Empowered by Play » Disney

Peggy Orenstein’s CINDERELLA ATE MY DAUGHTER

Geralyn — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:52:01 +0000

Peggy Orenstein’s book CINDERELLA ATE MY DAUGHTER wasn’t the book I hoped it would be – it was better.

I was hoping she’d knock the marketing giant flat on its exploitative keister and that her book would make a strong and irrefutable case against Disney’s shameless and relentless marketing to young girls – opening parents’ eyes to all harmful stereotypes that Disney foists on our young girls and boys. I was hoping for a lambasting.

Instead, Orenstein offers the reader a deeply nuanced, thoughtful and honest look into her personal journey of parenting her young daughter through the princess years. As a mother of only boys, I appreciated the chance to enter into the complicated world of raising a happy and confident daughter in our current “girlie-girl culture”. Orenstein looks at American Girl dolls, Bratz dolls, Hannah Montana, Britney Spears, Internet chat rooms, Greek myths and more, taking the time to see what is behind the headlines and what the research is telling us. She talks to other parents about the choices they are making for their daughters. Orenstein helps illustrate that as your child moves from preschooler to tween, teen and beyond, the choices you make and why you make them will help shape how your daughter sees the world – and sees herself in the world. The book is sort of a wake-up call to wake-up and be present in your daughter’s media life.

For a terrific interview with Orenstein, check out the podcast and transcript of her hour with Healthy Media Choices’ Mary Rothschild. Here is a powerful excerpt from the interview where Rothschild hits the nail on the head and helps crystalize the message that Orenstein is sending us:

Mary Rothschild: This is one of the keys, I think – intentionality. Being intentional, even if you decide to let all the Princess stuff in. Whatever you decide for your family, being intentional makes all the difference in the world. The child (senses it).

Peggy Orenstein: That’s actually a great way for me to put it, so I appreciate your telling me that. When I talk about it, I’m going to say that, if you don’t mind. I can’t tell you what decisions to make for your child but, whatever you do, to provide context. I wanted to start a conversation and I wanted to provide some context and information so that parents could make their choices more wisely, but I guess what that does mean is make them intentionally. If you’re going to let your daughter get the twenty-one-piece Disney Princess makeup kit, know what you’re doing. That’s fine. That’s your choice. That’s your right, but know what you’re doing.

Be intentional about your choices. Good advice for parents of boys, too. For the full podcast and interview please check out Healthy Media Choices.

Club Penguin Quandary

Geralyn — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:34:16 +0000

I have a bit of a problem and I’m not sure what to do. A few weeks ago, one of my sons said, “You know what you could get me for Christmas, Mom? You could let me go on Club Penguin.” Club Penguin is an online social-network gaming website for kids. It’s been around for a few years, and I’ve always been opposed to even the idea of it. My sons know how I feel about this. I don’t like it because it encourages very young kids to play online with virtual friends instead of playing in real life with real friends. There is also money involved. To fully play the game, you must pay a monthly membership of about 6 dollars – per kid, per month. And, as you play the game, you accumulate coins which you can spend many different ways – such as buying virtual furniture and decorations for your igloo. And, last of all, it is owned by Disney, a company I have big problems with.

My son knows all these reasons – he’s heard them before, yet he still wants Club Penguin to be on his approved list of websites. To put this in perspective, he only is allowed 10 minutes online Fridays and Saturdays. So that means he only gets about 20 minutes online a week. Right now his favorite websites are 39 Clues and Hot Wheels. He also visits Highlights, Lego and Hooda Math. So, with only 20 minutes total a week, he isn’t on any one of them very long.

“Why do you want to go on Club Penguin?” I asked. “Persuade me why I should think about this some more.”

“Well,” he replied. “For one reason, a lot of our cousins go on it. And just about all of our cousins go on Club Penguin except for us. And it is fun and we really like it. They barely let us play it when we watch them.” Then his brother added, “One cool thing is Card-Jitsu, the on-line version. You can type in the codes. It’s fun to play it online because there is a waterfall and you have to beat the card in front of you.” So, as a family (my husband, the boys and myself) we agreed that: 1) we weren’t going to pay for anything, and 2) I would take some time to look at Club Penguin more closely and decide if the boys could put it on their list of approved websites.

This morning, I spent about 45 minutes touring the Club Penguin website. I imagined I was a child and tried to see the website through his or her eyes. To be fair to the website’s creators, the registration process requires a child who is creating a new account (to play the games) must also give a parent’s e-mail address. In signing up today, I pretended I was a child and gave my “mom’s” e-mail address (which, of course, was my own). I was impressed, as the “parent”, that I immediately received an e-mail to make sure I knew a Club Penguin profile was being set up for my “child”, and all the information she had shared came to me. This e-mail notice also included a link to activate the account – reinforcing the purpose of a parent authorizing the child’s access to the website.

Also, there were warnings about what can happen if you share your password (someone can take your coins, ruin your igloo, etc… This did happen to someone the boys know, and it was pretty sad.) I was able to choose the “Ultimate Safe Chat” mode, where only messages from a drop-down message list can be seen and written by my penguin. That was good, or so I thought.

After setting up my penguin profile, and as I began to play, I surprised myself and thought, “This might be ok. I might be able to say yes to this.” Then I started playing and immediately things got weird. The message from Club Penguin was: “Explore, meet friends, play games and so much more!” I entered a room and got a message, “Want to play Find Four?” I clicked yes and then started playing a virtual version Connect Four, a game I like a lot. Only there was no other kid next to me. Weird! I won, but the game and the kid disappeared so quickly that I didn’t even get to see how I won, or what his/her next move might’ve been. I only knew for sure that I’d won because I received 5 coins in my bank.

Next up: a penguin named Sausage0999 asked me to play. I did, but it just felt creepy and weird. Very uncomfortable. I had no idea who this person is, and they don’t know me. Was it a kid? Did they think I was a kid? The whole thing just gave me the willies. So I left the game area, and went to check out my igloo. It was quite drab and depressing. I had some coins in the bank, and decided I’d try to spiff it up. But guess what, you can only buy things with your coins if you have the paying membership. This was frustrating for me, and it would be for my sons. (I also don’t like the fact that this aspect of the site – children-shopping-from-virtual catalogs- adds tons of fuel to the consuming-culture we live in.)

So, I left the igloo-spiffing-up area and went back to the games. The next game I clicked on had to do with costumes and a theater. And guess what…you had to buy the costume you’d wear. Little price tags popped up all over the screen: “Buy”, “Buy”, “Buy”, “Buy”, “Buy”, “Buy”!! And since I couldn’t buy anything, I couldn’t play that game.

Conclusion: even though my sons truly believe you can play Club Penguin without a paying membership, and even though the website claims that anyone can play, it just isn’t true. And the virtual-friend aspect was even creepier than I had imagined. There is NO WAY I want my boys playing with people they can’t see and faces they can’t read. Not now – not for a loooooong, looooong time. I already know that one of my sons is wired to really be excited about this kind of thing – so I really have to keep this one at bay for as long as possible.

So that is my (our) dilemma. How can we deliver the “No Club Penguin” message in a way that doesn’t totally crush the boys? I’m trying think of something that will satisfy the boys, but is still acceptable to us. I’m thinking maybe I can give them a certificate that allows them to now have 15 minutes a day on weekends instead of 10 minutes a day – my husband agrees that might work. But really, on this one I’d love some ideas from other parents out there…and time is running out since tomorrow night is Christmas Eve.

Thanks!

And BTW…if you haven’t read our December Joyful news, please click here!

Happy days (unplugged)

Geralyn — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:54:42 +0000

Have you heard about Disney’s new endeavor, “Disney Junior”? It adds ten hours a day of new television programming aimed at kids ages 2 to 5-year-olds. Disney Junior, to be launched in February, will focus on storytelling and social skills, instead of the academic focus of many preschool shows. You see, Disney did some of its own research and discovered what parents really want for their children. Check out this quote from a November 5th story in the Wall Street Journal,” The Turf War on Tots”:

To support its decision to focus on feel-good stories rather than core curricula, the company proffers a six-month study of 2,200 parents of preschoolers the company commissioned and conducted last year. These Disney researchers found that when parents were asked what they most want for their children, the most popular reply was for them to be happy.

Well, here’s the funny thing. Watching television doesn’t make us happy. The Kaiser Family Foundation study from January 2010 concludes:

Nearly half (47%) of all heavy media users say they usually get fair or poor grades (mostly C’s or lower), compared to 23% of light media users. Heavy media users are also more likely to say they get into trouble a lot, are often sad or unhappy, and are often bored. Moreover, the relationships between media exposure and grades, and between media exposure and personal contentment, withstood controls for other possibly relevant factors such as age, gender, race, parent education, and single vs. two-parent households.

Ok. . . so the Kaiser Family Foundation research was based on 8 to 18-year-olds. But really, if heavy media use isn’t making our older kids happy, then it is a fair guess that it won’t make our preschoolers happy. And we know that preschoolers are already spending 32 hours a week outside the classroom in front of screens (Nielson Company, 2009). It seems to me that if Disney was truly concerned with parents’ desire to raise happy kids, then they would stop luring kids to the screen – and away from time spent outside, or playing alone, or playing with other children, or talking with their families.

And then there is all the marketing that Disney dumps on our children. Marketing of single-purpose, media-linked toys that entice our children with the promise of happiness – a happiness that doesn’t materialize. Check out this info from Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood:

The primary message of commercial culture is that the things we buy will make us happy. In fact, that’s not true. Research tells us that our sense of wellbeing depends on relationships, a sense of community, spiritual nourishment, and/or job satisfaction, not on acquiring “things.” Children who are more materialistic are less happy, more depressed, more anxious and have lower self-esteem.

So, did you catch that? Relationships, sense of community, spiritual nourishment and/or job satisfaction…these are what lead to happiness. Materialism makes us less happy and more depressed. I think it is fantastic that parents in the U.S. are now focusing on ways to raise happy children. Perhaps we, as a country, are waking up to the fact that we need to readjust our priorities. That is a good thing. I just don’t think producing more television shows for our 2 to 5-year-olds is the right solution.

Here’s what I’m thinking: Going unplugged. Spending quality time together. Tuning in to nature. Playing. Building relationships through small, connected moments. And giving Disney Junior a pass.

Find us at NAEYC’s Annual Conference!

Geralyn — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:17:38 +0000

Today I am packing for Anaheim, CA, where I will be joining friends and colleagues at the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Annual Conference. I’ll be there with other members of TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment) and we will be sharing our resources Media and Young Children Action Guide and Toy, Play & Young Children Action Guide, as well as our recently released Infant-Toddler Play, Toys & Media Action Guide. These fantastic guides help parents and teachers find ways to foster quality play, healthy development and positive relationships- all of which are threatened by companies who are more concerned about making money than about what is best for our children and families. This year, although I am looking forward to re-connecting with advocates for young children, I am not thrilled about the “Disneyfication” of the event. In the pre-conference mailing, I spy a session focused on Walt Disney’s contributions to early childhood education and an evening event to celebrate imagination at Disney’s California Adventure Park. What else will we encounter upon arrival? I am bracing myself.

As a young child I visited Disneyland and watched the Mickey Mouse Club on TV. These were fun times, no doubt. However, Disney has taken advantage of the trust that parents have in the Disney name. As an adult, I now worry about the vast influence that Disney has on our children and on us. Disney encourages young children to play online with websites such as Club Penguin and World of Cars. Disney confuses parents about how babies learn by selling Baby Einstein videos. Check out this list of companies owned by Disney, complied by Lisa Ray. (Her family is documenting their Year Without Disney!) Disney controls so much information – that just cannot be good. They also market heavily and directly to children – including the brilliant move to market all the Disney Princesses together in a way that has appealed to girls the world over. But what messages do the Disney Princesses send our girls? Check out this short video about the Princess Effect from the Empowering Girls to Fly High.

And check out what the updated TRUCE Action Guide says:

If you are one of the tens of thousands who will be attending the conference, please stop by and visit us in the exhibit hall. We will have copies of our free guides on hand and we’d love to talk to you. We’ll be sharing booth 1044 with TRUCE steering committee member Hugh Hanley and his Circle of Song!

Empowered by People

Geralyn — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:40:12 +0000

It is easy to feel small and powerless when corporations like Disney bully and try to silence watchdogs and advocates such as Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (see story in yesterday’s NY Times). The small staff at CCFC works tirelessly on a small annual budget of $250,000, protecting childhood from corporate encroachment, yet have been forced to leave their home. (Read CCFC’s press release here.) And at the same time, playful learning in early childhood is threatened by yet another blow – this time in the form of the Common Core Standards. How do we stay strong and keep fighting the good fight?

Here is where there Internet can be a powerful connecting tool. The Alliance for Childhood used it to gather the expertise of early childhood experts from around the country to issue a Joint Statement from Early Childhood Health and Educational Professionals on the Common Core Standards Initiative. CCFC is using the Internet to share their side of the Disney story, refusing to be silenced, and gaining support through a growing membership and financial donations. Facebook and Twitter help connect like-minded activists and agencies and help the grass-roots movements gain traction.

For me, one vital way to feel empowered is to surround myself with others who are fighting for children. This weekend, I will be connecting with folks at the City College of New York conference In Defense of Childhood – Play and Active Learning in Urban Schools. The conference is held “in honor of the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and in memory of Professor Emeritus Lillian Weber, whose work honored the active nature of learning and furthered the cause of equity in education.”

Later this month, I’ll be joining a colleague from TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment) to share our new Infant – Toddler Play, Toys and Media Action Guide with early childhood professionals at the MassAEYC (Massachusetts Association of the Education of Young Children) Annual Spring Conference. I look forward to hearing the words and ideas of the keynote speaker, Dr. David Elkind, author of numerous books including The Hurried Child and The Power of Play.

In about a month I will join hundreds of others at CCFC’s 7th Consuming Kids Summit in Boston. The theme is Market Values, Human Values and the Lives of Children. From their website: “The values children learn in the marketplace – excessive consumption, impulsive buying, and unthinking brand loyalty – are antithetical to healthy development, independent thinking, spirituality, community, and democracy. What happens to childhood — and society — when market values trump human values? How can we make a difference? What role can parents, educators, public health professionals, faith communities, and policymakers play in stopping the proliferation of market values, and in nurturing positive values, in a commercialized world?”

Today, I work hard to stave off the feelings of doom and gloom. I am trying to rise above feelings that the job of protecting the best interests of the youngest members of our society is damn near impossible. The powerful wheels of corporate greed and the one-size-fits all educational movement are bearing down harder than ever. Today, I look forward to the personal connections I will form and deepen at these upcoming conferences. I trust these connections will help energize and empower me and others in the pursuit of protecting young children and preserving childhood. As my friend and colleague Diane Levin says, “Onward!”

Lessons from Disney

Geralyn — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:04:00 +0000

A few years ago, on the first day of school, I sat down at lunch next to one of my new kindergarten students. She pointed over her shoulder and told me, “That is the popular table.” I was surprised; the seats were pre-assigned. “What do you mean by ‘popular’?” I asked. She explained, “You know. They have nice clothes.” This was her very first day of school, so I had to wonder where she had learned this. I asked, and she replied without hesitation, “The Disney Channel”.

Last week, I heard from a mom whose daughter loves to read, but is now getting called a “dweeb” at school. Mom and daughter are struggling with how to handle the teasing. Does she try to ignore the teasing and find new friends? Does she hide the fact that she likes to read? It is a problem that many kids in the United States face. Kids who like to study and learn are often the butt of the joke. “Dweeb”. “Nerd”. “Geek”. This affects kids of many races, in the suburbs and the cities. This mom is convinced that the influence of the Disney Channel – which many of her daughter’s friends watch – is at the root of her problem.

And just yesterday, someone sent me a link to a children’s clothing store that is selling “Pre School Musical” t-shirts for babies as small as 3-6 months – listed on the site under “Cool Baby Clothes”. When did infants go from cute to cool? The shirts aren’t licensed by Disney, but the Disney influence is clearly there. Disney’s High School Musical dynasty, and all the paraphernalia that comes with it, is already a major force in the lives of preschoolers – now we can extend that influence to babies. Enough already! But there is more…Disney is revamping their stores, calling them “Imagination Parks”. Hmm, for me, an imagination park has trees, flowers, sticks, leaves, rocks and other wonderful and inspiring natural toys – not microchips, movie clips at your finger tips and live satellite feed to talk with Disney stars.

Disney has already agreed to refund parents for Baby Einstein videos that have been proven NOT to make your kids smarter. For me, they have publicly admitted their manipulation of parents. To now pretend that their products and stores promote imagination is a total farce. Their products and stores promote imitation, NOT imagination. And the lessons kids are learning aren’t the ones we want them to imitate. (As illustrated above.)

For more information on the messages Disney is sending our kids, watch Mickey Mouse Monopoly. It’ll knock your socks off.

Disney apples!?! Come on, give us break!

Geralyn — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:42:00 +0000

A friend of mine returned from the grocery store the other day and was shocked to see the bag of apples she had picked up were actually, Disney apples. Arrrgh! This frustrated my friend, who is not a big fan of Disney and is conscious of media influences on her kids’ lives. “I can’t even just grab a bag of apples?” she sighed. “I’m tired of having to think so hard about everything.”

In July of 2008, in response to growing concerns about childhood obesity and health, the FTC released a report about the marketing of foods to children and adolescents. One of the recommendations was that, “all companies that market food and beverage products to children should adopt and adhere to meaningful nutrition-based standards for marketing their products to children under 12.” http://www.ftc.gov/os/2008/07/P064504foodmktingreport.pdf

So now we have Disney apples, eggs and avocados. Some folks feel that at least it is better than McDonald’s Happy Meals, sugary snacks and junk food. I’m not so sure. I’m not happy about media-linked products aimed at children. Kids are just too vulnerable. It becomes a popularity contest in the cafeteria and another parent-child area of struggle. It is another way to create brand loyalty, infiltrate our lives and literally eat away at our creativity and independent thinking.

That is why I reminded my friend about Trader Joe’s http://www.traderjoes.com/index.html. Trader Joe’s is a chain of grocery stores that carries almost exclusively its own products (not General Mills or Kellog’s, etc…) From cereal, to yogurt, to snacks and more, you will NOT FIND media-linked food at Trader Joe’s. I go out of my way to shop there. My children read the packaging of our food, and I’m happy because they are reading the nutritional values, not an ad for the latest block-buster movie or television show. I’ve been a fan of Trader Joe’s for a long time because of the good prices and good products, but only after I had children did I truly appreciate the independent nature of this unique grocery store. If you have a Trader Joe’s in your area, I recommend it highly as an antidote to Dora the Explorer yogurt, Finding Nemo fruit snacks, Elmo juice boxes and High School Musical everything!