youth_media

So Reading Rainbow is being canceled after 26 years. That makes it one of the longest running children's shows in history, bested only by Mr. Rogers, and Sesame Street.

What's strange about the decision to cancel the show is that economics are only partly to blame. Another factor is that of shifting missions in educational TV. Essentially, Reading Rainbow taught kids the 'whys' of literacy, not just the bare bones of letters, words, commas and spelling.

So for two weeks I have been squatting my neighbours wireless signal, and today finally, thanks to a foot-long drill bit and my landlord Mick, I am back to having my own internet service provider - who by the way is TekSavvy.

I say this only because the neighbours provider (who's name begins with an R and ends with an S) was throttling certain urls. So a project I finished up just before I moved, was not available for viewing. Which is too bad because it's a site devoted to young people's sexual health and safety.

Anyways, The Sense Project has launched an amazing website, and started an adorable sticker campaign.

Here are the stickers:

I am proud to say I was involved in the conception and execution of the two projects. The hilarious questions on the stickers were all generated by the youth peer educators however.

I know for a fact that while sex may not take away your acne, it sure makes it seem less significant in the grand scheme of things...

THIS Friday 29 May 2009, from 7:00pm - 9:00pm
at Shaika Cafe, 5526 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC

The Sense Project at Head & Hands hosts its annual celebration event to recognize all of the dedication that this community has shown to our goal of breaking the silence surrounding sex, and to celebrate the Sense Project’s 2nd year anniversary of sex education workshops and youth peer-to-peer health support.

Sex in the media will be our focus, with the launch of the Sense Project’s new website, www.senseproject.org

This is a great chance to check out this amazing new online resource and community, which features a youth-led blog and an anonymous Q&A forum.

Yet another one: Feminism in the Web era: It ain't pretty. This one, by Judith Timson, is a little less virulent - at least.

But it's still wrong.

At the outset Timson ponders the bigger issues that may lie behind an increased trend towards extreme violence (and especially in the context of intimate relationships) perpetrated by young women: