I attended Gladys Polk Elementary in Richwood, Texas, from August 1992 to May 1999. It was a huge part of my early life (and some bad memories, discussed here), and I continue to keep track of what is going on… Read More ›
children
Review of Aaron Alon’s BULLY (2017)
From its directorship by Dr. Aaron Alon, its powerful story line and unforgettable thirteen original numbers written and composed by Alon, its cinematography, its sound, and its talented cast of performers and singers, Thunderclap Production’s latest release, Bully (2017), is a highly-original masterpiece about… Read More ›
Walt Disney and the Acceptance of Authoritarianism
While eating my supper of crackers, deli turkey, and strawberries, I had a question: What is the relationship between Disney’s children’s movies (and alphabetic fairy tales) and the current–baffling–acceptance of authoritarianism in the United States? Why are people–who proclaim to… Read More ›
Creating and Omitting History, Fundamentalist Nationalism, and the A Beka History Textbooks
I first started officially drafting this article on August 7, 2015! During the past two years, I have constantly struggled with how to approach the issues raised in this post. I am always interested in how different institutions teach History,… Read More ›
Exploiting Kids On and Off Stage: Labor and Fiction
I often think about important ways in which the children who become star singers or become star actors or actresses in various television or film productions are exploited–exploited by their families, agents, colleagues, and audiences. Kids in such positions receive… Read More ›
Screaming But Nobody Can Hear Me
It was Wednesday, September 6, 2000, sometime late in the morning. I was in the intensive care unit following major surgery (surgery #2 of 5 for Neurofibromatosis, as of June 2017) and screaming for help. I was screaming because every… Read More ›
13 Reasons Why “13 Reasons Why” Demands Caution
Given how many of my students have been watching and talking about 13 Reasons Why, as well as how many think-pieces I have been seeing, I figured I had better see what it is all about for myself. I binge-watched the… Read More ›
