Dr. Rebecca Hains
Author, professor and speaker | Children's media culture, media literacy, and media criticism
Monthly Archives: October 2012
Sofia the Not-So-Latina-After-All
Months ago, Disney announced that a new Disney Channel cartoon, Sofia the First, would be released this year, targeting girls ages 2 to 7. With the title character a little girl, rather than a teenager, Disney promised that Sofia the First…
Read MoreMedia literacy for preschoolers, pt. 4: Tips and resources
This week, I’ve been writing about how parents can help their preschoolers become media literate. [See: Part 1: how media work, Part 2: media content, Part 3: media creation.] For my wrap-up post in this series, I’d like to share…
Read MoreMedia literacy for preschoolers, pt. 2: Thinking critically about media content
As I began discussing yesterday, young children can become media literate with their parents’ help. In today’s media-saturated world, raising media literate children is an increasingly important goal. Our kids need to (1) understand how the media work, (2) be…
Read MoreMedia literacy for preschoolers: Explaining how the media work
Media literacy is a concept that’s often taught in schools–though not often enough, in my opinion. Being media literate means having the ability to think critically about media content, as well as an understanding of how the media work. It…
Read MoreHalloween and the rise of sexy costumes for women and girls
For years, families struck a balance between store-bought and homemade Halloween costumes. But these days, DIY Halloween costumes are out; store-bought costumes are an $2.87 billion business. What does this mean for consumers? Well, for one thing, we’re seeing a…
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Dr. Rebecca Hains 
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