Derek Baird

Almost immediately after the iconic Danish toy company announced that they would create a line of LEGO building blocks geared especially for girls, the outcry began.

Here's a round-up of some of the coverage.

Lego is for Girls: Focusing on boys saved the toymaker in 2005. Now the company is launching Lego Friends for “the other 50 percent of the world’s children.” Will girls buy in? [Business Week]

Lego Friends: Please Build on Possibility, Brain Plasicity: No one’s trying to thwart Lego’s growth to build onward…We’d just like to refrain from mopping up the mess of mass marketing landing on girls as stereotyped limitations instead of a gateway for girls to build lands of their own. [Shaping Youth]

Lego Targets Girls with PInk Blocks, Cute Figures and No Creativity: There's nothing gendered about the most basic sets, which just contain colored blocks in different sizes, yet Lego is considered a toy for boys.

Now after extensive research, the company is releasing a new line to woo girls, but the way they're going about it may give you the urge to kick over your brother's Tatooine playset. [Jezabel]

VIDEO: Lego's Billion Dollar Girl [Business Weekly]

What do you think? Are LEGO Friends sexist? Are people overreacting? What's your take?

View large at mindshift.kqed.org

While there has been lots of media coverage and press about young girls/women regarding body image & eating disorders, there has been very little devoted to how the media effects boys.

In many cases, boys are an understudied group with regard to body issues (dysmorphia, bigorexia).

Even as the media continues its obsession for the almighty 'six pack', boys have been gaining on girls in eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

This commercial isn't real, but neither are society's standards of beauty.

Additional Resources

• Boys and Body Image: Eating Disorders Don't Discriminate
• Packaging Boyhood
• Free eBook: The Perfect Gift for a Man: 30 Stories for Reinventing Manhood
• Buffed Boy Body Image and Teen Scene 'Hottie' Factor

via www.hollywoodreporter.com

American Idol host and cross-platform entertainment producer, Ryan Seacrest​, has moved into uncharted territory with his new deal with social media company, GetGlue.

The deal will allow fans of his radio show, On Air with Ryan Seacrest, the ability to check in to the show on the GetGlue social network. This is the first time radio listeners will be able to do so on the network.

When listeners check in, they’ll receive exclusive stickers. The more one checks in, the higher in the rankings they’ll get. For example, one starts as a listener, but can earn the title of correspondent, producer and then co-host the more one checks in while listening to the show.

Related: Gen Y, Social TV and Multiplatform Media Consumption

Did you know 1 out of 4 kids are bullied every month in the U.S?  In an effort to support this year’s Bullying Awareness Week theme, this infographic, “School Bullying Outbreak” shares facts about the methods, consequences and preventative measures related to bullies and bullied victims in schools.

We’d love your help in sharing this infographic as part of your educational outreach and campaigns focused on preventing school bullying.

View Large | Source: MAT@USC: Masters in Teaching

The current teen market represents the most multicultural population the United States has seen. It differs from previous generations in other distinctive ways as well.

While today’s teens exhibit a strong need for individuality in their self-expression,they also display a deep attachment and respect for family.

In addition, they marry an interest in fashions of the moment with a sincere desire to purchase products from companies that have a social conscience.

Teens are also a robust part of the economy. They have a signifcant income of their own to spend and also wield increasing infuence on household purchases.

The market for products bought by and for the 25.6-million-member teen market has experienced a considerable growthspurt, increasing from $189.7 billion in 2006 to over $208.7 billion expected by 2012, according to “The Teens Market in the US” report from Packaged Facts.

CHICAGO TEEN EXPO a two-day extravaganza dedicated to Chicagoland Teens and Tweens during Chicago Public Schools Spring Break vacation. Chicago Teen Expo will be held at Chicago’s largest lakefront playground Navy Pier.

This two-day fun filled expo will engage, enlighten, entertain and empower our youth of today. Teens will be provided the resources, opportunities and outlets for dealing with the many daily issues they face (abuse, poverty, violence, peer pressure) thereby creating new possibilities.

Chicago Teen Expo 2012

Teens don't tweet, will never tweet - too public, too many older users. Not cool.

That's been the prediction for a while now, born of numbers showing that fewer than one in 10 teens were using Twitter early on.

But then their parents, grandparents, neighbors, parents' friends and anyone in-between started friending them on Facebook, the social networking site of choice for many – and a curious thing began to happen.

Suddenly, their space wasn't just theirs anymore. So more young people have started shifting to Twitter, almost hiding in plain sight.

"I love twitter, it's the only thing I have to myself ... cause my parents don't have one," Britteny Praznik, a 17-year-old who lives outside Milwaukee, gleefully tweeted recently.

"Facebook is like shouting into a crowd. Twitter is like speaking into a room."

While she still has a Facebook account, she joined Twitter last summer, after more people at her high school did the same. "It just sort of caught on," she says.

Teens tout the ease of use and the ability to send the equivalent of a text message to a circle of friends, often a smaller one than they have on crowded Facebook accounts.

They can have multiple accounts and don't have to use their real names. They also can follow their favorite celebrities and, for those interested in doing so, use Twitter as a soapbox.

Read more on HuffPost Parents

Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, “Morris Lessmore” is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor.

Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story.

Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a new narrative experience that harkens back to silent films and M-G-M Technicolor musicals. “Morris Lessmore” is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” is one of five animated short films that will be considered for outstanding film achievements of 2011 in the 84th Academy Awards ®.