Of children, smartphones and pornography....

Recently, the average age of exposure to pornography was 11. That may seem young. Recent research suggests the average age may have now crept down to 9.

Let that sink in for a minute.

Pornography and 9 year olds?

What is driving this increasingly early access to pornography?

Many argue that it is smart phone technology.  Many kids at younger and younger ages now carry smartphones with them at all times. The world of online pornography is privately and readily accessible to them at all time. Gone are the days of trying to steal a dirty magazine.

This article suggests that the dangers of this access are real.

Here's another resources that talks about how pornography can actually change the brain chemistry of young people:

yourbrainonporn.com 

Sesame Street and the Tough Parts of Life

Most of us are familiar with Sesame Street teaching young children about letters and numbers. However, Sesame St. has always had a parallel emphasis on social skills and real world problems and they have not shied away from tackling tough topics in developmentally appropriate ways. The above clip illustrates how the show tackled the real life death of the character that played Mr. Hooper.

Here's another example, from the events of 9/11/2000.

For more, read this article.

Games for Serious Learning

Can a video game function like a class text or a video or movie?  How can we best use games to facilitate learning in the classroom?

This article describes several games that could be used in language arts programs, particularly for high school students.