Free to be you and me

Forty years ago this week, the groundbreaking gender equality album "Free to be...You and Me" was released.

Kotaku: As media evolves, so does its impact on society. The first televised Presidential debate, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960, was said to have changed the tide of the election. In 2011, Twitter and Facebook played a central role in helping people organize protests in Egypt and Tunisia, eventually forcing long-standing governments to step down. Could we see the next wave of social change come out of a video or computer game?

According to gamer news hub Kotaku, it’s entirely plausible. The storytelling in games has come a long way since the days of Pac Man and Donkey Kong; modern video games like Bioshock have complicated narratives with themes that carry through from screen to reality. Now, developers are using the popular medium to raise both awareness and funds for social issues such as hunger, bullying in schools, and homelessness. But to make games like these successful, there are numerous hurdles to jump. Read Kotaku’s entire enlightening article to learn more about the future of video games for social change.

Huffington Post: This week, researchers from West Virginia University found that 39 percent of high school students (that’s one in three!) are experiencing excessive daytime sleepiness. Students participating in the study answered questions from the commonly-used Epworth Sleepiness Scale, where a score of more than 10 signifies a lack of refreshing sleep.

Communities In Schools works hard to makes sure the students we serve get a good night’s sleep. From ensuring students making sure they have a safe place to sleep at night, to providing alarm clocks to make sure they wake up on time, to even painting bedrooms soothing colors that to promote serenity and calmness, our site coordinators do whatever it takes so that to make sure students arrive at school well-rested and ready to learn.

Slate: Forty years ago this week, actress Marlo Thomas and a group of performers, including Alan Alda, Mel Brooks, and Diana Ross, released the radical gender equality album Free to Be…You and Me. The album, the brainchild of Thomas, was designed to teach children that girls can grow up to be doctors; that it’s ok for boys to cry; and that parents can successfully raise their children without promoting gender stereotypes.

Although children today are much more likely to listen to music on iPods rather than on a record player, the messages inside Free to Be…You and Me continue to carry weight. In a three-part series, Slate writer Dan Kois provides an enlightening retrospective of Free to Be…You and Me and how it has influenced child rearing and the fight for gender equality in schools and the workplace.

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