Sketchers Shape Ups...You should be ASHAMED!

This commercial is on TV... it is aimed for girls as young as 7.

We have talked alot on this blog about the messages our media is sending to young girls. Whether it is ABERCROMBIE'S padded bikini or something else, you are taking in information that someone ELSE is deciding is TRUTH. A company that wants your money can get really creative in HOW they market these things to you.

I want you to truly search for what this commercial's many messages are and leave your thoughts below.

It is YOUR turn to SPEAK out to the national marketing firms that ALLOW this to be shovelled into your heads.

Philanthropy...

phi·lan·thro·py/fəˈlanTHrəpē/Noun

1. The desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed esp. by the generous donation of money to good causes.

I didn't know this word until I was in college. It wasn't something anyone had discussed with me or taught me about until I was face to face with many GREEK organizations that supported so many things. I saw the tens of thousands of dollars that one organization could raise for Alzheimer's or Muscular Dystrophy in a relatively short time.

Of course I went to Penn State which is the home of the Largest Student Run Philanthropy on the PLANET! Dance Marathon! This past February the Greek Organizations of Penn State went above and beyond for CHILDHOOD CANCER and raised...

Yes, you read it right....$9.56 MILLION!!!

When I saw this potential teens had while I WAS a teen at Penn State, I actually wished someone had told me that I could make a difference. ME.

You put a lot of "ME's" together and you get results like this! I wish more teens realized their potential when it comes to touching the lives of others in a positive way.

I have to wonder if all the hopelessness teens feel is not a result of not living this reality. Can you imagine taking a teen who feels like she has no worth, no potential and putting her in a situation where she gets to change the life of one person. The results would be astronomical!

When I was preparing to jump into this world of writing for and speaking to teens, a very wise businessman told me to write my personal mission statement. When I was thinking about teens not plugging into PHILANTHROPIES like they should be, I was reminded of this mission statement.

This is what I wrote:
"My mission is to use my gifts to positively influence children of all ages to love and respect themselves, others and the life they've been given and to empower them with the truth that they can be a changing force that positively influences the world around them."

And that's my challenge to you today. Think about how your want to impact the world around you? Do you find yourself interested in one specific type of charity? Is there something that when it flashes across the TV you are immobile? Something that you wish you had a magic wand to fix? This could be your soul trying to get your attention. What "moves" you?

Here are some great stories about teens making a difference. Check them out and see if anything sparks your fancy. We will be continuing this conversation on Friday with our Journaling Day.

Teen Bakes for Cancer Patients
Teen Girl Uses Her Faith to Guide her Philanthropy Choices
Trading Probation for Running

Where is your heart in this matter?

In the News... Abercrombie & Fitch's big OOPS

Who gets to decide how fast you grow up?
Who gets to decide how you feel about yourself?
Who gets to decide what measures your worth?

YOU!

Don't ever forget that! Don't fall into the MEDIA traps that make money for large corporations at the expense of your youth.
Abercrombie & Fitch did just that this week - see video at the end of this post.

Over the next week or so we will be discussing MEDIA LITERACY and how as teens you must take your values and self-expectations into your own hands and throw out a "talk to the hand" at the media when they try and talk you into growing up too fast, when they try to get you to compare yourself to the airbrushed images on the screen, when they use comedy in the shows you like to change the way you feel about the things that make you different from other girls your age.

So, here is where you have the POWER to make a stand. This week Abercrombie & Fitch decided FOR YOU that girls as young as 7 or 8 should feel inadequate unless they are wearing a padded top to their bikini. Are you going to let them decide this for your? For your younger sisters?

So, I want every young girl who reads this to leave a comment, but I want you to leave it TO Abercrombie & Fitch. In the spirit of the Butterfly Girlz who are mature, thoughtful and caring, I want you to leave your well-thought out comment on how it makes you feel when the media pulls one of these indecent moves.

Then I want you to facebook, tweet, email and pass this along to every friend you have that you know would be upset and offended by this. Invite them to come to this post and leave a comment.

You have the power to have YOUR VOICE heard and I want to help you do that. You always have the right to SPEAK UP. You always have the right to SAY NO.

You can leave anonymous comments and leave your first name and age.

Take this on, girls! Be proactive! Don't let the media tell YOU what is acceptable. Stand up!

9 year old girl shows the COURAGE of a giant

The Butterfly Girlz have been discussing COURAGE this week ...

I think we all hope that in a dangerous situation we would do the right thing, step up to the plate, put ourselves in harm's way to save someone, be the hero. Not that we would do it for the "hero" lable but that we would simply, by an innate inner force, be the life-saver because our soul said so.

For Anaiah Rucker, 9, it happened just like that last week. It was a normal school day. Her mom watched from the porch as she and her 5 year old sister, Camry, walked to the bus stop. It was a rainy morning and the girls stepped into the road to cross before the bus arrived.

That's when Anaiah looked up and saw a truck headed right for them. Without a though, she pushed Camry out of the way and took the almost fatal blow by the truck. The girls' mom ran to her daughter's side and she wasn't breathing. The bus pulled onto the scene and the busdriver that was not planning on saving a life that day, helped Anaiah's mom administer CPR that eventually brought Anaiah back.

Anaiah suffered a broken neck,two broken legs and lost a kidney and her spleen. Due to lack of blood flow one of her legs needed to be amputated.

When asked why she put her life on the line she said, "I thought she was too young. She's my sister. I love her."

Now THERE is some courage.