ve been carrying around a New York Times article, How Advertising Targets Our Children, from the February 11, 2013 edition. Written by pediatrician Perri Klass the Well Blog post points out that recently published research links, even more strongly, the exposure of alcohol advertising to a child’s movement toward unhealthy behaviors.
Check out the Media Resources at HealthyChildren.org.
Dr. Klass writes about Exposure to Alcohol Advertisements and Teenage Alcohol-Related Problems (abstract), a Pediatrics article describing new research that finds a stronger association between unhealthy behaviors and the amount of advertising in the lives of children and adolescents. The researchers followed nearly 4,000 children in grades seven through ten.
Read the full text of the Pediatrics article.
In her article Klass quotes the researchers, experts from the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy, and pediatrics professors from the Children’s Hospital at Stanford University who have studied the links between childhood obesity and screen time.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in advertising, American Academy of Pediatrics, digital kids, digital world conversations, media diet, media literacy, screen time | Tagged: advertising, American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, exposure to advertising, Perri Klass, screen time, unhealthy behavior | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on November 22, 2012
As we approach the end of 2012 and the holiday season that will surely introduce new gadgets and devices into many of our households, it’s a good time to reassess family digital expectations.
Learning in the 21st Century requires that children competently use digital resources much of the time. To do this each student needs plenty of experience making choices, understanding limits, and mastering the art of filtering out what is immaterial at any given point. Children who get this guidance at home and at school are the most prepared to become effective learners.
These eight tips aim to help parents of digital kids to get started. If you teach, consider sharing them with your students’ parents.
1. Place computers and tablet devices in central, well-traveled locations — away from bedrooms and private spaces.
2. Make adults, not children, the administrators on all computers, including laptops until you are certain of each child’s decision-making.
3. Print and post rules and expectations. Specify the times when you do not want your children using computers. Emphasize that your family rules are in effect when your child goes to a friend’s house.
4. Help your children to come up with a strategy that helps them to distance themselves whenever and wherever inappropriate digital activities occur.
5. If your children have mobile phones, have you discussed appropriate use, texting, and limits on a phone’s digital camera? Download a PDF of my cell phone contract. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 21st Century Learning, American Academy of Pediatrics, digital learning, digital parenting, parents and technology, teaching digital kids, wireless gadgets | Tagged: American Academy of Pediatrics, digital devices, digital kids, digital life, digital parenting, gadgets | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on February 17, 2012
Today the medium is a lot less about a message and more about the toys!
Just about everyone — parents, teachers, grandparents, youth leaders — should read the New York Times article, Hasbro, Intent on Expanding Its Toy Brands, Is Playing All the Angles.
The days of interesting television shows with good story plots are fast disappearing because many of today’s shows are a composite of toys and programming about those toys.
Concerned parents and other adults may want to consider additional limits on television and carefully evaluate whether the end result of a toy or game purchase is simply more television watching.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, marketing to kids, media literacy, parents and technology | Tagged: Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, digital kids, digital parenting, marketing to chidren, New York Time, television, toys and games | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on February 7, 2012
Read the bill.
Today, February 7, 2012, take a few minutes to ask your United States Representative to support the Do Not Track Kids Act, a bill that seeks to prevent the tracking and collecting of kids’ online information and activities.
Parents and educators know how much children and teens love to explore the digital world, and that’s not going to change. What needs to change is the way companies collect information about kids’ digital activities and then use it for marketing purposes, much of it exploitative. The Do Not Track Kids Act aims to stop tracking the activities of children and adolescents and encourages companies to adopt a Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, Do Not Track Kids Act, kids changing lives, online tracking, parents and technology, privacy | Tagged: Common Sense Media, digital kids, digital parenting, Do Not Track Kids Act, online tracking, privacy, tracking kids, United States House of Representatives | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on November 30, 2011
I’ve just read a November 28, 2011 Bloomberg article, iPad Crazed Toddlers Spur Holiday Sales. OK, the title is a bit overly dramatic, but it’s an interesting read, describing the demand for tablets of all kinds and kids’ motivation to use them.
Seriously, though, the tone of the article makes me worry a bit. As a confirmed techie, gadget lover, educational technology specialist, teacher, and parent, I know that children also need lots of outside play time and plenty of experiences working/playing with others. We don’t know what the jobs will be in 15 years when these kids are looking for employment, but we do know that their superior technology skills will matter little if they don’t have great people skills — understanding how to share, take turns, and work collaboratively.
The article reminds parents about the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations about no screen time (or very little of it) for children under two years of age. And please — this is a plea from me — avoid, as much as possible, using these digital devices as electronic pacifiers, the term used in the article by Victoria Nash of the Oxford Internet Institute (England).
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Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, digital devices and gadgets, digital parenting, parents and technology, tech free time | Tagged: American Academy of Pediatrics, digital devices, digital kids, digital parenting, Goodnight iPad, iPad | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on October 26, 2011
Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in America, p 11
The New York Times has reported on a Common Sense Media (CSM) sponsored study, Zero to Eight, Children’s Media Use in America (PDF). The Times article, Screen Time Higher Than Ever for Children, describes the study and points out that kids are in front of a screen more than ever despite the recommendations of their doctors.
After reading this I am feeling a bit more pessimistic than usual. Adults are used to tossing health caution to the wind for themselves, but we were vigilant about protecting the health of our children. Now we seem to disregard the recommendations of pediatricians — the very people who can help us do the most possible to ensure that our kids grown into strong and productive adults. Are we as a society less and less concerned about the development of strong minds? Times reporter Tamar Lewin writes:
Despite the American Academy of Pediatrics’ longstanding recommendations to the contrary, children under 8 are spending more time than ever in front of screens…
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, answers to media questions, digital devices and gadgets, media literacy, parents and technology | Tagged: American Academy of Pediatrics, Ari Brown, children, Common Sense Media, James Steyer, media, media literacy, screen time | Leave a Comment »
