Cyber Bullies, by Teri Brown. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://includes.iparenting.com/layout/article_print.php?aid=974&type=1
Cyber bullying is a “silent persecution sent by e-mail, text messaging, cell phones and Web pages”. The most troubling aspect of cyber bullying is the anonymity of it. Cyber bullies operate in a world of no confrontation, with very little chance of getting caught. Most of all, cyber bullies don’t have to see anyone’s face. According to this article, one of the newer ways to cyber bully is to use a camera phone. A picture of the victim is altered in an unflattering manner, then it is posted on specially set up Web sites.
There are steps to take to stop cyber bullying, and the first step is open communication. Victims of cyber bullying need to tell their parents, and once the parents know, it is important that the parent not blame the child who is getting bullied. Many times when the child is getting bullied, the parents might take away the cell phone thinking that this will solve the problem, but instead the child thinks they are being punished. What the parents need to do is to teach their child never to give out personal information online. Also, it is important that tweens and teens not to share their passwords and user names. Most important, victims should never answer harassing messages. Parents should also be aware that blocking software for emails and instant messaging is available. Victims of cyber bullying working with their parents and school personnel have the best chance of not suffering from cyber bullying.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Daily Media Use Among Children
UNESCO Bangkok New and & Events: “Daily Media Use Among Children and Teens Up Dramatically From Five Years Ago. UNESCO, Bangkok Office. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.unescobkk.org/information/news-display/article/dailyu-media-use-among-children-and-teens-up-dramatically-from-five-years-ago
Kaiser Family Foundation conducted this large-scale study concerning media usage by 8-18 year-olds. The findings show large increases with media use from this age group. Simply speaking, this increase in media usage can be explained by the fact that 8-18 year-olds now have access to many forms of media 24 hours per day. Also, with the advent of new mobile media devices, teens can multi-task by using two media gadgets at the same time. With this age group cell cell phone ownership has increased from 39% to 66% , and ipod ownership has increased from 18% to 76%.
I find some of the information about media in the homes to be troubling. Less that 30% of the youth studied have rules governing media usage in the home. When there are rules concerning media use in the home, media usage drops by three hours per day. 64% of the youth stated that the TV is left on during meals. This speaks to lack of communication around the dinner table, and that is if the family eats around a dinner table and not in front of the TV with TV tables. 45% said that the TV is left on most of the time.
This study shows a gender gap concerning media usage. Girls spend more time using social networking, listening to music, and reading. Boys spend more time playing consol video games, computer games, and going to video websites like YouTube.
Kaiser Family Foundation conducted this large-scale study concerning media usage by 8-18 year-olds. The findings show large increases with media use from this age group. Simply speaking, this increase in media usage can be explained by the fact that 8-18 year-olds now have access to many forms of media 24 hours per day. Also, with the advent of new mobile media devices, teens can multi-task by using two media gadgets at the same time. With this age group cell cell phone ownership has increased from 39% to 66% , and ipod ownership has increased from 18% to 76%.
I find some of the information about media in the homes to be troubling. Less that 30% of the youth studied have rules governing media usage in the home. When there are rules concerning media use in the home, media usage drops by three hours per day. 64% of the youth stated that the TV is left on during meals. This speaks to lack of communication around the dinner table, and that is if the family eats around a dinner table and not in front of the TV with TV tables. 45% said that the TV is left on most of the time.
This study shows a gender gap concerning media usage. Girls spend more time using social networking, listening to music, and reading. Boys spend more time playing consol video games, computer games, and going to video websites like YouTube.
Teen and Tween Health
Tween and Teen Health, Teen sleep: Why is your teen so tired? By Mayo Clinic Staff. Retrieved July 26, 2010 from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/teens-health/CCOOO19
Many tween and teen parents worry why their son or daughter is so tired. The simple answer is that they do not get enough sleep, but the problem is not that simple. Everyone has an internal clock that influences body temperature, sleep cycles, appetite, and hormonal changes. The processes that follow the cycle of this 24-hour clock are called circadian rhythms. Before adolescence, these rhythms direct most children to become tired around 8 or 9 o’clock. With the onset of puberty, these cycles change. Now, the teen won’t feel sleepy until 11 o’clock or later.
With many obligations such as part-time jobs, homework, and early school start times, many teens don’t get the nine hours of sleep they require. This can lead to some troubling consequences such as irritability, difficulty with concentration, mood swings, and behavioral problems. Also, overtired teen drivers with little driving experience getting behind the wheel can lead to serious accidents.
What I have written above leads to the argument as to why middle and high schools don’t start their classes later? For example, if school started at 9 o’clock, more tweens and teens would get their required nine hours of sleep.
Many tween and teen parents worry why their son or daughter is so tired. The simple answer is that they do not get enough sleep, but the problem is not that simple. Everyone has an internal clock that influences body temperature, sleep cycles, appetite, and hormonal changes. The processes that follow the cycle of this 24-hour clock are called circadian rhythms. Before adolescence, these rhythms direct most children to become tired around 8 or 9 o’clock. With the onset of puberty, these cycles change. Now, the teen won’t feel sleepy until 11 o’clock or later.
With many obligations such as part-time jobs, homework, and early school start times, many teens don’t get the nine hours of sleep they require. This can lead to some troubling consequences such as irritability, difficulty with concentration, mood swings, and behavioral problems. Also, overtired teen drivers with little driving experience getting behind the wheel can lead to serious accidents.
What I have written above leads to the argument as to why middle and high schools don’t start their classes later? For example, if school started at 9 o’clock, more tweens and teens would get their required nine hours of sleep.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tweens and Media: What is Too Adult
Tweens and Media: What’s Too Adult?: NPR. Retrieved July 15, 2010 from http://www.npr.org/templates/storuy/story.php?storyId=5595146
This article deals with the delicate issue about what information is available to tweens through media sources. There is an issue here that tweens are exposed to much more sexual material than there was in the past, but according to Connie Biewald, a sex education teacher, there understanding is about as deep as it was twenty years ago.
Parents are given the job of where to draw the line. Wheelock College Professor Diane Levin makes an interesting point that our culture is so saturated with sexual images, and some parents may not realize how their children process these images. Tweens don’t have the life experience that allow for deep understanding of the sexual images that are thrown at them. Tweens might want to look sexy when they don’t know what sexy is according to Levin. The key here is that tweens must have an open line of communication with their parents.
The article continues with an analysis of the Barbie doll. The author states that the Barbie message has been the same for over forty years (big breasts, flashy clothes, and a cute car). The author makes the point that the message is diluted these days when such items as a 2T shirt for a toddler is available with the words “juicy” where the breasts will eventually be.
The important message here is that tween girls should have a healthy body image. They feel powerful because they are deep thinkers and accomplished, not because they are sexy and drive a cute car.
This article deals with the delicate issue about what information is available to tweens through media sources. There is an issue here that tweens are exposed to much more sexual material than there was in the past, but according to Connie Biewald, a sex education teacher, there understanding is about as deep as it was twenty years ago.
Parents are given the job of where to draw the line. Wheelock College Professor Diane Levin makes an interesting point that our culture is so saturated with sexual images, and some parents may not realize how their children process these images. Tweens don’t have the life experience that allow for deep understanding of the sexual images that are thrown at them. Tweens might want to look sexy when they don’t know what sexy is according to Levin. The key here is that tweens must have an open line of communication with their parents.
The article continues with an analysis of the Barbie doll. The author states that the Barbie message has been the same for over forty years (big breasts, flashy clothes, and a cute car). The author makes the point that the message is diluted these days when such items as a 2T shirt for a toddler is available with the words “juicy” where the breasts will eventually be.
The important message here is that tween girls should have a healthy body image. They feel powerful because they are deep thinkers and accomplished, not because they are sexy and drive a cute car.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tween Marketing
“Marketing and Tweens”, by Alicia de Mesa. Retrieved July 9, 2010 from http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content.com
This article appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek on October 12, 2005, but the material is still relevant today.
The American Girl books, dolls, and accessories are given a lot of attention in this article. The American Girl Products are aimed at girls between the ages of 7 and 11.
The American Girl Series deal with historic ethnic girls, such as Kaya, a Nez Perce from 1764 and Molly, an Irish immigrant growing up during World War II. The dolls can cost $79, but the spending does not stop here. During the writing of this article, Mattel, the parent company of The American Girl Series, was planning a 40,000 square American Girl Store, which will feature a 150-seat theater for a live Broadway-style “American Girl Revue”. There will also be a hair salon, where the girls can get their doll’s hair done. Finally, there will be a café where the girls can have tea with their dolls. I am not making this up.
The article goes on to say that the Disney and many of the other big players are busy marketing cell phones to tweens. They say they are doing this so the parents will know where their children are, but I question whether Disney and Verizon are doing this so the tweens can mimic teens and eventually want bigger and better phones.
The most troubling segment of this article dealt with how the manufactures ascertain what is going to be hot and what is not. Girls Intelligence Agency has set up a computer network called Best Friends Forever. What they do is give girls prototype items for the tween market. The girls discuss the items on Best Friends Forever Network, and report resulting comments back to a Girls Intelligence Agency agent. Seems Orwellian to me.
This article appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek on October 12, 2005, but the material is still relevant today.
The American Girl books, dolls, and accessories are given a lot of attention in this article. The American Girl Products are aimed at girls between the ages of 7 and 11.
The American Girl Series deal with historic ethnic girls, such as Kaya, a Nez Perce from 1764 and Molly, an Irish immigrant growing up during World War II. The dolls can cost $79, but the spending does not stop here. During the writing of this article, Mattel, the parent company of The American Girl Series, was planning a 40,000 square American Girl Store, which will feature a 150-seat theater for a live Broadway-style “American Girl Revue”. There will also be a hair salon, where the girls can get their doll’s hair done. Finally, there will be a café where the girls can have tea with their dolls. I am not making this up.
The article goes on to say that the Disney and many of the other big players are busy marketing cell phones to tweens. They say they are doing this so the parents will know where their children are, but I question whether Disney and Verizon are doing this so the tweens can mimic teens and eventually want bigger and better phones.
The most troubling segment of this article dealt with how the manufactures ascertain what is going to be hot and what is not. Girls Intelligence Agency has set up a computer network called Best Friends Forever. What they do is give girls prototype items for the tween market. The girls discuss the items on Best Friends Forever Network, and report resulting comments back to a Girls Intelligence Agency agent. Seems Orwellian to me.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Terrible Tween Television
Terrible Teen Television by Traci Garling retrieved June 21, 2010 from: http://www.newuniversity.org/2010/01/features/terrible-tween-television/
Traci Garling takes us on a tour or tween television since the early 1980s. She makes the argument that tween television has changed drastically. Gone are the days of TGIF on Friday nights. Also gone are “The Rugrats” and “The Mickey Mouse Club” We have come a long ways from those days. Newer offerings include “The Suite Life on Deck”, a comedy in which twin boys live on a cruise ship. True, I haven’t seen the show but the hidden message might be that luxury is something to yearn for.
Disney Television started to make their switch from family entertainment to shows about real teens and preteens with “Lizzie McGuire” around ten years ago. Lizzie got into the ordinary teen mischief, but she always learned something in the end.
The next shift was The Era of The Tween. Along with the television shows such as “Hanna Montana” came the merchandising. Hanna Montana notebooks have been omnipresent. For $63.17 you can get a Jonas Brothers comforter and pillow. So, if you have the money you can have your idols with you all the time.
The Era of the Tween morphed some more featuring such shows as “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” and “The Geek”, which author Traci Garling writes are less family oriented and more TV 14.
The exposure of teen stars and there doings go beyond TV. Internet gossip blogs keep tweens informed with the “secret lives” of their teen idols.
This whole trend is troubling. I don’t think it is healthy to have teens idols as role models, especially when the merchandisers are on the sidelines ready to sell you something that will make you look just like your idol. The only checks and balances in this whole process are the parents, but that is not a given when the parents have an opportunity to buy something for their child that will make her/him happy and just like her/his friends.
It is a given that TV for tweens has changed, and I haven’t seen many arguments that it is a change for the better.
Traci Garling takes us on a tour or tween television since the early 1980s. She makes the argument that tween television has changed drastically. Gone are the days of TGIF on Friday nights. Also gone are “The Rugrats” and “The Mickey Mouse Club” We have come a long ways from those days. Newer offerings include “The Suite Life on Deck”, a comedy in which twin boys live on a cruise ship. True, I haven’t seen the show but the hidden message might be that luxury is something to yearn for.
Disney Television started to make their switch from family entertainment to shows about real teens and preteens with “Lizzie McGuire” around ten years ago. Lizzie got into the ordinary teen mischief, but she always learned something in the end.
The next shift was The Era of The Tween. Along with the television shows such as “Hanna Montana” came the merchandising. Hanna Montana notebooks have been omnipresent. For $63.17 you can get a Jonas Brothers comforter and pillow. So, if you have the money you can have your idols with you all the time.
The Era of the Tween morphed some more featuring such shows as “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” and “The Geek”, which author Traci Garling writes are less family oriented and more TV 14.
The exposure of teen stars and there doings go beyond TV. Internet gossip blogs keep tweens informed with the “secret lives” of their teen idols.
This whole trend is troubling. I don’t think it is healthy to have teens idols as role models, especially when the merchandisers are on the sidelines ready to sell you something that will make you look just like your idol. The only checks and balances in this whole process are the parents, but that is not a given when the parents have an opportunity to buy something for their child that will make her/him happy and just like her/his friends.
It is a given that TV for tweens has changed, and I haven’t seen many arguments that it is a change for the better.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Marketing to Tweens
Media Awareness Network, “Special Issues for Tweens and Teens”, accessed on June 21, 2010 from:
http://www.media-awarenessca./english/parents/marketing/issues_teens_marketing.cfm
This is a disturbing article dealing with the “tween market”. According to the article, advertising to these kids has a specific market for the ages of 8-12, and they are anxious to develop a sophisticated self-image.
Industry research shows that tweens don’t consider themselves children anymore, and accordingly the Toy Manufactures have changed their target age from birth to 14 to birth to 10.
A very troubling thought from this article is as follows: “By treating pre-adolescents as independent, mature consumers, marketers have been very successful in removing the gatekeepers (parents) from the picture-messages about body image, sexuality, relationships and violence.” It reminds me of giving a drivers license to a twelve-year-old.
For so many tweens it is important to be cool and the marketers waste no time on capitalizing on this age-old insecurity. Some companies actually hire “cool hunters” and “cultural spies” to bring back the latest trends.
Tween attitudes concerning body image and sexuality are attempted to be forged by advertisers that promote thin, fit, and beautiful. Not everyone can be thin, fit, and beautiful, and it is a disservice from the advertisers who give the same message to all tweens and teens. These messages are the act of packaging girlhood and boyhood. According to the marketers, tween girls are “pretty and sexy and are obsesses with boys, friends, shopping, pop stars and celebrities. Tween boys are independent and strong, are preoccupied with sports, video games, adventure, cars, music, and hanging out with friends.”
Looking at the tween market is a scary thing. To think that a bunch of people actually can mold an age group to their liking for profit is free market capitalism taking a nosedive.
http://www.media-awarenessca./english/parents/marketing/issues_teens_marketing.cfm
This is a disturbing article dealing with the “tween market”. According to the article, advertising to these kids has a specific market for the ages of 8-12, and they are anxious to develop a sophisticated self-image.
Industry research shows that tweens don’t consider themselves children anymore, and accordingly the Toy Manufactures have changed their target age from birth to 14 to birth to 10.
A very troubling thought from this article is as follows: “By treating pre-adolescents as independent, mature consumers, marketers have been very successful in removing the gatekeepers (parents) from the picture-messages about body image, sexuality, relationships and violence.” It reminds me of giving a drivers license to a twelve-year-old.
For so many tweens it is important to be cool and the marketers waste no time on capitalizing on this age-old insecurity. Some companies actually hire “cool hunters” and “cultural spies” to bring back the latest trends.
Tween attitudes concerning body image and sexuality are attempted to be forged by advertisers that promote thin, fit, and beautiful. Not everyone can be thin, fit, and beautiful, and it is a disservice from the advertisers who give the same message to all tweens and teens. These messages are the act of packaging girlhood and boyhood. According to the marketers, tween girls are “pretty and sexy and are obsesses with boys, friends, shopping, pop stars and celebrities. Tween boys are independent and strong, are preoccupied with sports, video games, adventure, cars, music, and hanging out with friends.”
Looking at the tween market is a scary thing. To think that a bunch of people actually can mold an age group to their liking for profit is free market capitalism taking a nosedive.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Naked Reading-Chapter 4
Lessesne, T. S. (2006). Naked Reading (Chapter Four). Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
I have taught reading to the tweens for a long time, and one of the most difficult things to do is keep the students reading. Teri Lesesne has presented a logical and easy to follow remedy for this problem. Her system is named TARGET: Six Ways for Teachers to Reconnect Kids to Books. TARGET is an acronym for these concepts: Trust, Access, Response, Guidance, Enthusiasm, and Tween-appeal.
Lessesne refers to Trust as “first and foremost”. I couldn’t agree more. Lessesne recommends a survey at the beginning of the year to see the students’ likes and dislikes. This way students can trust that the teacher is on their side when he/she stocks the classroom library.
Students must also trust that the teacher does not have any other motive except the students’ enjoyment of the book.
Secondly, Lesesne speaks of Access. This is also a very important concept. Students must have ready access to the school library and the classroom library. These books must be able to go home. And when a student finishes a assignment, he/she should be able to read, and not be required to complete an enrichment worksheet.
Students must be able to Respond to reading in many ways. I am a great fan of open-ended questions, but much time must be spent to assure that students are able to take full advantage of this method of Response.
Another concept is Guidance. When Lesesne talks about taking readers from here to there she recommends “Reading Ladders” . I especially like the “Humor Ladder”, starting with Captain Underpants and ending with No More Dead Dogs. I sure wish I had this ladder last year when some of my patrons at the library stayed with the Captain all year.
Lesesne also touts Enthusiam . I have, for years, have used a technique of supplying copies of the my read aloud to the students. Many times I have watched the students read ahead and take the book home.
The final step in TARGET is Tween –Appeal . The simple answer to this is that the teacher or librarian has to have a knowledge of what the tweens like, and respect their choices.
I enjoyed this chapter, and I am sure that I will use it as a model to energize all my tween readers.
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