Blog posts in December 2010 
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Festive pester power...
Wednesday 8 December 2010
Categories: Media Influence, Parenting, Technology & the Internet
Pity the poor parents once again at this time of year when they are presented with long lists of items that their children simply cannot do without this Christmas! How can you tell the technical gizmo that is merely a passing fancy, a cul-de-sac, a detour, from the one that is a genuine advance, a real step forward, a must-have?
It’s hard to believe it now but when mobile phones, in all their brick-sized magnificence, first came onto the market most people were baffled and bemused. Why... -
From WAGs to witches
Thursday 2 December 2010
Categories: Media Influence, Role Models, Self-esteem
It’s very heartening that 87% of teenage girls in a survey by ASDA would rather be like Hermione in Harry Potter than Cheryl Cole. Hermione, at least in the early books and films, has bad hair and buck teeth. And she is most definitively her own woman. She works incredibly hard at her witchy studies, usually beating the boys; she challenges them, standing up to them fearlessly, unconcerned as to whether they will like her less. Her morals are impeccable; she is clever and tenacious, loyal...