KIDS FIRST! Jury Blog

Our 9th Annual KIDS FIRST! Best Day and Awards Celebration is less than a month away. As always, students are winning lots of awards! Elementary, Middle, High and College students all submit films to our KIDS FIRST! Film Festival and, annually we recognize the “best of the best.” It has been my pleasure to work with all these young producers year round and I look forward to seeing them recognized as much as anyone. Among the nominees are Middle School students from the Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood, CA and Peter Gundling, now in Middle School, who has been the recipient of our highest award for
the past two years and is once again among the nominees.

I am so proud of these young people who are part of our KIDS FIRST! family and offer them my most sincere congratulations as a nominee. They remind us all that “you are never too young, and hopefully never too old, to follow your dream and believe in your abilities.”

(Pictured above: Stillwaters, by Andrew Ford, nominated in the category: Student Production Short Short, College)

For a list of all the 2008 nominees, visit our nominee page. For details on KIDS FIRST! Best Day and Awards Celebration, visit KFBest2008.

Please join us in acknowledging the work of these young filmmakers who make the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival the premier source for outstanding films for and by children. Keep ‘em coming!

One of KIDS FIRST!’s baseline criteria is “no gratuitous violence or abuse.” But what is gratuitous violence, and how can parents and kids recognize it?

What exactly is violence? Physical violence includes hitting, punching, kicking, pushing, shoving, shooting, knifing, killing, certain acts of martial arts, damaging property, causing bodily harm, slapstick humor, and torture - real or animated. Verbal violence includes put-downs, name-calling, screaming, lying, teasing, foul language and disrespect.

Depending upon the age group targeted, not all violence is inappropriate and must be viewed within its context. We are often asked to explain what gratuitous violence entails. Here is a quick comparison of gratuitous vs. non-gratuitous violence to help you and your children make sense of the images they see.

Gratuitous violence may be identified by the following:

• Is not important to the plot and does not add to understanding the story or main characters.
• Is part of a continuous stream of kicking, punching and hitting - all in the name of conquering “the bad guy.”
• Shows humans, animals or cartoon characters being hurt in a humorous way.
• Makes fun of somebody or makes fun of the harmful act.
• Shows humans, animals or cartoon characters being squished, smashed or beat up and recovering a moment later.

Non -gratuitous violence may be identified by the following:

• Contributes to the overall story.
• Is used sparingly.
• Might teach a lesson or define the “bad guy.”
• Shows historical accuracy.
• Is there for its emotional effect on a scene.
• Portrays a negative behavior that is addressed and corrected within the story.
• Is in a program more suitable for an older child.
• Is shown with real consequences or correction.

(pictured top left, Adina’s Deck, an independent film about Cyberbullying.)

Kid’s All-Star values are different than adults. A DVD might not have many All-Star assets that we, adults think are important, and that I outlined in my last blog
(http://www.kidsfirst.org/juror/blog/2008/07/31/
what-makes-an-all-star-2/)
If kids love it and want to watch it over and over, maybe even learned something from it or sang the songs afterwards at dinner, this is an All-Star DVD from your child’s point-of-view. This is especially so for kids who may not be developmentally ready to decide if a DVD has qualities that would improve their life.

Here are some things children might say about a DVD that is an All-Star for them:

“I loved the Bob the Bunny! I wish I could play with him.”
“I want to watch that again! ”
“My favorite part was: ALL of it.”
“Bob was so silly. Remember when he went down the hole with his friends. Remember when…”

Children get excited when they love a DVD. Sometimes they interact with it while it’s on. Other times they can recount specifics: character names, storyline, places. Usually they will ask to watch it over and over, or want to take it with them when they visit a friend. My five-year-old son has a habit of watching all his DVDs quietly. Sometimes he requests to watch them again, but the real test is later that night. At bedtime, he will start to tell me stories about the DVD, remembering parts of it that excited him in extreme detail. One time, two days after we watched a new DVD, he decided to put on a puppet show, re-enacting one of the scenes in his own way.

Do you have an idea for a list of Child Rated All-Star assets? Ask your kids what makes a movie their favorite. If you have kids of different ages, note what assets are the same across the ages and which ones differ. Email your thoughts to me at jury@kidsfirst.org and we can use them to compile this new version from a child’s point of view. (You might expand on this - explaining to them that we are going to create a new All Star asset list for our Kids’ evaluation form.)

What makes a film or DVD so good that it get KIDS FIRST!’s highest rating? All of the products we endorse receive a one-, two- or three-star rating. We call our three-star rating an All-Star. All-Star media contain assets that are deemed beneficial to a child such as educational benefits, positive role models or they help a child figure understand their world. All-Stars should also have examplary production values. Here is a list of typical assets we examine before awarding an All-Star rating:

• Enhance a child’s self-esteem.
• Help children learn better ways to get along with others.
• Enhance a child’s reasoning and thinking skills.
• Enhance a child’s career aspirations.
• Add richness to a child’s life, teaching him about the arts, sciences or other cultures.
• Make a child see a connection with her own life.
• Stimulate a child’s curiosity and creativity.
• Enable a child to visit other places or explore other cultures and lifestyles.

Check out our online list of All-Star rated media at http://www.kidsfirst.org/status/A.html
The next time you watch a movie or DVD you or your kids really love, you can use this criteria to determine whether or not it is truly an All-star!

Hey kids! Ever watch those shows on TV with famous film critics and wonder how they got such a fun job? Well you can become a film critic too, right from your very own couch!

Here are some questions to ask, that will help you evaluate and discuss the programs you have watched. If you practice this often enough, you will learn to view media more critically and begin to ask these questions of yourself whenever you are engaged in viewing a film, TV program or DVD. Parents can try this with their kids, no matter what age they are.

1. Describe what happened in the film in 25 words or less.
2. Who were the main characters and what did they do?
3. What was your favorite part and why?
4. Would you recommend it to a friend? If so, why?
5. What star rating would you give this with 5 stars being high and 1 being low?

Now it’s time to let everyone know what you thought. Write your opinion about a film and print it in the “family newspaper” or start your own TV critic show where you can talk about a film, using evaluation criteria above. Broadcast your opinions!! Put your reviews on video, and you can even upload it to YouTube. Send your YouTube video to KIDS FIRST! and we will link to it on our website!

No one is too young or old to learn to be more media savvy. If you, your parent, teacher, or other adult would like to start their own Junior Film Critics Club, check out the KIDS FIRST! juror program at: http://www.kidsfirst.org/become-a-juror/

At KIDS FIRST! we know that kids are exposed to all sorts of media. We hear the complaints about kids watching too much TV and not being active enough. That is why we think it is especially important that you don’t let your kids become passive about what they watch. There are lots of great ways to get kids more involved, both physically and intellectually, with what they watch on TV or DVD. Here are some suggestions forbecoming “active” media viewers:

1. Become a Film Critic - ask questions to help evaluate media. Have them write their opinions about a film and print it in the “family newspaper” or start your own TV critic show whereyour kids can talk about a film (for more information about becoming a home film critic, see next week’s blog!)
2. Take it outside! Did you learn something interesting in that movie you just watched? Did you wonder how to have a career like the one you just saw in that DVD? In order to make media watching time really count - go out and explore! Look online for resources and information. Go outside and try that messy experiment you just saw.Go to the library and borrow books or magazines.
3. If its pure fantasy your children like, they can make up their own fun fantasy! Write a book and don’t forget to include artwork. Write a play, make costumes and production sets. Get other kids or family members to act it out. Find out about other science fiction writers and borrow books from the library.

Life is a process of learning, so try to take advantage of every learning moment and find out more!

At KIDS FIRST! we use a baseline criteria to determine if media is appropriate for kids to watch:

• NO gratuitous violence or abuse
• NO bias in terms of race, gender, culture or religion
• NO condescension toward children
• NO replicable unsafe behavior

In addition to this criteria, our jurors also determine the age appropriateness of everything they watch. KIDS FIRST! jurors are always careful not to rate something lower because they disagree with the producer’s age rating, but rather will rate it appropriately and show it to the correctly aged group of children. The most important factor in considering age-appropriateness in your family, is to know your kids. Some children don’t mind things that are a little scary. Others cover their eyes or leave the room whenever scary music or a mean-spirited character appears on the screen.

Since kids should never watch “inappropriate” media, adult jurors ALWAYS watch a product before viewing it with their child jurors. This is something all families should consider if they are not familiar with the TV shows, computer games, movies or other media their children want to view. If you are concerned about what your kids watch, your first line defense is to become familiar with it yourself. You can also use this time with your kids to help them become more active in their viewing experience.

What makes KIDS FIRST! reviews so unique?? We include the feedback of both adults AND kids in every review we make. Our specially trained adult and child jurors across the country are what makes the KIDS FIRST! program so special! Here are some tips to consider when reviewing children’s media with your jury of kids:

· Make sure that the reviews are specific to the adult or kids. Adult reviews should not contain kids’ comments or reactions and kids’ reviews should not contain adult comments or reactions (just adult observations.) Instead of saying in your kids’ review, “Kids didn’t understand all of the vocabulary”, you might say “the kids looked confused when they used larger words” or “kids asked me what a lot of things meant” or even, “kids seemed to be enjoying the film, even though I’m not sure they fully understood it.”

· Give details and examples as often as possible. Saying that something is age-appropriate does not tell us why. Remember that you are the reviewer and don’t assume that we have watched the movie. Here is an example of an adult juror question and an excellent answer given by one of our long-term jurors, Laurie Harrington, in her review of Travel With Kids Paris:

Q: If modeling behaviors are demonstrated, are they positive? Are social interactions respectful of race, culture and gender?

A: The mother taking the time to learn a bit of French and then teach the children to respect the country and peoples by having fun trying to use the language shows great respect. The people filmed interacting with the family responded very positively to those efforts. I love that chipping away at the ugly American stereotype!

Thanks! Add your tips, and stop by often!

Lauren Longworth,

Jury Manager

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Dear Mothers:

Greetings! As mothers we have a lot to juggle in this rapidly changing world in which we

live. The Motherhood Study Team is conducting a study of mothers in the USA. This is a

study exploring the multi-faceted lives of women while they are in the midst of having

and raising children. We invite you to participate in this study.

We are independent researchers seeking unbiased results. At this early phase we are

not able to offer any compensation other than a non-judgmental forum in which to

express and perhaps learn about yourself.

Participation is completely voluntary and will be 100% computer based. You can even

participate in your pajamas! Over the next several weeks we will email you surveys to

complete and return within 3 days. Some will be multiple choice and others are open

questions to which you can answer however you choose.

If you have any questions, please email:  motherhoodstudy@gmail.com.

Thank you for your efforts and we look forward to hearing from you.

We are confident that together we are going to learn what works best for mothers

throughout the country! Thanks for your participation.

Special ongoing incentives are being offered for new jurors.

An educator incentive allows educators to pay $20 for their juror application fee, and still get the full $40 refund after completing training and the first six evaluations. So, educators actually get paid to become active jurors for KIDS FIRST!

Producers who are members of the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media can take advantage of our member incentive. Join the jury and get your next full endorsement for FREE! Producers are eligible for a free endorsement after completing training and their first six evaluations.

Jury training is a bargain for everyone!! Your $40 application fee is ALWAYS fully refundable after you complete training and your first six evaluations.

So what are you waiting for… an invitation! Well here it is…

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO BECOME A TRAINED JUROR AND HELP KIDS BECOME MORE SAVVY MEDIA VIEWERS, HELP FAMILIES MAKE BETTER MEDIA CHOICES AND BUILD UP YOUR OWN OR YOUR FAVORITE CHARITY’S MEDIA LIBRARY!! JOIN US!!