Monadnock Waldorf School
Assembly Room at Elementary School
98 South Lincoln Street
Keene
Blog
09/23/2010
Simple Steps to Combat the Media Assault on Children 7 pm
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
09/23 & 09/24/2010
High on Safe Media
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
Monadnock School community turnout is all ears.
09/23 & 09/24/2010
Hello, everyone. I’m still on a 17-hour high.
We did two events, including a workshop, with the Monadnock Waldorf school community in Keene, NH. It started the evening of Sept. 23 and didn’t’ end until late the next morning.
Over that period of roughly17 hours, about 50 people total let their hair down and traded ideas with me and with my colleague, Bob Farquhar, on how to balance media in the home for children from birth through age 12.
Some of the parents and teachers literally unplug anything attached to a screen until their children reach age 13. But some of them said they needed a strategy going forward for meshing with young people whose families have few, if any, restrictions.
“My husband is ‘into’ video games,” one woman said. “I don’t want my child seeing these. How do we mesh my husband’s needs with those of our child?”
“Your work sheets are just what we needed,” a teacher said of the Friday morning workshop. “This workshop provides the framework for doing our own plans at home. Thank you.”
How do you balance media messages in the home? I’d love to hear from you.
–Jean Rogers (mother, parent, educator and advocate of safe media)
08/18/2010
Rotary Club at Milford
Thursday, September 30th, 2010
Jean takes notes.
Only Time for Screens
More than 50 Rotarians from the Milford area heard Jean discuss startling numbers from a national study that says young people spend 7 ½ hours in front of some kind of screen per day. And this doesn’t include computer time spent in school or multitasking (using several devices at the same time).
One member who works at a nationwide insurance company said he couldn’t promise anything but he’d try to interest the company in Jean’s workshops designed to help attendees leave with a plan for balancing media in their homes.
05/18/2010
Nashua West Rotary Club
Thursday, September 30th, 2010
Message Appreciated
A number of people bought copies of our book, Kids Under Fire, when Jean spoke to nearly 80 people in a noon meeting at the Crowne Plaza. And we reminded everyone that the books are available through the Toadstool Bookshops in New Hampshire and on Amazon.com (www.amazon.com).
Several people came up to us afterward and thanked Jean for delivering the message that media balance in the home is absolutely critical.
03/29/2010
Nashua Rotary Club
Thursday, September 30th, 2010
Nashua Rotary Club
Screen Time at Epidemic Proportions
Jean stressed that time spent in front of some kind of an electronic screen by children has reached epidemic proportions. Computers, cell phones, video games, TV, iPods – you name it. Children are literally wired all day every day.
Not only are children replacing face-to-face communications with texting, but some experts believe such screen time can contribute to a multitude of illnesses, including obesity, which has gotten national attention from First Lady Michele Obama.
02/13/2010
Toadstool Book Signing
Monday, January 18th, 2010
Book display at Toadstool in Milford
02/13/2010
Toadstool Bookstool, Milford
Excerpts from Book a Hit
The gathering started small but grew to one dozen-plus. Didn’t sell as many copies of Kids Under Fire at this event as we did at the Toadstool in Peterborough. But several people said they would be purchasing copies from Amazon.com (www.amazon.com. In the search box just type Kids Under Fire, and the book details will pop right up). Jean read a few lines from her book. The group reacted positively.
01/23/2010
Toadstool Book Signing
Monday, January 18th, 2010
01/23/2010
Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough
Critical Problem Acknowledged
About one dozen people attended our first book signing, and some were vocal. They agreed with Jean that media exposure has become an epidemic. Most stayed around for another 20 minutes to talk with Jean and purchase copies of Kids Under Fire and to get autographs from Jean and Bob.
Folks at the Peterborough Toadstool did a great job organizing and publicizing the book signing.
12/29/2009
A Book Celebration
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Authors Jean Rogers and Bob Farquhar.
About 35 people gathered at a private home in Amherst, NH, to congratulate Jean Rogers and Bob Farquhar on their new book, Kids Under Fire – Seven Simple Steps to Combat the Media Attack on Your Child.
Friends and business associates of Jean and Bob offered their help and expertise in getting out the word about the book and about the workshops offered by Jean to young parents, schools, healthcare providers and others.
11/23/2009
Jean Seen on TV in 33 States
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Jean Rogers, left, is interviewed by Better TV’s Rhiannon Ally.
Jean Rogers, principal founder and Advocate of Kids Media Diet, was featured Thanksgiving week in a four-minute interview on Better TV, which is Better Homes and Garden’s national television network. The show aired in 33 states on November 23rd.
Rhiannon Ally, who left KCTV5 News in August of 2009 to join Better TV, interviewed Jean, who started the segment with straight talk:
“Let me say right up front what Kids Under Fire is not about. TV is not the devil. The book is not about unplugging from the media altogether. It’s about balance in the home and raising children to become thoughtful consumers of media.”
Jean and Bob spent the day at the Better TV studio in Hartford, CT, two weeks earlier where the taping session took place.
People at the studio were gracious hosts. Jean’s segment was shown as part of the network’s daily early-morning show.
To Watch Jean’s Better TV Interview – Click Here
- In “Better Search” box at bottom of page,
type the words: Kids Under Fire - Double-click on Kids Under Fire link at top of page to launch the video
11/14/2009
Parents, Teachers Eat It Up
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Author Jean Rogers and her three healthy, happy teens.
Roughly a dozen attendees bought copies of Kids Under Fire at the New Hampshire State PTA Convention in Nashua, NH.
Dozens of people dropped by the Kids Media Diet booth to chat with Jean and Bob and with Evan, one of Jean’s twin sons. Evan, Scott and Jean’s daughter, Kate, are living proof that the Kids Media Diet methodology works.
Nearly 40 people left their contact information with Jean and Bob and indicated either they saw a synergy with what they were doing or they would be interested in helping to get out the word. It was the second straight year KMD had been an exhibitor at the show.
11/12/2009
Business Crowd Likes What It Hears
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Jean Rogers
Jean and Bob presented to the Gate City Referrals chapter of Business Networking International in Nashua, NH. Members representing contractors to real estate brokers to financial advisers said they liked what they heard.
Several bought books – one of them more than one – but more importantly they said they would help get the word out to corporations and other groups about the Kids Media Diet workshops.
11/02/2009
Books Roll Off the Presses
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
The book everyone is talking about.
After nearly two years of hard work, copies of Kids Under Fire rolled off the presses at AdiBook Publishing (www.adibook.com; www.kingprinting.com), Lowell, MA. Many people were responsible for publication of the book, but none more important than Tom Campbell, Senior Vice President of Sales, who provided valuable advice about the book industry, and Margaret Baker of Peterborough, NH (Baker Salmon Design), who designed the book.
10/27/2009
‘We’ve Come to Expect Loud, Rude and Stupid’
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Even before Kids Under Fire was printed, Jean spoke to the Rotary Club of Peterborough, NH, where an audience of 30 cheered what it heard.
She took attendees for a stroll down memory lane, comparing the mild content of TV shows when they were growing up with the blood, guts and gore seen in today’s television fare.
“You’re right,” said one attendee who stayed afterwards to chat. “Because we’re saturated in it today, we can’t see how it has changed. We’ve come to expect loud, rude and stupid.”
Jean also drilled home the good aspects of TV and video games where the content is appropriate and balanced with activities that don’t involve a screen.
