Activism Alerts - September 2007

• DVD Addresses Cyber Bullying [4]
• New Contest Highlights Positive Youth Activism [5]
• New Lows: Reality Show Puts Kids at Risk [6]
• Tainted Bibs Pulled from Shelves [7]

DVD Addresses Cyber Bullying

Cyber bullying, a.k.a. harassment over the Internet and via cell phones is the theme of a new 30-minute film, Adina's Deck. Adina's Deck was created by Debbie Heimowitz and Jason Azicri. Heimowitz developed the project for her Master's thesis in the Learning, Design & Technology program at Stanford University. Azicri is a screenwriter and Counseling Psychology graduate student at Santa Clara University. The film is based upon their first-hand research, conducted at three San Francisco Bay Area Middle Schools.

"We learned that unfortunately cyber bullying is happening everywhere—regardless of socio-economic background," said Heimowitz.

"It's a new phenomenon that deals with issues that have been around for years such as rumors and malicious targeting of individuals," said writer and director, Jason Azicri.

In the show, Skye (Kelcie Stranahan), the most popular girl in the 8th grade, receives threatening emails, text messages and voice-mails. Skye's best friend Melody, (Stephanie Cameron) asks the tech-savvy Adina (Amelia Varni) for help in uncovering the perpetrator. When Adina agrees to help, Adina's friend Clara (Ciera Trussell) is confused: Skye is stuck up and has never been nice to them in the past, so why is Adina helping her? Working together, the girls learn about more than just the bullies' identity—they learn about friendship and growing up in the digital age.

Adina's Deck engages teen audiences, who make connections and identify with the contemporary characters. Educators and parents find the show to be a valuable learning tool, and the first of its kind in dealing with the emerging problem of cyber bullying. After viewing the film, 82% of 6th-8th grade students in Castro Valley, CA showed improved knowledge of cyber bullying, demonstrated by post-screening test results.

Adina's Deck comes with a parent/teacher's guide for discussions pertaining to cyber bullying, a pre and post test, a behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of the film, a documentary about cyber bullying, bloopers, deleted scenes, and a special taping of a live Q&A session. The DVD is intended for 11-14 year olds, as well as for parents, teachers, school counselors, public and non-public school students, home schoolers, prevention programs, mental health agencies, and hospital settings. In addition, cast and crew members are available to travel nation-wide for live appearances, assemblies, teacher training and conferences.

Adina's Deck will be available October 1, 2007 free of charge to low-income schools as well as for purchase to those who contribute a donation to help cover expenses.

For more information, visit the official website:
http://www.adinasdeck.com [8] or http://ldt.stanford.edu/~debbieh [9].
Debbie Heimowitz and Jason Azicri can be contacted at: adinasdeck@gmail.com [10]

New Lows: Reality Show Puts Kids at Risk

Mothering believes the show is in flagrant violation of the needs of children. One parent of one of the children in the show has already complained about child abuse and neglect. We ask you to join us in demanding that CBS cancel Kid Nation.

According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times (see www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/... [11]), New Mexico Attorney General Gary King, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) are looking into the treatment of children on the show.

The article quotes SAG's deputy national executive director, Pamm Fair: "We've looked at (the contract between parents and producers), and it's been a long time since we've seen such egregious provisions for any performer, let alone children," Fair said. "We have a lot of people who are very upset about this show so there may be action down the line to let the network know that people are unhappy about the treatment of children and how it's reflected in the series."

Child-labor laws may have been a factor in selecting participants for the show. According to the article, Tom Forman, the show's executive producer, avoided including children from California and New York because, "as we looked at the labor issues, there were some issues there." California and New York have some of the nation's strictest labor laws, the L.A. Times article said.

Mothering discussed Kid Nation with Susan Linn, award-winning psychologist at Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston and director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. Linn pointed out that, as reality shows are edited for dramatic effect, children may be inaccurately depicted as bullies or traitors. Who will help these kids respond to a national audience that views them in a negative light? What will it be like, for the children who lose, to have an entire nation watch them fail or, especially for boys, break down?

Linn noted that parents of the participating children may have the impression that they are sending their kids to the equivalent of summer camp. However, camps employ counselors whose main objective is to help children to learn and mature. The main objective of Tom Forman and CBS is to turn a profit.

Mothering believes allowing eight-year-old children to live—and work—for 40 days without their parents for the sake of making a buck is simply wrong. On a promo trailer, a weeping young boy says he thinks he is too young to be doing the show. And we say, "Yes, you are!"

Please write to CBS Paramount CEO Leslie Moonves and demand that he cancel Kid Nation: Leslie Moonves, CBS Paramount CEO, 5555 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038. You can also go to www.cbs.com [12], scroll down to the very bottom of the page, click on "Feedback" (in small print), and submit your complaint about Kid Nation there.

Tainted Bibs Pulled from Shelves

Mothering, The Center for Environmental Health [13] (CEH), and concerned child-safety advocates welcomed the recent announcement by Toys R Us that the retailer is pulling all vinyl baby bibs from their store shelves. The CEH had previously warned that its independent testing found vinyl baby bibs sold at the chain stores Toys R Us and Babies R Us to have high lead levels. The company has since acknowledged that its own recent testing found lead levels in its baby bibs that exceed the company's safety requirements. The company is offering a refund to parents for any vinyl baby bibs purchased at any time from its stores.

"We appreciate Toys R Us taking this strong action to protect children. Vinyl is a poison plastic that has no place around a baby's neck," said Charlie Pizarro, Associate Director of CEH. "We hope the company disposes of the toxic bibs safely."

In May, the Center first broke the news about lead in vinyl baby bibs when its testing found high lead levels in bibs purchased from WalMart. In response, the Consumer Product Safety Commission released an inaccurate statement that only worn bibs were a safety threat. "Clearly the Toys R Us testing confirmed what we've been telling parents: that these bibs are an unnecessary hazard and should be discarded," said Caroline Cox, Research Director for CEH. "We urge parents to return any Toys R Us vinyl bibs and discard any other vinyl bibs." The CEH recommends that parents looks for bibs made from cloth or other natural materials.

More information is available at http://www.cehca.org/ [13]