Thong panties, padded bras, and risqué Halloween costumes for young girls. T-shirts that boast “Chick Magnet” for toddler boys. Sexy content on almost every television channel, as well as in books, movies, video games, and even cartoons. Hot young female pop stars wearing provocative clothing and dancing suggestively while singing songs with sexual and sometimes violent lyrics. These products are marketed aggressively to our children; these stars are held up for our young daughters to emulate–and for our sons to see as objects of desire. Popular culture and technology inundate our children with an onslaught of mixed messages at earlier ages than ever before. Corporations capitalize on this disturbing trend, and without the emotional sophistication to understand what they are doing and seeing, kids are getting into increasing trouble emotionally and socially; some may even to engage in precocious sexual behavior. Parents are left shaking their heads, wondering: How did this happen? What can we do? So Sexy So Soon is an invaluable and practical guide for parents who are fed up, confused, and even scared by what their kids–or their kids’ friends–do and say. Diane E. Levin, Ph.D., and Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., internationally recognized experts in early childhood development and the impact of the media on children and teens, understand that saying no to commercial culture–TV, movies, toys, Internet access, and video games–isn’t a realistic or viable option for most families. Instead, they offer parents essential, age-appropriate strategies to counter the assault. For instance: • Help your children expand their imaginations by suggesting new ways for them to play with toys–for example, instead of “playing house” with dolls, they might send their toys on a backyard archeological adventure. • Counteract the narrow gender stereotypes in today’s media: ask your son to help you cook; get your daughter outside to play ball. • Share your values and concerns with other adults–relatives, parents of your children’s friends–and agree on how you’ll deal with TV and other media when your children are at one another’s houses. Filled with savvy suggestions, helpful sample dialogues, and poignant true stories from families dealing with these issues, So Sexy So Soon provides parents with the information, skills, and confidence they need to discuss sensitive topics openly and effectively so their kids can just be kids.

So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids

Self-Help

Kilbourne, Jean

Levin, Diane, E.

Ballantine Books

The War Play Dilemma : Balancing Needs and Values in the Early Childhood Classroom (Early Childhood Education Series)

Carlsson-Paige, Nancy

Reference

Teachers' College Press

As violence in the media and media-linked toys increases, parents and teachers are also seeing an increase in children’s war play. The authors have revised this popular text to provide more practical guidance for working with children to promote creative play, and for positively influencing the lessons about violence children are learning. 
Using a developmental and sociopolitical viewpoint, the authors examine five possible strategies for resolving the war play dilemma and show which best satisfy both points of view: banning war play; taking a laissez-faire approach; allowing war play with specified limits; actively facilitating war play; and limiting war play while providing alternative ways to work on the issues. 
New for the Second Edition:
<ul>
<li> More anecdotal material about adults’ and children’s experiences with war play, including examples from both home and school settings.</li>
<li> Greater emphasis on the impact of media and commercialization on children’s war play, including recent trends in media, programming, marketing, and war toys.</li>
<li> Expanded discussion about the importance of the distinction between imitative and creative war play.</li>
<li> Summary boxes of key points directed at teachers or parents.</li>
<li> New information about violent video games, media cross feeding, and gender development and sex-role stereotyping.</li>
<li> A more extensive list of resources and further reading for adults and children.</li>
</ul>
Praise for the First Edition!
“Powerful…A wealth of practical suggestions for parents and teachers.”;
―Young Children
“Comprehensive and useful…Educators who read this book and implement its suggestions will be making an important contribution to a peaceful future for their young students.”
―Teachers College Record

The War Play Dilemma: What Every Parent and Teacher Needs to Know (Early Childhood Education Series)

Humor & Entertainment

Book by Carlsson-Paige, Nancy, Levin, Diane E.

Who's Calling the Shots?: How to Respond Effectively to Children's Fascination with War Play, War Toys and Violent TV

Parenting & Relationships

Parenting

New Society Publishers

Teaching Young Children in Violent Times: Building a Peaceable Classroom

A guide for teachers offers activities to help children meet safety needs, appreciate diversity, and resolve conflicts

New Society Pub

Teaching Young Children in Violent Times helps teachers and group leaders working with pre-K to 3rd-graders to create an environment in which young children can learn alternatives to the violent behaviors modeled in our society, the media and home. Mixing dialogs, anecdotes and theory, the book provides essential insights into the developmental roots of young children's thinking and behaviors around gender, prejudice, violence and conflict. It offers practical guidelines and activities for meeting young children's needs for safety; helping young children learn to appreciate diversity; and providing opportunities and skills to resolve conflicts creatively and respectfully. This rich resource also supplies suggestions for using dialogue, puppetry, games, play, class charts, curriculum webs, and children's books to turn any classroom into a peaceable one. Diane Levin is a widely known and respected educator and researcher who co-authored The War Play Dilemma and the best-selling Who's Calling the Shots? Published by Educators for Social Responsibility; distributed to the trade by NSP.

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

Remote Control Childhood?: Combating the Hazards of Media Culture (Naeyc Series)

Copple, Carol

Natl Assn for the Education

The new edition of this highly acclaimed book is a must for early childhood educators, parents, and policy makers. It helps teachers create a Peaceable Classroom, where children learn peaceful alternatives to the violent behaviors modeled for them in society. This extensively revised and updated edition features new material for a post-September 11th world including a new chapter on helping children deal with violence in the news.

Educators for Social Responsibility

In a violent society where there are so few models for positive conflict resolution, teachers can help children learn the skills that they will need to communicate, negotiate, and resolve their conflicts with others. By using the childrens book Best Day of the Week as a starting point, Before Push Comes to Shove shows how teachers of young children can begin to build conflict resolution skills with young children in ways that are meaningful to them and embedded in their everyday school experiences. Nine comprehensive chapters address topics ranging from the basis of conflict resolution education to how to develop a specific curriculum. The last chapter gives helpful resource information.

Before Push Comes to Shove: Building Conflict Resolution Skills with Children

Redleaf Press

More and more of children’s attitudes, values, interests, and behavior run the risk of being controlled by their experiences with the popular media culture and screens instead of being actively created by children themselves. That is, childhood is becoming increasingly remote controlled. Learn how to counteract the potentially harmful impact media can have on both the process and content of children’s development and learning, and how to help families make informed decisions about the screen media in children’s lives.

Beyond Remote-Controlled Childhood: Teaching Children in the Media Age

The National Association for the Education of Young Children

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Levin, Diane, E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Levin, Diane, E.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Levin, Diane, E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids

The War Play Dilemma : Balancing Needs and Values in the Early Childhood Classroom (Early Childhood Education Series)

The War Play Dilemma: What Every Parent and Teacher Needs to Know (Early Childhood Education Series)

Who's Calling the Shots?: How to Respond Effectively to Children's Fascination with War Play, War Toys and Violent TV

Teaching Young Children in Violent Times: Building a Peaceable Classroom

Teaching Young Children in Violent Times: Building a Peaceable Classroom

Remote Control Childhood?: Combating the Hazards of Media Culture (Naeyc Series)

Teaching Young Children in Violent Times: Building a Peaceable Classroom

Before Push Comes to Shove: Building Conflict Resolution Skills with Children

Beyond Remote-Controlled Childhood: Teaching Children in the Media Age