Archive for June, 2012

Girl power: Children’s movies starring strong female characters

Friday, June 29, 2012 by:moms@sfgate.com (Amy Graff)
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In ‘Brave,’ Princess Merida defies an age-old custom and insists on taking part in a boys-only sport competition. (Disney)

Merida, the spunky heroine with a messy mop of burnt orange curls atop her head, is like a breath of fresh air. She’s the star of Pixar’s new Brave, and unlike so many female protagonists in children’s films she’s not a prissy, pink-wearing princess who’s waiting for her knight in shining armor to charge through the castle door. She’s sporty and fierce, determined and strong, and rides on her horse through the Scottish Highlands shooting arrows.

“Brave is notable because it’s Pixar’s first movie that features a female main character,” says Betsy Bozdech, managing editor of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit advocacy group that helps parents navigate media. “And unlike a lot of princess stories, which tend to focus on the princess’s romantic prospects, Brave is centered on parent-child relationships and Merida’s personal growth from self-centered teen to a more selfless princess. That makes her a pretty strong alternative to the more stereotypical animated princesses we’ve seen over the years.”

Merida has quickly captured the hearts of children (and moms and dads) across the country and the film Brave opened to mostly positive reviews. It seems America was hungry for a female protagonist, an anti-princess, a role model for little girls, somebody who could kick Cinderella’s butt (although Merida would never do that because she’s not a bully).

While Merida might seem like an entirely new species in children’s films, Hollywood has graced us with a few other family movies starring notable female protagonists. SFGate reached out to Common Sense Media to help come up with a list of those movies, and you’ll find their selections in the slide show below. If your kids liked Brave, you ought to check out one of these films. And please chime in with more movie starring  powerful female characters in the comments.

Common Sense Media provided suggested ages for the movies. The website is a great resource for determining whether a movie is appropriate for your child.

School sunscreen ban leads girls to become severely sunburned

Wednesday, June 27, 2012 by:moms@sfgate.com (Amy Graff)
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After spending five hours outside at a school field day, these two girls had seared skin. (Jesse Michener)

The images of two girls from Tacoma, Wash., who became badly sunburned after spending an afternoon outside at a school field day are painful to look at.

Ouch! Why weren’t these girls wearing sunscreen?

Teachers weren’t allowed to provide the girls with sunscreen—even though their skin was obviously getting fried—due to a statewide policy. Huh?

Turns out that a state law in Washington forbids staff from applying or giving students sunscreen without a doctor’s note. What’s more, for liability reasons, students can only bring sunscreen to school and apply it themselves if they have a note from a physician. “The law exists because the additives in lotions and sunscreens can cause an allergic reaction in children, and sunscreens are regulated by the FDA as an over-the-counter drug,” according to MSNBC. Similar policies exist in 49 states; California is the only state to allow sunscreen in public schools without a doctor’s note.

Jesse Michener, the mother of the two girls with seared skin, is troubled by this law and she’s challenging it. She partnered with Project Backpack, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on changing state and local policies to allow sunscreen on school campuses. Together they plan to connect with national organizations and put more force behind the movement to put sunscreen back in the hands of children.

Michener posted the images of her badly burned girls on her blog, Life Photographed, and they quickly caught the attention of the world. The story was covered by news sites ranging from the British Daily Mail to CBS News, but Michener says, “This isn’t a story about us. I want this to be a part of the bigger picture and spark a grass roots movement to change these laws.”

Michener’s daughters, Violet, 11, and Zoe, 9, have fair skin but their mother didn’t apply sunscreen on the morning of the field day because it was raining. She figured the activities would be held inside. But the weather cleared and Violet and Zoe spent five hours in direct sun.

“Teachers remarked that my daughters looked like they were burning but nobody did anything about it,” Michener told SFGate.

Because of the law nobody could have done anything about it. “The girls say they were forced to watch one teacher put on her own sunscreen and then explain to the burning students that it was ‘just for her’ when they begged her for some,” according to the Daily Mail.

What’s more, the school doesn’t allow children to wear hats.

The girls’ burns were so serious that Michener brought them to the doctor. The sisters’ skin blistered and they both had headaches, chills and pain. They stayed home from school for a day.

A week later, Michener says that Violet’s face is still pink but the skin on her shoulders is “alligator-y and leathery.”

“But I don’t want to make this a story about my girls’ bad sunburns,” Michener says. “We need to move on and look ahead and now it’s time to throw myself at trying to catalyze change.”

The school apologized to the family and said they would support a revision to the sunscreen policy.

Source and inspiration: MSNBC and Daily Mail