Self-identity is one of the trickier contributors to children’s healthy development because you can’t “do” things to your children to give them their self-identity. Rather, you can only create an environment that allows their self-identity to evolve naturally. A part of the environment that supports the emergence of culture and media, that aim to stunt, [...]
The externalization of children’s self-identities caused by the omnipresence of popular culture and social media today, that I discussed in my last post, has resulted in an unhealthy internal focus on the self among young people these days. Do you recall the story of Narcissus? The handsome fellow in Greek mythology who, because of his [...]
In my last post, I described how new media is causing the externalization of children’s self-identity. The result of this externalization may be your children developing a false self, in which they internalize the messages of popular culture and media, such as valuing themselves based on their wealth, appearance, or popularity, and those messages become [...]
“To all of Chris' friends: This is his father. My son carelessly left his account logged in so I decided to snoop around. Upon reading my son's personal information, I would like to clear a few things up. My son is not a ‘gangsta,’ he will not ‘beat a ho’s ass’ and he will most [...]
Whenever I think popular culture, and the companies that control it for their own profiteering ends, has gone as low as it can go in its wanton disregard for basic decency in general and children in particular, it always seems to find a way to dig deeper within itself and discover new depths to plumb. [...]
Popular culture, few could argue, attempts to manipulate your children’s needs and wants and motivate them to buy food, toys, clothing, electronics, and other products that have no redeeming value, are unhealthy, or send them the wrong messages. Popular culture is big business, to the tune of $1.2 billion a year in advertising in 2010, a double-digit increase over 2009. Research has also shown that children have influence in their family over the food and drink purchases of $100 billion each year, much of it unhealthy. Popular culture wants you to raise consumers, not children! The line between entertainment and advertising is becoming increasingly blurred. For example, The Hub, a television network aimed at children that has a 50 percent ownership stake by the toy manufacturer Hasbro was launched in 2010. Commercials aside, this channel’s programming is basically a direct marketing platform for selling Hasbro toys. Additionally, the recent technological advances have enabled companies that market to children to create “supersystems” around their brands that incorporate 360-degree multimedia universes devoted exclusively to selling their products that include television shows, web sites, YouTube videos, fan clubs, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and video games, as well as traditional advertising. As Robert Iger, the President of Walt Disney, comments, “Reaching dramatically and deeply,…” has allowed Disney to, “...enter the hearts and minds of people all over the world.” Do you really want Disney and the like to enter your children’s hearts and minds? I sure don’t.
There is much talk these days about how America is in decline (think Roman Empire) because it has gotten complacent, lazy, and soft. Americans, it is argued, have lost their drive and their edge because life is just too easy for us; we are no longer hungry, literally or metaphorically. In turn, many global observers [...]
In researching my next parenting book, I came across several recent studies that I found truly disturbing. As you will see shortly, the results don’t paint a pretty picture for the future of our children or our society as a whole. Even more damning is what it tells us about how parents are raising their [...]
I have two young daughters and, in some ways, I'm really excited that they are growing up in this generation. These are amazing times to be young and female with so many opportunities available to them. More women than men are graduating from college and earning graduate degrees. We see women at the highest level [...]
See the photo to the right side of my post? A neighbor of mine, Larry Mansbach, emailed it to me because he thought it would make a good blog post. Well, he's right. The photo was taken on a beautiful July Saturday afternoon at the fields and playground of an elementary school in Marin County [...]