Positive, healthy and happy families are the cornerstone of any healthy community. Parenting programs which address multiple aspects of family functioning are potentially the most effective means of creating positive family environments. However, the various constituents who "consume" parenting support and intervention often are not…

"The problem with our society is that our values aren't in the right place. There's an awful lot of bleeding and naked bodies on prime-time networks, but not nearly enough cable television on public programming." --Bauvard, Evergreens Are Prudish Technology has expanded the availability of information through various routes, such as,…

This paper describes a case study on the chemistry behind natural cosmetics in five chemistry learning groups (grades 7-11, age range 13-17) in a German comprehensive school. The lesson plan intends to promote critical media literacy in the chemistry classroom and specifically emphasizes learning with and about advertising. The lessons of four…

This article, through looking at mothers' modes of engagement with their children's education, proposes an integrative analytical approach to the study of the making of mothers, mothering, and motherhood. The article presents and brings into dialogue four different bodies of anthropological and sociological literature: mothering as a…

Cook Smart, Eat Smart (CSES) is a 12-hour cooking school that teaches participants to prepare nutritious, delicious food using simple, healthy preparation techniques, basic ingredients, and minimal equipment. The purpose of this evaluation was to examine the impact of CSES on food preparation and meal consumption behavior. Program outcomes include…

State antipredatory lending laws (APLs) are designed to protect borrowers against predatory lending that can increase the risk of default and deplete the home equity held by borrowers. Federal regulators instituted preemption that limited the scope and reach of state antipredatory lending regulations for certain lenders. Based on the variation in…

As the Post-9/11 GI Bill nears its fourth year, with more than 550,000 veterans enrolled in thousands of institutions, advocacy groups, lawmakers, and President Obama warn that veterans are vulnerable in a higher-education marketplace eager for their GI Bill dollars--with some purveyors, particularly for-profits, recruiting aggressively. The…

The concept of gender stereotypes permeates the lives of youth in the United States. This article provides background information and rationale for incorporating gender stereotype analysis into family and consumer sciences (FCS) coursework. The critical analysis of gender stereotypes includes numerous activities and assessments that encourage…

Little is known what the term sustainable development entails in relation to the school subject of home and consumer studies and the subject's knowledge area of food. The aim is to illustrate how food is expressed in national syllabuses of home and consumer studies at present and in the past, and its operationalization into sustainable…

In our everyday lives we are surrounded by advertising in its various forms. Thus in the school context it is not surprising that the issue of advertising is addressed by different subjects, with the main foci being advertising-specific language, images and illustrations, use of stereotypes, strategies of persuasion, etc. But advertising also…

This Data Point uses data from the 2012 administration of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) financial literacy assessment. PISA is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy and, in 2012, general problem solving and financial literacy. PISA is coordinated by the…

Textile products are used heavily every day. The apparel industry is one of the largest industrial polluters, causing damage to both human health and the environment. Despite increasing consumer concern about environmental issues and a growing trend toward supporting sustainable production, consumers are often unable to evaluate accurately which…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group study was to determine the influence that a financial education intervention administered in First Year Experience courses had on students' perceptions of their financial behavior such as compulsive spending and credit card use. This study utilized the five-point Likert-type…

Prospective distance education students are faced with a bewildering number of choices in selecting an institution that is best suited to achieving their educational goals. They also face a confusing forest of institutions' promotional claims of being the best or most respected school. This primer is intended to help the prospective student of an…

Professor Bryant Simon is the author of "Everything But the Coffee: Learning About America From Starbucks" (University of California Press, 2009). He presented his key findings to the class and summarizes them here. Studying Starbucks reveals essential truths about what its customers, who represented a large cross-section of the American…