December 31, 2012

"Te Protejo", una iniciativa para la protección, a través de Internet, de la infancia y la adolescencia en Colombia.

"Te Protejo", es una iniciativa colombiana del Ministerio TIC, ICBF, Fundación Telefónica, Red PaPaz y el Foro de Generaciones Interactivas de España que cuenta con el apoyo de la Policía Nacional.

"Te Protejo" es la primera línea de denuncia virtual y anónima en Colombia para la protección de la infancia y la adolescencia, así mismo, es la primera en América Latina en ser miembro de INHOPE, un organismo internacional creado en 1999 que regula 41 líneas de denuncias de pornografía infantil en 36 países.


December 28, 2012

An entertaining approach to teaching basic economic principles

For the past twenty-nine years, PNC Wealth Management has determined how much it would cost to buy each of the gifts in the holiday song The Twelve Days of Christmas.  The PNC Christmas Price Index is meant as an entertaining approach to teaching basic economic principles. Educators can  use the Christmas Price Index to teach economic trends to middle and high school students.

This year, you are invited to go on a worldwide gift hunt using the web. The  site includes interactive activities, annual results and PNC CPI trends in a Flash presentation, MP3 downloads, etc.

A campaign to urge Nickelodeon to stop advertising junk food to children.

Center for Science in the Public Interest organize a campaign in Internet to urge Nickelodeon to follow Disney's lead and stop advertising junk food to children.

This year, the Walt Disney Company announced it will no longer accept advertisements for junk food on its child-directed television, radio, and online sites.  Disney also updated its nutrition standards for foods that can be advertised to children.

As the number one entertainment company for children, the CSPI consider that Nickelodeon has enormous influence over children’s food choices and ask to write to Nickelodeon and urge them to stop advertising unhealthy food and drinks to kids.




December 27, 2012

Getting kids outdoors makes them happier, healthier – and smarter

Younger generations spend more time with their cell phones and headphones today, rather than constructing forts in the woods, or listening for the sounds of bird calls and frog croaks. Research has demonstrated that time spent in nature fosters the healthy development of children. Outdoor play helps children manage stress and become resilient. Natural spaces stimulate children's limitless imaginations and foster creativity. Children who connect with nature may be more inventive and better problem-solvers due to the hands-on learning that local nature provides.


Social Media Could Help Curb Childhood Obesity, Heart Association Says

The American Heart Association has published a statement suggesting that social media might be an effective tool in the fight against childhood obesity.

According to the statement, variables that contribute to the success of a Web-based obesity intervention strategy include:
- Family involvement with the intervention;
- The degree of interaction between the children and their counselor or support group; and
- The frequency with which children used the online programs.


December 15, 2012

FTC's Second Kids' App Report Finds Little Progress in Addressing Privacy Concerns Surrounding Mobile Applications for Children

Kids' Data Still Collected, Shared without Parents' Knowledge, Consent.

The Federal Trade Commission issued a new staff report examining the privacy disclosures and practices of apps offered for children in the Google Play and Apple App stores.  The report details the results of the FTC’s second survey of kids’ mobile apps. 


December 13, 2012

Obesity in Young Is Seen as Falling in Several American Cities

After decades of rising childhood obesity rates, several American cities are reporting their first declines.

The trend has emerged in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, as well as smaller places like Anchorage, Alaska, and Kearney, Neb. The state of Mississippi has also registered a drop, but only among white students.

December 9, 2012

How Families Interact on Facebook

Every day, people use Facebook to connect with a variety of people in their lives—close friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
Facebook Data Science wanted to understand how parents and children on Facebook communicate. They investigated anonymized and automatically processed posts and comments by people self-identified as parents and children to understand how conversation patterns with each other might be a bit different from those with their other friends.
- Who friends whom?
- Who talks to whom?
- And what do they say?

December 6, 2012

Videogames in Europe: 2012 Consumer Study

The Videogames in Europe Consumer Study is a multi-country survey run by Ipsos MediaCT and commissioned by ISFE. It is designed to provide a better understanding of the societal context in which games are being played today in 16 European countries. It provides detailed consumer statistics about gaming habits, broader media interests, online gameplay, gaming in a family context and the PEGI age rating system.


December 2, 2012

Obese children more vulnerable to food advertising

Amanda S. Bruce, PhD, and colleagues from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center assessed 10 healthy weight and 10 obese children, ages 10-14 years, using both self-reported measures of self-control and functional magnetic resonance imaging, which uses blood flow as a measure of brain activity. Dr. Bruce states, “We were interested in how brain responses to food logos would differ between obese and healthy weight children.” The children were shown 60 food logos and 60 nonfood logos, and functional magnetic resonance imaging scans indicated which sections of the brain reacted to the familiar logos being shown.

December 1, 2012

Train safety warning: 'Dumb Ways to Die' cartoon

For many years, Australia's safety campaign adverts have tried to shock people into quitting unsafe habits or behaviour - from smoking to drink-driving.
But now a train company, Metro Trains Melbourne, has gone with a different approach with its message on rail safety, releasing a cartoon song called 'Dumb Ways to Die'. Duncan Kennedy reports from Sydney.