Entries from September 2009 ↓

What really pissed me off about conservative “outrage” about the President of the United States giving a speech to motivate students to stay in school is conservative in-authenticity and duplicity.

The thing is, there really are inappropriate things going on in our schools and I have yet to see conservatives voice any outrage. Capitol One has its logo on my conservative town’s high school sign. That’s marketing that contributes to irresponsible credit card usage, which contributed greatly to our 2008 economic collapse. But, isn’t it great they got a “free” sign?

Let’s face it, we don’t really care what our children are exposed to in this country. We allow marketers and advertisers on Channel One and Bus Radio in our public schools across the nation. Bus Radio has been targeted by the Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood for playing extremely inappropriate commercials for the smutty Beverly Hills 90210 to Kindergartners.

The FCC has recently taken action against Bus Radio.

This is the first time since I began reporting on these issues three years ago that I’ve seen the Federal Communications Commission do a single worthwhile thing. Under President George W. Bush it was a complete free-for-all for marketers and advertisers targeting children in school settings, on playgrounds, and on children’s television. It’s not much better now. God willing, this is only the first step of the FCC coming off the sugar rush of hyper-capitalism to actually do what their supposed to do – protect our children’s brains.

Taken from the CFCC email the FCC charged BusRadio with:

• BusRadio’s claim of a maximum of 8 minutes of ads per hour vastly understates the amount of its commercial content (p. 18).
• BusRadio exploits the relationship between its on-air personalities and young listeners by having its DJs pitch products directly to students, a practice which is prohibited by the FCC in broadcast media for children (p.20).
• BusRadio’s programming and website for students fail to maintain a clear distinction between editorial and commercial content, as required by the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (p.20 & 21).
• BusRadio  “fails to enable parents to avoid exposure of their children to undesirable content” (p.13).
• BusRadio may make school buses less safe by distracting drivers (p.23).

What does this tell me?

What President Obama should do to make sure kids hear his positive message in schools is to BUY AN AD because Conservatives, nay Americans, are more than willing to allow them access to America’s impressionable children.

Make sure it’s only the first step the FCC takes to do. their. job. by signing a CFCC petition to stop marketing sexual and violent PG-13 commercials to preschoolers.

I, personally, am all-out rooting for CCFC’s efforts to ask the Obama Administration, the FCC and the FTC to re-examine policy about children’s television.

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Retailer rue21 profits from sexualizing girls, thinks you should, too

Posted using ShareThis

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Michael Jackson’s untimely death had an unpredictable influence in our house.

Ainsley is now the late Michael Jackson’s biggest fan.

When his death became news wallpaper on the television, internet and radio she heard a lot more of his music and saw his smooth dance moves. Now she can’t get enough.

We’ve been careful to filter what kinds of information she gets about Michael Jackson, for instance, she’s unaware of the child molestation charges. We didn’t allow her to watch Barbara Walters’ interview with Michael’s sister LaToya, though I am sorry I missed it.

This fascination with who she calls, the best pop star in the whole world, has led to some great conversations about plastic surgery.

(Image from Gonzo)

Obviously there is a major difference between what Michael looked like as a young boy on the Thriller album and what he looked like as a 50 year old man.

Ainsley, as well as anyone else, can tell that Michael was a beautiful boy before he had plastic surgery on his nose.

It’s let to quite a number of open discussions about the impact of other people’s words about our looks, how God knows more about what is beautiful than plastic surgeons do, how self-acceptance is better than surgery, whether looks are really important or not, whether someone is great because of their singing and dancing talent or if they are black or white or big nosed or small.

It’s also led to a few awkward discussions about why Michael was looking more like a woman and less like a man as he aged and had surgeries. There’s an inexplicability about Michael Jackson that parents can’t really gloss over. He was undeniably eccentric, weird, mysterious.

Lucky for me, he was a very talented singer and a gifted dancer, because Ainsley is playing the CD over and over. She has asked for a concert on DVD for her birthday, so she can learn his dance moves. She’s also asked for a Michael Jackson birthday cake, which we’ve spent hours designing (thanks Cake Boss).

If you love him so much, why don’t you be Michael Jackson for Halloween? I asked.

I don’t want people to think I’m a boy, she said.

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The American Association of University Women sent me an email inviting my readers to participate in tonight’s big meeting with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The AAUW included a thought provoking list of questions that pertain to the education of girls in particular. Read them and feel free to comment on them in the comments section.

Tonight, Tuesday, September 15, at 8pm ET, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will be holding a national town hall meeting as part of his “Listening and Learning: A Conversation about Education Reform” tour. This tour is in anticipation of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as the No Child Left Behind Act.

Parents, students, educators, and concerned citizens from across the country can participate in the discussion about education reform via telephone and web access. AAUW encourages you to submit a question and be a part of this important process to shape federal education policy. A list of sample questions you can use is below.

Take Action!
Watch the town hall meeting on Tuesday night. You can ask a question during the program by calling in to 888-493-9382, or you can submit your question in advance via the Department of Education’s blog. If you’re not able to tune in Tuesday night, you can watch an archived webcast after the event.

1. Women and girls are traditionally underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. In order to correct this imbalance, do you believe the Elementary and Secondary Schools Act (ESEA) should be amended to include science as a required area of assessment to better identify opportunities to improve girls’ exposure to and achievement in these fields?

2. Girls comprise 49 percent of the high school population, yet they receive only 41 percent of all athletic participation opportunities, amounting to 1.3 million fewer participation opportunities than male high school athletes. In order to ensure compliance with Title IX and provide girls with equal athletic opportunities, do you support requiring high schools to report basic data on the number of female and male students in their athletic programs and the expenditures made for their sports teams?

3. According to studies, eighty-three percent of girls and 79 percent of boys reported having experienced sexual harassment, and over one in four students stated that harassment happens often. More recent research shows that bullying affects nearly one in three American school children in grades six through ten. What steps is the Department of Education taking to combat this problem?

4. It is important to hold schools accountable for demonstrating that they are meeting educational goals. However, it is both problematic and discriminatory to rely on tests as the sole indicator of student progress. Do you believe ESEA should include provisions encouraging the use of multiple measures of student achievement? If so, what other measures would you deem acceptable for measuring student achievement?

5. Over the past several years, many attempts – some of them successful – have been made to weaken public education by diverting public funds to private or religious elementary and secondary schools through various voucher funding schemes. Morally and economically, such programs fly in the face of our nation’s commitment to public education. Moreover, since private and religious schools are not required to observe federal nondiscrimination laws, such as Title IX, vouchers put our students’ civil rights are at risk. Does the Department of Education stand by the idea that our country should provide an excellent education for all children, rather than private school vouchers for a few?

Keep updated on AAUW’s positions on legislation by subscribing to the Washington Update.

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Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen has a list of attributes, habits and characteristics that highly successful women’s parents share.

Looked at another way, parents can use this list to increase our daughters’ odds of becoming financially independent. Financial independence is the force (rather than greed or consumption) driving the majority of self-made millionaire women.

1. Harmony/Empathy

• Teach her to have empathy for the needs of others
• Run a well-organized household
• Provide a home atmosphere filled with love and harmony
• Have great respect for spouse and children
• Regularly attend religious services

2. Initiative/Leadership

• Encourage her to take initiative
• Encourage her to be a creative thinker
• Teach her to have empathy for the needs of others
• Teach her never to follow the crowd
• Encourage her to take leadership roles in school

3. Happiness/Satisfaction

• Have a strong love life
• Rarely complain
• Be optimistic always

4. Independence

• Give her responsibility early in life
• Encourage her to earn her own spending money
• Teach her the importance of saving and investing
• Strictly discipline

5. Responsiveness

• Always have time to listen to her opinion
• Always use positive incentives to encourage her to achieve
• Do not threaten her with harsh punishment if she earns a bad grade
• Rarely, if ever, cold or indifferent to her.

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