A call to toy companies to stop marketing violence to children

November 4, 2014 by

Here at Marketing, Media and Childhood, we love it when people take action. So I invited reader Catherine Cook of Denver to write a guest post about her petition to Mega Brands (owned by Mattel) to stop shelving toys based on violent video games in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: boys and men in media, marketing gone too far, marketing sex and violence to children, People taking action, video games, violence in the media

Houghton Mifflin brings execution horror into classrooms

September 3, 2014 by

"Houghton Mifflin's Channel One News makes the execution of James Foley the top news story for students down to the third grade. Picture of executioner holding the knife that beheads James Foley is shown to middle school students." Read more: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: captive audience, commercialization of childhood, health issues, industry self-regulation, marketing gone too far, marketing sex and violence to children, media gone too far, media policy, People taking action, technology in schools, violence in the media

What can I do to help protect all children from harmful media messages?

March 26, 2013 by

I spent last weekend at a conference full of energetic and committed people working to protect children from corporate marketing practices that harm children’s health and well-being for profit.  It was the 8th international Consuming Kids Summit in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: boys and men in media, commercialization of childhood, girls and women in media, health issues, marketing gone too far, marketing sex and violence to children, marketing to children, marketing to parents, materialism, media gone too far, media-free time, parent education, screen time

Art inspired by marketers who unfairly target children

March 13, 2013 by

A special treat today. Works of art, one a poem and one a mixed-media drawing/collage, that draw inspiration from a sense that children are unfairly targeted by marketers in our society. This is a work by Massachusetts mixed-media artist Edward … [Read more...]

Filed Under: commercialization of childhood, fathers, Featured, marketing gone too far, marketing sex and violence to children, marketing to children, materialism, Positive marketing and media series, positive media

Zero tolerance: Punishing children for being children

February 20, 2013 by

Just after the 9/11 attack, a friend of mine watched a lot of television coverage. Then she noticed her 3-year-old child building Lego towers and flying little airplanes into them. Kids process their world through play. Also, they mimic what they … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, marketing sex and violence to children, violence in the media

One Billion Rising to demand an end to violence against women

February 13, 2013 by

(Warning: The pictures in this post are disturbing, and I would say that they should not be viewed by children, except that, the problem is children are seeing this kind of thing. You should know.) This international event is happening tomorrow. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: boys and men in media, girls and women in media, marketing sex and violence to children, violence in the media

On the impossibility of protecting children from media violence

January 16, 2013 by

When the kids were younger and watched football and baseball on television, there was a time when they were watching a game and a promo for one of the networks’ other shows came on during the commercial break. My two little boys witnessed, during the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: boys and men in media, fathers, Featured, health issues, marketing sex and violence to children, violence in the media

Around the web raising awareness of harmful messages to children

June 13, 2012 by

 For today, media messages to children that parents should be aware of:Shaping Youth: Boys, Body Image and Sexualization: An Equal Opportunity Destroyer Shaping Youth photoChristian Science Monitor: Disney bans junk-food ads, but seeks to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: body image, boys and men in media, commercialization of childhood, gender stereotyping, girls and women in media, health issues, marketing gone too far, marketing sex and violence to children, marketing to children, media gone too far, Media literacy, violence in the media

BOOK – Gender stereotypes: How boys are harmed by the media’s twisted portrayal of how to be a man

March 16, 2011 by

Book Review The Achilles Effect: What Pop Culture is Teaching Young Boys about MasculinityMy son picked up my copy of The Achilles Effect, by Crystal Smith, and started reading aloud about toy action figures that have bulked up to superhuman … [Read more...]

Filed Under: body image, boys and men in media, fathers, gender stereotyping, marketing sex and violence to children, Media literacy, parent education

NPR’s Diane Rehm asks Michael Eisner about Disneyfication

September 16, 2010 by

Yesterday, Diane Rehm, an NPR talk show host, interviewed former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. In a wide-ranging interview, she questioned Mr. Eisner as to whether the presense of Disney in the lives of children is too large and too influential. For … [Read more...]

Filed Under: commercialization of childhood, Disneyfication, girls and women in media, marketing sex and violence to children, materialism
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