• Last updated 10/3/10 by Mothering Editorial

Why should advertising and marketing to children be a priority concern for mothers and fathers?We live in a nation in which the values of what sociologist Robert Bellah calls the money world are steadily crowding out the values of what I call the motherworld. The dominant values of our culture are radical individualism, excessive materialism, and bottom-line thinking-- and they leave little room for values such as connectedness, interdependence, commitment, and other qualities necessary for raising healthy, caring, and ethical children. This profound imbalance lies at... read more

• Last updated 9/27/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Rob WilliamsIssue 127, November/December 2004You and your children can become more critical media observers (and have fun!) by learning to spot these 11 persuasive techniques commonly used by our media culture's most powerful players.      1. Symbols Persuading through the use of idea-conveyances (such as an American flag on a lapel pin) that associate one thing (a politician) with another (support for his speeches or policies). Symbols are often phrases (“Just Do It”), images (the famous “Earth seen from space” photo), graphic brands (McDonald’s golden arches), or... read more

• Last updated 9/21/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Rob Williams Issue 127, November/December 2004 We live in the most media-saturated society in the history of the world. Americans spend between 10 and 12 hours a day consuming media through ever-more sophisticated technological delivery systems, including (for the average household) three televisions and radios, two VCRs and CD players, one computer, one video game player, and a bewildering variety of newspapers, comic books, magazines, books, and other print media.1 As we enter the 21st century, this situation might seem to call for celebration—more media... read more

• Last updated 9/21/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Jonathan Rowe and Gary Ruskin Paul Kurnit is the president of KidShop, an advertising firm that specializes in marketing to children, and he has plans for our kids. "Kid business has become big business," Kurnit says.1 To make kid business even bigger, he preaches what he calls "surround marketing": saturation advertising that captures kids at every possible moment.2 "You've got to reach kids throughout the day-in school, as they're shopping at the mall, or at the movies," says Carol Herman, a senior vice president at Grey Advertising. "You've got to become part... read more

• Last updated 9/21/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Jane McConnell Issue 88, May/June 1998 I have three children in diapers--a nine month old, a two year old, and a four year old who wets at night. In rough numbers, this means our household has changed more than 20,000 dirty diapers in four years. Now, I'm not a glutton for punishment, and like all working mothers I don't have a lot of spare time. But I've chosen cloth diapers over disposables from the beginning. Like breastfeeding and drug-free childbirth, cloth diapering has always seemed to me to be the most "natural" approach. Yet, even in an environmentally... read more

• Last updated 9/21/10 by Mothering Editorial

By the Mothering Staff Issue 116, January - February 2003 1961 Proctor and Gamble (P&G) introduces Pampers. 1971 Pennsylvania Boy Scouts conducting a highway cleanup campaign report that the largest single source of litter is the disposable diaper. Disposable diapers contribute 171,000 dry weight tons of waste to be processed by US sewage systems. (M. A. Shapiro, Preliminary Study of the Environmental Impacts from Processing and Disposal of Diapers) 1975, February In comparing the effectiveness of several brands of disposable diapers, Consumer Reports notes that... read more

• Last updated 9/21/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Gary Ruskin Issue 121: November/December 2003 Early in the 20th century, urban squalor was emerging as an unsettling fact of American life, and there was great concern in the US over undernourished children. "At least one-third of all industrial families in the United States are underfed," concluded one 1911 study of Americans' standard of living.1 Nervous parents measured their kids against weight and height charts. Public health officials sounded a continuous alarm. Dr. Josephine Baker, head of New York City's Department of Health, worried that malnutrition was... read more

• Last updated 9/21/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Beatrice Ekwa EkokoWeb Exclusive - December 18, 2006  We haven't watched the weather report this closely all summer. For the umpteenth time today, my daughter has been checking at the window "to see what it's doing out there." Is the rain going to hold off or are we going to celebrate a soggy Car Free Day? Each year on September 22nd, International Car Free Day is celebrated by over 100 million people in about 1,500 cities around the world. From babies to the elderly, people get together to reclaim streets: to close them off and have parties, play road hockey games,... read more

• Last updated 9/13/10 by Mothering Editorial

By By K. Parrack Web Exclusive At the end of the day before the sun goes down, we go and listen to the leaves. Just Luka and me. The wind pushes against us, ruffling our hair. Wind chimes swing wildly. We walk faster past garages, windows and doorways. Leaves rattle sideways tripping over our toes. A robin clings to the top of a swaying branch. We stop under a tree. This is the perfect spot. I whisper to Luka, "If you are patient and very, very still, so still you are hardly breathing, you can hear the leaves sing." We wait and we listen, trying hard not... read more

• Last updated 9/11/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Jennifer Margulis On Saturday, January 10, 2009, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) hosted an all-day meeting with 50 members of the public in Ashland, Oregon to discuss vaccine safety and to hear recommendations from the public about where research money about vaccine safety should be spent. A similar meeting was held in Birmingham, Alabama on December 13, 2008, and a third public meeting will be held in Indianapolis on January 17, 2009. Ashland residents, including concerned parents, health care professionals, and students, were paid a $50 stipend to attend. At... read more