A New Film Asks: What Are the Consequences of a Childhood Removed From Nature?

In this hyper-media saturated digital-age that tweens come of age in, we are all plugged-in to an astonishing degree. Now more than ever, technology permeates childhood at earlier and earlier ages - and that's often a good thing. "Play Again" is a new independent documentary that explores the consequences of trading screen-time for scene-time (outdoors). The crew follows six teenagers who, like the “average American child,” spend five to fifteen hours a day behind screens. The filmmakers unplug these teens and take them on their first wilderness adventure – no electricity, no cell phone coverage, no virtual reality. We've not yet seen the film (we missed it when it came on DC for the Environmental Film Festival) - have you seen it? What did you think? Especially after "Race to Nowhere", we're excited to catch this screening the next time it's in DC.

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Barbie Gets a Tattoo

Barbie has her issues, and parents of girls are no stranger to them. Add this one to the list: the newest Barbie features Tokidoki tattoos on her body.
Certainly tattoos are becoming more mainstream, and many parents I know and love have them. Something tells me that a toy that claims to serve as a role model for girls and whose marquee product now models large, visibly highlighted tattoos will receive a lot of attention. (BTW, Hello Kitty didn't get a tokidoki tattoo.)

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Tween Girl Issues in Film

Winners of the New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) include a category called "Girls' Point of View", a collection of the best short films focusing on female protagonists and exploring common teen and tween girl issues around the globe. These shorts are designed for girls ages 9 to 16 but are not appropriate for girls under the age of 9. The program includes NYICFF Jury Prize-winning short film Chalk and Audience Award-winner See You, in addition to shorts from the UK, China, France, Denmark and United States.

We wrote about the issue of how girls and women are portrayed on screen when we reported on the Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media event last month. These kinds of films are exactly what Ms. Davis was advocating for; attending a screening of "Girls Point of View" may interest you and your tween. We're trying to find screening times and will keep posted when we do.

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Tweens Need Boosters! Today is National Car Seat Safety Saturday

Laws vary by state, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published guidelines for child safety for ages birth through 12. We just learned today is National Car Seat Safety Saturday, and the NHTSA wants families to check how they use car seats and booster seats and if they are installed properly. Certainly we thought we outgrew the whole car seat thing after toddler-hood, but it turns out that the guidelines are that tweens ages 8 to 12 should be in a booster seat. Seat belts-only are fine if the seat belt sits across their thighs and NOT their tummies or across their necks - 'turns out they don't work if they cross her neck. We're checking our car this weekend and may well have to deal with the wrath of the 12-year old tween who might have to return to a booster.

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Geena Davis on How Girls Are Portrayed in the Media

Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis is famous for portraying strong (both physically and emotionally) women on screen. When she became a mom, however, she was struck by the utter dearth of positive, active, and central role models for girls in movies and on television. She founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media (GDIGM) to conduct research on the issue and advocate for change in the industry. We had the opportunity to attend an event on this topic yesterday at Georgetown University's McDonogh Business School and ask Ms. Davis a few questions.

GDIGM did a comprehensive survey of the roles girls and women had in film and television. They looked at everything from the amount of screen time girls and women had, how many girls and womens were in stories, their costumes, the number of lines they had, how they were or were not stereotyped, and the like. The organization also looked at the number of women in professional positions in the industry - that is, those behind the cameras. The results of these studies, especially those on family programming, were disturbing:

• Women and girls account for less than a third of the characters in family films. Despite public perception that this has changed (oft-cited are films like Mulan and Tangled, and shows like iCarly and Hannah Montana), this figure has not changed since 1946. Surprised? We were.
• Research shows that there is a direct correlation of when more women are behind the camera, women have more screen time and account for a higher number of characters (even background ones) shown. But the industry trend on female professionals in the industry is that women in the key roles of Director, Producer, and Write are going down.
• In G-rated films, 80.5% of all working characters are male - but women comprise 50% of the workforce. Why are we shown a 1950's version of the world in 2011?
• You can view their research here.

Why does this matter to parents, especially parents of tween girls? Because:

• Even though females comprise 50% of the US population, our daughters see that men outnumber women 3-to-1 on screen. Inexplicably, only 17% of group or crowd scenes are female. As Ms. Davis said yesterday, "So if we're 51% of the population but only 17% of the crowd, where did we all go?"
• This research means that "family entertainment" isn't the safe haven we parents expect it to be. Female characters are hyper-sexualized, almost especially when animated, and in the majority of shows are there just as eye-candy. One of our favorite quotes from Ms. Davis at yesterday's session was, "The way they're drawn, there's no room for a spinal column."
• Other research GDIGM cites finds that girls who are exposed to more media have the feeling that they are fewer choices in life, and that, on average, the more media boys watch the more sexist their outlook.
• Coraline is often held up as an example of a strong female lead role. Did you know that in the book, there was no boy character and that Coraline saved herself? Hollywood put one a boy character in, and he saved her. Really??

So what can parents do? (We LOVE when there are specifics like this)

• Watch media with your tween as much as possible and discuss what you see. Ms. Davis tells of how she'll watch a show with her own tween (now 9 years old) and ask, "Why do you think she's dressed like that if she needs to go and save someone?" or "Do you think a girl could be the hero in this show as much as a boy?" Starting this dialogue will go a long way towards changing her mindset - neither you nor her have to accept what's shown.
• Make your voices heard. The good news is that because of Ms. Davis stature in the industry, GDIGM's research was been shown to a key players in it. She has been heartened by the response: that people were shocked by the study. "This means," she says, "that there's no plot to keep women out. And that's a good thing."
• Raise the consciousness about this issue. Count the number of females you see on screen. Ask about it. Because what we've seen hasn't changed since 1946, it means that we all just take it for granted. Be media-literate, and ensure that your tween is too.

GDIGM will update their research next in 2015. Let's all hope that the results show improvement.

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The 2011 Emmy Awards Through a Tween's Eyes

We watched tonight's Emmy Awards with our tweens (and wielded the remote with a heavy hand). They loved the opening clip with Jane Lynch and thought that she looked pretty in greys and silver (although we did all wish she would don at least one tracksuit, even a bedazzled one). Here are few highlights from the show from the tweens:

• "Yay - Modern Family won! I love Claire and Phil!" 
• "Sofia Vegarra is just so, so pretty  - a real movie star."
• "OMG - that's Professor McGonagall - I hope her film wins."
• "Whoa - who are those guys singing Hallelujah?" (We looked it up - they're the Canadian Tenors) 
• "Oooh - Kiernan Shipka looks SOOOOOOOOO pretty!"
• "That's so cool: they thanked the kids in Modern Family"

Did you let your tween watch the show? What did she think?

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Sewing Patterns for Tweens

Perfect for the crafty tween or the crafty mom: we stumbled upon these sewing patterns design specifically for tween girls. ModKid Boutique makes them, and their Kyoko style was the most popular for this age group. We love the idea of girls designing their own fashions, and this pattern is a terrific starting point. (And did you see our post about the Fashion School for tweens in NYC?)

Available at modkidboutique.com, $12.95

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More Back to School Fun For Tweens: Martha and Friends

Featuring a tween-age Martha Stewart, Martha and Friends is a new webisode series from Martha Stewart and AOL Kids. It's all digitally animated and includes craft instructions and recipes from each episode. The show chronicles what a group of four kids do as they wind down summer and prepare to enter middle school. All of the characters, including two french bulldogs, are sweetly illustrated, and the show is even true to Martha's legendary bossy personality. Our favorite part is the fully stocked clubhouse that most scenes take place in - it's kitted-out with every craft supply imaginable and technology features heavily - sort of a dream treehouse for tweens. This is fun viewing during the Back to School season - each episode is about 11 minutes long.

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New Sharing and Privacy Features on Facebook: What Tween Parents Need To Know

This week Facebook rolled out some new features that affect the privacy of posts and can display the location of the user. Most parents, myself included, would be concerned if their tween's location was broadcast, so here's what tween parents need to know:

• Now when you update your Wall, you can tag others who are with you or related to the post. You'll see the icon as a little person with a plus sign in the lower left corner of the status field. Earlier this year Facebook beefed up its photo tagging feature; this seems to be the next step. Facebook wants to encourage users to interact directly with each another, and when your tween is tagged by a friend in a post, she'll get a note letting her know. This sharing feature has the potential to deepen the fissures in "Girl World" (in reference to Rosalind Wiseman's excellent work on this subject) in that it will make all the more public who's hanging out with whom. As parents, we need to monitor this and keep an eye out for any shunning, exclusion, cyberbullying issues it may exacerbate.
• When you update your status you can now also add a location to your status. If your tween uses Facebook via a smartphone, this means that anyone who can view her page can see where she is in real time. This has huge safety implications, so be sure to discuss it with your tween. This feature can be turned off; you'll see an icon that looks like a map marker below the status field - right next to the tagging icon mentioned above.
• You can also now determine who can view each status update by clicking on a Friends icon in the lower right corner of the status update field. This enables you to control the privacy settings of each individual post. Before it was much more difficult to send send different messages to different Friends on Facebook, but this feature will make it easier. This is a terrific feature if you want to send messages only to Family members or to certain groups of Friends (such as her soccer team), and it will require you to assign each Friend into a category. So each time you send a post, you can determine which group can see it. One note: the label "Everyone" is now called "Public"and still means that anyone can see those posts.)

Don't forget: Facebook's stated policy is that you must be 13 years old to have a profile, but the reality is that many tweens are active on it nonetheless. In case you missed them, here are our tips for keeping your tween safe online. We encourage you to review these three new features with your tween and discuss your family's policy for using or not using them. Now is also an excellent time to check the Privacy settings you have on your Facebook account as they are ever-changing.

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Most Creative Website EVER for Tween Lunch Ideas

OMG is right! This is perfect for Back to School (thanks a ton to our friends at Chica Circle for introducing us to this): Susan Yuen is a "bento box chef" (that's my made-up term, not hers), and she writes a blog that is all about cool, uber-creative ideas for how to make kids- themed bento boxes. Bento boxes are the new lunchbox, and while everyone and their mommy blogger seems to show images of them, Susan's blog is the only one I've seen that actually gives you step-by-step instructions on how to make them. We were hooked after seeing the Phineas and Ferb-themed ones she did (thanks to eighteen25 for this story). Yes, it's a bit OCD, but the results are truly amazing.

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