Conference: Corporate and Industry Influences on Children's Development

[Gary Ruskin <gary@essential.org>]

Commercial Alert					October 4, 1999

Following is an announcement for the conference on "Corporate and
Industry Influences on Children's Development," which has been
rescheduled for October 21-22.

MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT: Corporate and Industry Influences on Children's Development: Study
Group and Invitational Scholars' Forum
  
WHERE: Howard University Division of Continuing Education
1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 600, Silver Spring, MD 20910
One Block East of the Silver Spring Metro Station, just off Georgia
Avenue

WHEN: Thursday, October 21, 1999, 3:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m. 
Friday, October 22, 1999, 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.  

CONTACT: 	
Velma LaPoint, Howard University, (202) 806-6514  
Priscilla Hambrick-Dixon, Hunter College, CUNY, (212) 772-4627
Gary Evans, Cornell University, (607) 255-4775
Jean Bailey, Howard University, (202) 806-8605
Alex Molnar, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, (414) 229-4592
Gary Ruskin, Commercial Alert, Washington, DC (202) 296-2787
Faith Samples-Smart/Jeffrey Fagan, Columbia Univ., (212) 350-7758
Shirley Steinburg/Joe Kinchloe, Penn. State Univ. (814) 238-7663

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) will speak on Thursday and Ralph Nader
will speak on Friday.
			
Scholars, educators, psychologists, elected officials and the public are
increasingly concerned about the impact of corporate and industry
influences on children's development.  Academic research has documented
how corporate and industry influences are associated with many adverse
child psychological, physiological, behavioral, social and health
outcomes. 

The conference will discuss how corporate influences pervade children's
lives -- their homes, neighborhoods and communities, schools, and
entertainment, and how these influences may affect children.  Particular
emphasis will focus on children placed at risk, including children of
color, children in poverty, economically privileged children and
alienated children, who may be vulnerable to commercial messages,
advertising and marketing.  Topics will include:     
* The impact of junk food and fast food on child health and nutritional
status
* The effects of the media (television, hip-hop and heavy metal music,
celebrities)
* Fashion (dress-related problem behavior such as competition, theft and
violence)
* Illicit use of alcohol, tobacco or guns, and youth risk behaviors
* Commercialization of schools
* Exposure to environmental, industrial and noise pollution
* Challenging corporate influences on child development
 
Most speakers are scholars from fields such as psychology, education,
public health, medicine, nutrition, and sociology.  Representatives from
organizations working to protect children and families will also speak.

The conference is funded by the Howard University Fund for Academic
Excellence, 1998-99 and Hunter College, City University of New York. 
--------------------------
Following is the program for the conference.    

Study Group and Invitational Scholars' Forum: Corporate and Industry
Influences on Children's Development 

Thursday, October 21, 1999

3:00-4:00 p.m.	Registration


4:00-4:30 p.m.	Day I Opening Session  

Vinetta Jones, Dean, School of Education

Velma LaPoint, Study Group and Forum Director

Priscilla Hambrick-Dixon, Study Group and Forum Director

The Honorable Sam Brownback, Senator, United States Senate 


4:30-5:30 p.m.	Plenary I  Orienting Interdisciplinary Issues 

Moderator, Plenary I and II, Veronica G. Thomas, School of Education,
Howard University 

Kinderculture: The Corporate Construction Childhood, Shirley Steinberg,
School of Education, Adelphi University and Joe Kincheloe, School of
Education, Pennsylvania State University

Social, Economic, Political and Diversity Issues, Ronald L. Taylor,
Department of Sociology and Center for African American Studies,
University of Connecticut 

The Culture of Violence: Social Contagion–Gun Production and Adolescent
Development, Faith Samples-Smart and Jeffrey Fagan, Center for Violence
Research and Prevention, School of Public Health,  Columbia University

The Culture of Drug Use and Abuse, Ura Jean Oyemade Bailey, Center for
Drug Abuse Research, Howard University	

Physical Environmental Issues, James Johnson, College of Engineering,
Computer Sciences, and Architecture, Howard University  
	
Summary: James E. Craigen, National Center on Permanency for African
American Children, School of Social Work, Howard University  


5:30-5:40 p.m.	Break 


5:40-6:40 p.m.	Plenary II  Orienting Issues Interdisciplinary Issues 

Commercialism, Gary Ruskin, Commercial Alert, Washington, DC 

International Issues, Paul McLeary, For Children, Arlington, VA

Schools, Commercialism and Effective Education, Alex Molnar, School of
Education, University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee

The Role of Faith-based Communities, Kim Q. B. Leathers, School of
Divinity, Howard University

Summary: Lorenzo Morris, Department of Political Science, Howard
University, Washington, DC    


6:40-7:30 p.m.	Reception 
	
		
Friday, September 17, 1999


8:30-9:30 a.m.	Registration, Continental Breakfast  


9:30-10:00 a.m.	Day II Opening Session

Priscilla Hambrick-Dixon, Study Group and Forum Director 

Velma LaPoint, Study Group and Forum Director
	
Ralph Nader, President and Founder, Public Citizen, Washington DC
	

10:00-11:00 a.m. Plenary III  Individual, Family, and Community Based
Intervention Strategies and Corporate and Industry Social Responsibility 

Moderator, Plenary III and IV, Jonathan Rowe, Contributing Editor, The
Washington Monthly Magazine and Former Staff Writer, The Christian
Science Monitor  

Corporate and Industry Influences on Child Development: Sponsoring
Support or Cultivating Challenges, Margaret Beale Spencer, Graduate
School of Education and Center for Health, Achievement, Neighborhood,
Growth and Ethnic Studies (CHANGES), University of Pennsylvania

A University-Community Partnership to Address the Challenges of
Corporate and Industry Influences on Preschoolers' Development in
Violent Neighborhoods, Suzanne M. Randolph and Sally A. Koblisky,
Department of  Family Studies, University of Maryland-College Park, and
Debra Roberts, Department of Psychology, Howard University 

Parent and Family Approaches to Mediate Corporate and Industry
Influences on Children's Development, Anna White, Center for a New
American Dream, Takoma Park, MD 	 

Summary:  Cheryl Boyce, Social and Cultural Factors Program and
Traumatic Stress Programs, Developmental Psychopathology and Prevention
Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD


11:00-11:10 a.m.	Break


11:10-12:10 a.m.    Plenary IV Individual, Family, and Community based
Intervention Strategies and Corporate and Industry Social Responsibility 

Policies and Programs to Prevent Underage Drinking,  Brandy Anderson, 
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Dallas TX and Washington, DC

Policies and Programs to Prevent and Reduce Youth Smoking, Charles
Jackson, Collaborative Programs,  American Cancer Society, Washington,
DC

The Prevention and Reduction of Gun Violence among Youth, Alicia Horton,
Handgun Control, Washington, DC  

Violence Prevention Programs and Youth Development, Hope Hill,
Department of Psychology, Howard University
 
Summary: Bertha G. Holliday, The American Psychological Association,
Washington, DC   


12:10-12:55 p.m.	Lunch  


12:55-1:55 p.m.	Concurrent Research Symposia I   

Food Industries

Child Nutrition Issues, Maureen Storey, Georgetown University Center for
Food and Nutrition Policy, Washington, DC   	

Child Poverty, Nutrition and Corporate and Industry Influences, Michelle
Tingling Clemmons, Food Research Action Center, Washington, DC

Creating Consumers: How the Food  Industry Delivers Its Products and
Messages to School Children, Jane Levine, Kids Can Make a Difference,
Kittery Point, ME   
   
The Role of the Media in Promoting Nutritional Health, Rovenia Brock,
4-H Youth Development Program, University of the District of Columbia
Cooperative Extension Service, and Host, Heart and Soul TV, Black
Entertainment Television (BET) and Contributing Nutrition Editor, Heart
and Soul Magazine, Washington, DC 

Summary:   Allan A.  Johnson, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied
Health, Howard University

Physical Environment and Industry By-Products

Environmental Stress and Human Development, Gary W. Evans, Department of
Design and Environmental Analysis,  Cornell University

Effects of Exposure to Physical Environmental Stressors on Children's
Development, Priscilla Hambrick-Dixon, School of Education, Hunter
College, City University of New York 

Children:  Unique and Susceptible, Cynthia Bearer, Division of
Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Rainbows Babies and Children's
Hospital, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH   

Engaging Communities in Mediating Environmental Industry By-Products,
Kathryn Hohmann, Environmental Quality Program, Sierra Club, Washington,
DC 

Summary: Bailus Walker, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, College
of Medicine, Howard University 


Media Industries I:  Televison, Videos and the Internet

The Role of the Media Industry on Children's Development, Sherryl Browne
Graves, Department of Educational and Counseling Programs, School of
Education, Hunter College, City University of New York

Language, Television Commercials and Youth, Brita Butler-Wall, School of
Education, Seattle University and The Center for Commercial Free Public
Education, Seattle Washington, WA
	
Mitigating the Negative Effects of Electronic Media and Promoting Their
Positive Use, Susan Linn,  Media Center, Judge Baker Children's Center,
Boston, MA  

Summary: Bishetta Merritt, School of Communication, Howard University 
 

1:55-2:05 p.m.	Break


2:05-3:05 p.m.	Concurrent Research Symposia II  


Media Industries II:  Music and Images, Language, and Behavior

Heavy Metal Music and Youth Development, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett,
Department of Human Development,  University of Maryland-College Park

The Hip-Hop Industry: Influencing or Preventing Substance Abuse among
Youth?, Patricia Thandi Hicks Harper, Thandi's Place Educational
Entertainment Fund, Temple Hills, MD   

Media Images and Youth Development, Hakim M.  Rashid, Department of
Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies, School of Education,
Howard University
		
Language Issues among Youth as Related to Corporate and Industry
Influences, Richard Wright, School of Communication, Howard University
		
Summary:  Carolyn Stroman, School of Communication, Howard University   


Illicit Use of Products and Health Risk Behaviors

Underage Alcohol Use: Implications for the Alcohol Industry, Government
and Schools, Frederick Harper, Department of Human Development and
Psychoeducational Studies, School of Education, Howard University  
	
Protecting Children from Guns: A Preventive Approach, Shannon
Frattaroli, Center for Gun Policy and Research, School of Public Health,
The Johns Hopkins University 

Nurturing Alternatives to Participation in Drug Trafficking: Cooperative
Communication between Urban Schools and Students' Homes, Robert Serpell,
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland-Baltimore 

Summary: Richard P. Thornell, School of Law, Howard University,
Washington, DC 


Fashion Industries and Personhood  

The Fashion Industry and Adolescents, Lillian O. Holloman, Department of
Anthropology, Economics and Sociology, Prince George's Community
College, Largo, MD    

Youth Dress-related Problem Behavior and Violence: The Roles of
Families, Schools and Communities, Velma LaPoint, Department of Human
Development, School of Education, Howard University
 
Research on Media Reports of Dress-related Problem Behavior among Youth,
Sylvan I. Alleyne, Department of Human Development, School of Education,
Howard University

Summary: Barbara K. Nordquist, Program in Fashion Merchandising,
Department of Art, College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University   


3:05-3:15 p.m. 	Break


3:15-4:00 p.m.	Integrative and Interdisciplinary Summary Session of
Concurrent Research Symposia 

Summary of Presentations of Concurrent Research Symposia 

Food Industries: Allan A. Johnson

Physical Environment and Industry By-products: Bailus Walker
	
Illicit Use of Products and Risk Behaviors: Richard P.  Thornell 
	
Media Industries I:  Television, Videos and Internet: Bishetta
Merritt    

Media Industries II:  Music and Images, Language and Behavior: Carolyn
Stroman

Fashion Industries: Barbara K. Nordquist 


4:00-4:30 p.m. Closing Session:  Future Directions and Acknowledgments 
 		
Velma LaPoint, Study Group and Forum Director

Priscilla Hambrick-Dixon, Study Group and Forum Director
------------------------------	
Study Group and Invitational Scholars' Forum:
Corporate and Industry Influences on Children's Development--
Research, Policy, Practice and Advocacy 
Audience Member Form 

Name_______________________________	
Company Name______________________
Company Address____________________
Phone_________________ 
FAX_________________________		
E-mail_____________________________

Please fax this information to: Velma LaPoint, (202) 806-5205 or email
to <vlapoint@fac.howard.edu>.

<-----------conference materials end here----------->

Commercial Alert was founded last year to oppose the excesses of
advertising, marketing and commercialism.  For more information, see
Commercial Alert's web page at <http://www.essential.org/alert>.

Commercial Alert's materials are distributed on the listserve
<commercial-alert@essential.org>. To subscribe to commercial-alert,
click on <http://www.essential.org/alert/listserv.html> or send an
e-mail message to <listproc@essential.org> with the following all in one
line: 
subscribe commercial-alert <your name> (no period).

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Ruskin | Commercial Alert 
1611 Connecticut Ave. NW Suite #3A | Washington, DC 20009
Phone: (202) 296-2787 | Fax (202) 833-2406
http://www.essential.org/alert/ | mailto:gary@essential.org
--------------------------------------------------------------