Jamie Janosz

OK - this one's a short one... Last week, my husband, daughter and I went to Florida for spring break. We wanted to stay part of the week at Daytona Beach, since my husband absolutely loves the place. He likes it 1) because he wants to relive his 1980s youth and 2) because they allow cars to drive on the beach. We wanted to stay near the boardwalk and near our favorite little sandy seafood restaurant, the Ocean Deck, which is located right on the beach. Its doors open right onto the sand and we would often walk right in and order a plate of oysters...enjoying the sun and view of the ocean. We checked in late - our plane didn't get in until 8:30 pm - so it was almost 11 pm by the time we reached our hotel. I chose the Mayan Hotel out of all of the 100 some hotels listed for Daytona Beach. Wrong choice... We were met at the parking lot by a security guard who said, "Are you sure you want to stay here?" At check in, we were handed a notice that said in...

Walmart has a new line of clothing splashed with the name of Miley Cyrus. The line appeals to my 6th grader, even though she is thoroughly sick of Hannah Montana. She used to love Hannah when the show first came on the air. She faithfully watched the Disney show, and we bought her a Disney marketed nightgown and lunch box. But the madness didn't stop there. Soon there were Barbie type dolls with Hannah's face, board games, clothing, accessories, shoes. Everything was Hannah Montana. Even my daughter was sick of it. They had marketed Miley to death. The Hannah situation is nothing new. I started to catch on to this ploy early in Sabrina's life. I think the first was Elmo. Sabrina watched Sesame Street when she was just a baby. I thought it was cute that they made a little plastic bowl with Elmo's face on it. Then I bought her an Elmo nightgown. We found a fuzzy red chair with Elmo on it. Soon, my toddler who couldn't even walk through a store could spot Elmo...

Do you know what your kids are listening to? Recently, I had a discussion with my Communications students at MBI about the ways media is influencing their lives. One constant topic is the way media has become convenient and all-consuming. Probably the majority of my students carry some sort of phone. Most of them own Ipods. They are constantly tuned in, plugged in, connected in some way to outside influences. This even affects my daughter who is in middle school. While she is not yet allowed to have a cell phone – although she wants one – she does have an Ipod. So do most of the kids on her bus. On that Ipod she has about 200 songs. Most of those I have heard – probably there are some I have not. Children in this generation have more access to private media than ever before. What do I mean by private? I mean media that they can access or listen to as individuals – apart from their families. They are making these choices independently – in the privacy of their own rooms – on thei...