DigitalShepherds

Helping Families Cross The Digital Divide

Raising Media Savvy Girls: Tween Celeb Sexualization

Sep 2

Posted by Tshaka Armstrong in Parenting | View Comments

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There was a pattern I watched develop when my daughter was young. She would watch the Disney child celebs and various recording artists who catered to the Radio Disney crowd and I was fine with it. But, in a couple years’ time I found myself having to put the kibosh on what she was listening to or watching from that celeb. We live in a voyeuristic society which seems to feed on the youth of it’s film and tv “icons.” It also, seemingly, feeds on the sexualization of those youths as they become women. Heck, the celebs themselves put their sexual exploration on display as they attempt to move from “child actor” to “serious adult actor.” It’s quite deliberate actually if you look at men’s magazines like Maxim and listen to the gossip sheet chatter about “leaked” nude cellphone pics and sex tapes. It’s “good PR” and helps them to be taken seriously by directors for roles which may get a PG13 rating or better. While that’s all well and good for those celebs, it wreaks havoc on those of us who are trying to raise emotionally healthy girls. Read the rest of this entry »

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Back To School: 6 Tips for Dealing With Tech Temptations

Aug 24

Posted by Tshaka Armstrong in Parenting | View Comments

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It’s back to school time and that means another year to tell your children to stop texting and get back to school work, or pop your head into their bedroom only to find your tween under the sheets texting. Maybe you grow weary of barking about video game play when homework or chores should be getting done. Well, before you’re completely stressed out this school year by your child’s lack of focus, we’ve got some easily actionable tips to help you protect the children and yourself against technology overload. Read the rest of this entry »

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Facebook Places, What Parents Need To Know

Aug 19

Posted by Tshaka Armstrong in Technology | View Comments

On Wednesday, August 18th, Facebook announced it’s latest addition to the family: Facebook Places. As a parent concerned with the internet safety of your children, this is definitely something you should know about and make a determination if you need to have your child’s privacy settings for this feature turned off…now! We’re going to make it clear what Places is all about and help you make an informed decision. Read the rest of this entry »

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Raising Media Savvy Girls: The Magazine Perfection Myth

Aug 18

Posted by Tshaka Armstrong in Parenting | View Comments

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So, this is the first official post for my new bi-weekly segment, Raising A Media Savvy Girl. Let’s begin with a little history first, a question should get us started. Why should you listen to me besides the fact that I currently have a 14 year old daughter who is pretty well adjusted (as of today’s date at least) and emotionally healthy? For that I have to thank the Mrs., Mom and Mother-in-law as much as anything. To answer the question, I’ve spent the last 15 years of my life creating content focused on grabbing you and your children’s eyes and ears. I have been an editor in film and tv all that time, as well as a promotional writer and even won a few awards along the way. In other words, I know first hand what is done to draw you in when it comes to broadcast media. Read the rest of this entry »

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Trickle Down Tech: How To Beat The Jones’

Aug 12

Posted by Tshaka Armstrong in Parenting | View Comments

Photo Courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12738795@N00/4606988561/

No, this isn’t the title to some old James Bond flick. Not a bestselling book either. This post is about tech toys! Every year, our children want more and more of these tech toys and it just isn’t sensible to keep up with the Jonses. Timmy Jones has an iPod Touch and an HTC Evo, along with his Nintendo DSi. Sienna Jones has that chic white Blackberry Bold and a netbook and both of them aren’t even in Junior High yet. Your children are doing the Old Spice thing and looking at the Jonses, now looking at you, now looking at the Jones’ toys, now back at you and their puppy dog eyes are saying it, their posture is saying it and in a moment they’ll be yelling it at the top of their lungs, “Timmy and Sienna have the bomb toys! I want my own iPhone/Pod/Pad dad! I want my own netbook and Bold mom! Mommmmm! Daddddddd! I want it nowwwww!” Ok, so that may have been over the top and I may have borrowed some from Willy Wonka’s Veruca Salt but you get the point. It can be tough raising children in an environment which rewards instant gratification and says, “You have to have the latest gadget….NOW!” Read the rest of this entry »

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Chatroulette: Location Awareness for Perverts

Aug 11

Posted by Tshaka Armstrong in Technology | View Comments

When we hold the “Parent Watch” portion of our seminars, Chatroulette and related services are one of the items we bring up and talk to parents about. If you don’t already know what Chatroulette.com is, it is a webcam site which allows its users to be randomly paired with an individual from anywhere in the world for a webcam chat. It’s interface is very simple, the focus here being on the random experience. As you can see from the screenshot, it’s nothing more than a white page and two windows, nothing fancy here it is all about function and “fun.” One of the interface features is the ability to “next” a user you’re not interested in chatting with. That is, you can click the “Next” button and you will draw another random stranger. What’s wrong with that you ask? Statistically, the site produces a male holding/fondling his nether regions 1 in 8 “nexts,” even though they have a disclaimer right on their homepage which states that people who abuse the site will be reported to the proper authorities and according to their terms of service, repeat offenders will be banned eventually (my paraphrase). The problem is that, well, young hormonally driven guys are young hormonally driven guys and they’re not complaining if a gal is showing off her body parts. And that is the majority of those who frequent the site…guys. Read the rest of this entry »

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Decoding Pop Culture

Aug 9

Posted by Tshaka Armstrong in Parenting | View Comments

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(The following is a repost from a blog I used to write called, “The Connected Man.”)  Along the lines of this blog’s title, I make it a point to make sure that my daughter is connecting those things she surrounds herself with, to the reality of the ramifications of those connections to her spirit. You know, “garbage in, garbage out.” To that end, we spend a fair amount of time going over rap/pop/rock songs’ lyrics prior to her being allowed to have those which are age appropriate on her Blackberry. It goes a little something like this…..

She hears a song on the radio (or one of her friends’ iPods) > she then pulls up the lyrics to that song(s) on the computer > she reads the lyrics for overtly sexual/stoner/mysoginistic content > if it passes for the most part, but she’s still unsure….if it’s “iffy” she then asks me to sign off and give it a “yay” or “nay.”

When we first started doing this I’d have to spend a great deal of time going over the messages contained in the lyrics Read the rest of this entry »

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TV On Your Xbox 360 Today! Kind Of

Aug 5

Posted by Tshaka Armstrong in Technology | View Comments

Convergence. It’s a notion I often prepare parents for when speaking to them at PTA meetings, schools or wherever I may find myself. I make it a point to tell them about Windows Phone 7 and how it will allow the Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE experiences to become increasingly mobile, taking advantage of something as ubiquitous as the cellphone. I tell them about Netflix access through their children’s Wii or PS3. I tell them about the future and how IPTV (Traditional TV programming delivered through you broadband internet connection) will eventually see their children’s gaming consoles become, for all intents and purposes, “cable boxes.” This isn’t to scare them, or make them fearful that Skynet is after their kids through their gaming consoles but to inform them that video games aren’t the only thing they need to consider when deciding when is the right time to get their children their first system (if dad doesn’t already have one in the house). Read the rest of this entry »

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Take A Stand Mom and Dad! You Are the Gatekeepers

Aug 4

Posted by Tshaka Armstrong in Parenting | View Comments

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Thought I’d start off the day with a little rant. Consider yourself warned!

We’re working on partnering with local retail video game stores to bring our live demo lecture to the parents who patronize them and while speaking with a manager today, he told me something which didn’t surprise me but did inspire me to write this post. I was telling him about how as part of our Parenting in the Digital Age program, not only do we do a live demo of setting up parental controls on the PS3/Xbox360/Wii, but we also speak to parents about some of the “gotchas” of video games like downloadable content (DLC) and online gaming as well as provide them with some sensible parenting tips on setting proper boundaries with their little gamers and when I finished he proceeded to tell me how needed that was because, often, he gets parents in his store who go to buy games which clearly aren’t appropriate for their children’s age. Read the rest of this entry »

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