If you've followed the news about Chris Brown's recent arrest, have you also been thinking about the disgrace of dating violence?
I spent most of Wednesday at the Minnesota State Capitol for 3 rallies related to ending family and partner violence. 1) A “Second Chance” coalition supporting resources for people leaving prison—so that they find work, learn healthier ways to settle conflict, and don’t return to prison. 2) the Men’s Action Network, an alliance to prevent sexual and domestic violence (sadly, even in 2009, there were 10 times as many women as men at this rally) and 3) the MN domestic violence coalition, which honored (under the Capitol rotunda) all those murdered in 2008 because of domestic violence.
Domestic and partner violence doesn’t spring up in a vacuum out of nowhere. It often begins in the beginnings of intimate relationships—dating.
Charles Blow collects and shares some frightening statistics about dating violence on the NY Times blogs this morning. Be sure to read it:
http://blow.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/love-shouldnt-hurt/
and then, be sure to take some action to short circuit dating violence.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Not All Football Ads Good For Kids
Reflecting back on the football season, the picture isn’t very family friendly when it comes to the ads on game broadcasts.
Common Sense Media recently released a study on the content of ads shown during NFL broadcasts. The report, Broadcast Dysfunction: Sex, Violence, Alcohol and the NFL, reviewed nearly 60 games, more than 180 hours of coverage, watched nearly 6,000 commercials and concluded that "it was impossible to watch a single game without coming up against sex, violence, or Viagra."
Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer, said "Nearly 5.3 million kids watch football each week, yet one in six of the ads shown during the broadcasts features content that's wildly inappropriate for kids -- that's every other commercial break..."
Ronnie Lott, former San Francisco 49er and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, says "Football teaches kids a lot of great lessons... but families... should be able to watch these games without worrying that their kids will be bombarded with adult ads... "
Most pro football games are broadcast between 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm EST, hours that have traditionally been considered time for family programming. Yet the promotional spots for TV shows, ads for movies, DVDs, and video games shown during these time periods were clearly intended for adult audiences only, says the report.
While the report says that though approximately 16% of the ads and promos during pro football broadcasts are about sex, violence, and alcohol, more than 360 ads and promos (an additional 6% of the total reviewed) were for junk food and soda... juxtaposed with the NFL's new Play 60 public service campaign, which encourages kids to be more physically active.
In summary, the study:
Parents want to watch pro football with their kids without getting sucker punched by ads aimed at grown-ups. They want America's game to be fun for every American family, including our kids. So, who's responsible for responsible broadcasts?
The report quotes N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a statement in The New York Times, June 2, 2007, who said "If you're involved with the N.F.L... (or) represent the N.F.L... you are held to a higher standard, and you need to be accountable... (with) a certain standard of behavior... to live up to, from the commissioner on down."
Please refer to the complete release here to find access to the PDF report and samples of ads reviewed by this study.
Common Sense Media recently released a study on the content of ads shown during NFL broadcasts. The report, Broadcast Dysfunction: Sex, Violence, Alcohol and the NFL, reviewed nearly 60 games, more than 180 hours of coverage, watched nearly 6,000 commercials and concluded that "it was impossible to watch a single game without coming up against sex, violence, or Viagra."
Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer, said "Nearly 5.3 million kids watch football each week, yet one in six of the ads shown during the broadcasts features content that's wildly inappropriate for kids -- that's every other commercial break..."
Common Sense Media's report found that:
- 300 of the ads were for alcohol
- 40% of the games included advertisements for erectile-dysfunction drugs
- 500 of the advertisements involved significant levels of violence, including gun fights, explosions, and murders
- 80 of the advertisements involved significant levels of sexuality, including scenes about prostitution and strippers
- 44.7% of the violent or sexual advertisements were promotions by the networks for their own programs
- According to Nielsen reports, more than 5.3 million kids ages 2-17 (and nearly 2.8 million kids ages 2-11) watch the average pro football game on broadcast television or ESPN each week
- Pro football is by far the most popular sport among kids. 65.7% of kids ages 7-11 say they watch pro football on television
Ronnie Lott, former San Francisco 49er and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, says "Football teaches kids a lot of great lessons... but families... should be able to watch these games without worrying that their kids will be bombarded with adult ads... "
Most pro football games are broadcast between 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm EST, hours that have traditionally been considered time for family programming. Yet the promotional spots for TV shows, ads for movies, DVDs, and video games shown during these time periods were clearly intended for adult audiences only, says the report.
While the report says that though approximately 16% of the ads and promos during pro football broadcasts are about sex, violence, and alcohol, more than 360 ads and promos (an additional 6% of the total reviewed) were for junk food and soda... juxtaposed with the NFL's new Play 60 public service campaign, which encourages kids to be more physically active.
In summary, the study:
- Reviewed 57 pro football games
- Evaluated 5778 ads and promos
- Found 519 ads and promos with violence
- Saw 242 violent promos for network programs
- Found 80 ads and promos with sexuality
- Discovered 26 which were sexual promos for network programs
- Viewed 300 ads and promos with alcohol
Parents want to watch pro football with their kids without getting sucker punched by ads aimed at grown-ups. They want America's game to be fun for every American family, including our kids. So, who's responsible for responsible broadcasts?
The report quotes N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a statement in The New York Times, June 2, 2007, who said "If you're involved with the N.F.L... (or) represent the N.F.L... you are held to a higher standard, and you need to be accountable... (with) a certain standard of behavior... to live up to, from the commissioner on down."
Please refer to the complete release here to find access to the PDF report and samples of ads reviewed by this study.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Clean up Scholastic's book clubs
For many of us, Scholastic's book clubs played an important role in our childhood by providing the opportunity to purchase low-cost, high-quality literature in schools. We remember the excitement of thumbing through the monthly flyers to make our selections and the thrill when our orders arrived.
But something has changed. Scholastic's book clubs have become a Trojan horse for marketing toys, trinkets, and electronic media-many of which promote popular brands. A review of Scholastic's elementary and middle school book clubs by The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (www.commercialfreechildhood.org/actions/scholasticdata.html) found that one-third of the items for sale are either not books or are books packaged with other items such as jewelry and toys.
Some non-book items for sale were the M&M's Kart Racing Wii videogame; a remote control car; the American Idol event planner; ("Track this season of American Idol"); the Princess Room Alarm ("A princess needs her privacy!"); a wireless controller for the PS2 gaming system; a make-your-own flip flops kit ("hang out at the pool in style"); and the Monopoly® SpongeBob SquarePants™ Edition computer game. An additional 19% of the items were books that were marketed with additional toys, gadgets, or jewelry. For example, the book Get Rich Quick is sold with a dollar-shaped money clip ("to hold all your new cash!"); the Friends 4 Ever Style Pack consists of a book and two lip gloss rings; and Hannah Montana: Seeing Green comes with a guitar pick bracelet.
The opportunity to sell directly to children in schools is not a right. It's a privilege - and an extremely profitable one at that. Last year, Scholastic's book clubs generated $336.7 million in revenue.
It's bad enough that so many of the books sold by Scholastic are de-facto promotions for media properties like High School Musical and SpongeBob. But there's no justification for marketing an M&M videogame or lip gloss in elementary schools. Teachers should not be enlisted as sales agents for products that have little or no educational value and compete with books for children's attention and families' limited resources. If Scholastic wants to maintain their unique commercial access to young students, they need to do better.
In the past, Scholastic listened to parental concerns. When 5,000 parents and family professionals wrote them to demand that they stop promoting the highly sexualized Bratz brand in schools, they discontinued their Bratz line. So please visit http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26599 to let Scholastic know it's time to return to selling books - and only books - through their in-school book clubs.
And find tons more info on marketing to kids at The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood www.commercialfreechildhood.org.
But something has changed. Scholastic's book clubs have become a Trojan horse for marketing toys, trinkets, and electronic media-many of which promote popular brands. A review of Scholastic's elementary and middle school book clubs by The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (www.commercialfreechildhood.org/actions/scholasticdata.html) found that one-third of the items for sale are either not books or are books packaged with other items such as jewelry and toys.
Some non-book items for sale were the M&M's Kart Racing Wii videogame; a remote control car; the American Idol event planner; ("Track this season of American Idol"); the Princess Room Alarm ("A princess needs her privacy!"); a wireless controller for the PS2 gaming system; a make-your-own flip flops kit ("hang out at the pool in style"); and the Monopoly® SpongeBob SquarePants™ Edition computer game. An additional 19% of the items were books that were marketed with additional toys, gadgets, or jewelry. For example, the book Get Rich Quick is sold with a dollar-shaped money clip ("to hold all your new cash!"); the Friends 4 Ever Style Pack consists of a book and two lip gloss rings; and Hannah Montana: Seeing Green comes with a guitar pick bracelet.
The opportunity to sell directly to children in schools is not a right. It's a privilege - and an extremely profitable one at that. Last year, Scholastic's book clubs generated $336.7 million in revenue.
It's bad enough that so many of the books sold by Scholastic are de-facto promotions for media properties like High School Musical and SpongeBob. But there's no justification for marketing an M&M videogame or lip gloss in elementary schools. Teachers should not be enlisted as sales agents for products that have little or no educational value and compete with books for children's attention and families' limited resources. If Scholastic wants to maintain their unique commercial access to young students, they need to do better.
In the past, Scholastic listened to parental concerns. When 5,000 parents and family professionals wrote them to demand that they stop promoting the highly sexualized Bratz brand in schools, they discontinued their Bratz line. So please visit http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26599 to let Scholastic know it's time to return to selling books - and only books - through their in-school book clubs.
And find tons more info on marketing to kids at The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood www.commercialfreechildhood.org.
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Language of “Defects”
In the U.S., approximately 150,000 babies are born each year with a serious condition that falls under the general term of “birth defect.” Of course, there is logic in referring to something like spina bifida or Down syndrome as a birth defect. But the language of “defect” isn’t always helpful.
After all, every one of us has something that could be described as a defect. I can’t hit (or throw) a curve ball and I wear eyeglasses to read. If someone expects me to be a National League pitcher who must read lots of scouting reports, I have some serious birth defects. This may seem like a silly example, but the point is that humans have differing abilities. That means we all have various disabilities, too. Why does this matter?
Most of us don’t think of ourselves as having “disabilities.” I think of myself as a person who needs glasses to read or drive, not as a semi-blind man. But we tend to see children in the special education class as “retarded kids,” rather than as kids with Down syndrome.
Whether our language puts the kid before or after her birth defect says a lot about whether we put the kid before or after her birth defect. The person belongs first and the disability second. After all, a child with Down syndrome doesn’t think of herself as a walking birth defect. She thinks of herself as a daughter, granddaughter, niece, friend, student--as a kid. That’s how her parents--and the rest of us--should see her, too.
After all, every one of us has something that could be described as a defect. I can’t hit (or throw) a curve ball and I wear eyeglasses to read. If someone expects me to be a National League pitcher who must read lots of scouting reports, I have some serious birth defects. This may seem like a silly example, but the point is that humans have differing abilities. That means we all have various disabilities, too. Why does this matter?
Most of us don’t think of ourselves as having “disabilities.” I think of myself as a person who needs glasses to read or drive, not as a semi-blind man. But we tend to see children in the special education class as “retarded kids,” rather than as kids with Down syndrome.
Whether our language puts the kid before or after her birth defect says a lot about whether we put the kid before or after her birth defect. The person belongs first and the disability second. After all, a child with Down syndrome doesn’t think of herself as a walking birth defect. She thinks of herself as a daughter, granddaughter, niece, friend, student--as a kid. That’s how her parents--and the rest of us--should see her, too.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Super Bowl Dad
Today’s New York Times has a nice long profile of Cardinals quarterback Curt Warner—who is also a very dedicated dad of 7 kids (shown here with his twins Sierra and Sienna). The article describes how Warner packs fathering books when he travels because he’s trying to be great as a father.
Apparently, according to the Times, his kids are seeing the effects of his labor:
As Warner unpacked here last week, he found a note from Jesse that began: “Dad, I just wanted to let you know how proud I am of you. I’m so thankful and honored to be your daughter.” He tucked it into the front sleeve of his three-ring playbook “kind of as a reminder of the big picture,” he said. Warner’s voice cracked last Thursday when he talked about his daughter’s gesture. “It’s one of the neatest things that’s happened to me Super Bowl week,” he said, adding: “Anytime you have a teenager, you don’t always see things eye to eye. There’s always moments you sit back and wonder whether you’ve been a good father, done the right things. Just like my career, I want to know I did the right things.”
My younger cousin Matt (who grew up in Pittsburgh), converted me to a Steelers fan about 45 years ago, so I’ll probably be rooting for Pittsburgh tonight. But I’ll be pulling for Warner, too—knowing that he’ll be a great example for Ben Roethlisberger to follow when he becomes a dad.
Don’t forget to read my tips on watching the Super Bowl with your kids—and enjoy the Cheetos!
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