“Wait…so she’s your daughter?” said one of the mothers while shopping a at Pottery Barn for Kids when Cami was just four years old. A handful of preschoolers were playing amidst pots and […]
Notice how I used the word “connect” over motivate or inspire? For those of us parents and educators in the field of teen advocacy, it may be easy to forget that before we can motivate and inspire teens to reach their potential we actually need to find connection with them first…
Growing up biracial, I’d learned that negative social perceptions of biracial, multiracial and transracially adopted children were largely impacting the growth, well-being, and resources available to members of our own community at home and in schools. Asserting that biracial children were more “mixed-up” than mixed-race only served to further perpetuate negative stereotypes about us…
The backlash against “drone” parenting stems from a view that these parents are using too much technology to monitor and keep tabs on their kids as opposed to taking the time for “real-life” interactions with them. This makes for older children and young adults who may be unable to have inner personal relationships outside of technology later on in life…
We may be able to shake our heads in momentary disgust at incidents like these, but when it happens to our own children, the task of reconciling overt racism and discrimination is far more difficult. So how do we best support our kids after encountering racial discrimination?
Education technology and access to social media provide a gateway into information that’s fast and wide-reaching. Many (though not all) of today’s students already have access to social media tools outside of the classroom, so providing equal distribution of those tools within the school environment for low-income communities has its benefits. So where does this leave our students?
My role as gatekeeper to the “sugar express” isn’t made any easier by the ploys and strategic marketing campaigns by the sugary beverage industry pushing sugar-loaded beverages through educational incentives for parents and teens. As if the showdown for sweets at the check-out aisle with my teenager isn’t enough, Big Soda is also spinning the consumption of their products through scholarships and tuition toward higher education…
Before we get too warm and fuzzy over Coca-Cola’s #MakeItHappy campaign tied to Super Bowl XLIX, learn the facts on childhood obesity and sugar sweetened beverage consumption first…
LITERATIGURL 