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45-405: The series takes place in a school whose teachers display bizarre behaviors, with each title focusing on a specific teacher. Each book in the series has a rhyme in the title. The main character, A.J., is a boy who hates school. His rival is a girl named Andrea, who loves school and has a friend, Emily, that A.J. considers a "crybaby." Much of the humor is derived from the plot's unlikely situations and

90-456: A "My Weird Read-A-Loud" series. Gutman has also read online from the My Weird School series for #OperationStoryTime on Instagram , Facebook and YouTube . The series has been known for all it frequent running gags . Kirkus Reviews said that the first book, Miss Daisy is Crazy! , is "a sure-fire hit for the most reluctant reader." Publishers Weekly also notes that the series is

135-424: A good choice for beginning readers. The Reading Teacher mentioned the series in their 2008 article on choosing books for children that they will enjoy reading. Some books, such as Class Pet Mess!, do contain more challenging vocabulary . Mrs. Cooney Is Looney! uses homophones to provide humor. My Weirder School continues the trend of using humor that began in the My Weird School series. Booklist calls

180-562: A national child advocacy and media group, Jim Steyer founded Common Sense Media in 2003. In an interview with The New York Times , Steyer said he intended to "create a huge constituency for parents and children in the same way that Mothers Against Drunk Driving or the AARP has done." The group received $ 500,000 in seed money from a group of donors including Charles Schwab, George Roberts, and James Coulter. To assess parents' concern about their children's media habits, Common Sense Media commissioned

225-401: A poll, which found that "64 percent [of parents with children aged 2–17] believed that media products in general were inappropriate for their families. It said that 81 percent expressed concern that the media in general were encouraging violent or antisocial behavior in children." The polling firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, said that "only one out of five interviewed 'fully trusted'

270-471: A set of ratings to evaluate apps, games, and websites used in a learning environment. Donations from foundations and individuals and fees from media partners finance Common Sense Media. Today, the organization distributes its content to more than 100 million US homes via partnerships with a variety of media and tech companies. Common Sense Media describes itself as "the nation's largest membership organization dedicated to improving kids' media lives". By 2016,

315-529: Is a K-12 Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum consisting of more than 60 lesson plans, student handouts, videos and interactive components that span three topic areas: Safety and Security, Digital Citizenship, and Research and Information Literacy. The curriculum was informed by research done by Howard Gardner's GoodPlay Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The resources were developed with support from many foundations, including

360-421: Is a Parent Media and Technology Education Program that was launched in late 2008. The program includes a comprehensive library of resources, like tip sheets, workshop slides and script, videos, and discussion guides that educators can use to engage and educate parents about technology issues ranging from media violence and commercialism to cyberbullying and cellphone etiquette. The second product, launched in 2009,

405-407: Is a children's book series written by Barbara Park and illustrated by Denise Brunkus . Published by Random House from 1992 to 2013, the story centers on "almost six-year-old" Junie B. Jones and her adventures in kindergarten and first grade. Since the original book was published by Random House in 1992, a total of 31 Junie B. Jones books have been published. 28 are stories that take place in

450-522: Is an endorser of the SUCCESS Act and has partnered with ad agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners to encourage low income families to claim money due to them through the newly improved Child Tax Credit —as much as $ 3,600 per child in an eligible family for one year. In June 2024 Common Sense Media endorsed the SAFE For Kids Act which is a New York law that bans "addictive" feeds for minors under

495-471: Is thinner than their current size and that children with parents who are dissatisfied with their bodies are more likely to feel that way about their own. In September 2017, CSM released a study which it developed in collaboration with the University of Southern California 's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism focused on families in both Japan and America and technology use. Surveys of families in

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540-468: The I Can Read! line. A series of nonfiction books with facts presented by A.J. and Andrea. A series of graphic novels . Disappointed by the writing skills of the fans who write him letters, Gutman created a spinoff book in 2013, My Weird Writing Tips , to teach readers how to write. Audiobook versions of My Weird School have been bundled together with books 1-4 released together. During lockdowns associated with COVID-19 , Gutman has hosted

585-576: The American Library Association 's list of the Top 100 Banned or Challenged Books from 2000 to 2009. Reasons cited are "poor social values taught by the books, and Junie B. Jones not being considered a good role model due to her mouthiness, bad spelling, and grammar." While Barbara Park appreciated being on banned lists with writers she respected (including Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison ), she stopped reading information about her books because

630-678: The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rules to ensure that they keep pace with changes in technology since the law was passed in 1998 – as documented by the organization in a report to the Federal Trade Commission as part of a review of the law. The organization also helped Massachusetts Representative Edward Markey and Texas Representative Joe Barton draft legislation that required websites aimed at children under 13 to obtain parental permission before collecting personal information. According to The Wall Street Journal ,

675-490: The Junie B. Jones series, and three are activity books entitled Junie B.'s Essential Survival Guide , Top-Secret Personal Beeswax: A Journal by Junie B. (and me!) , and Junie B.'s These Puzzles Hurt My Brain! Book . Several box sets, multiple book bind-ups, and a Valentine's Day card collection have also been released. The series has been translated into Spanish, Italian and French. The Junie B. Jones series came in at #71 on

720-631: The National Institutes of Health released a white paper , which outlines the ways that media exposure can impact children's health. The paper evaluated 173 media-related studies from the past 28 years and concluded that "In 80% of the studies, greater media exposure is associated with negative health outcomes for children and adolescents." In October 2006, the organization released a white paper compiled from existing research on body image perceptions in children and teens. The paper states more than half of boys as young as 6 to 8 think their ideal weight

765-488: The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), a ballot measure to protect the privacy rights of California consumers and increase penalties on corporations that fail to protect children's privacy. CSM supported Stop Hate for Profit, a boycott where advertisers were asked to pull their ads from Facebook in response to the platform's spread of misinformation and hate speech. In July 2020, over 500 companies joined

810-519: The Common Sense Education program had grown to include over 300,000 member teachers in approximately 100,000 schools. In 2009, CSM partnered with Harvard University and the organization Global Kids to organize a three-way communication with parents, teenagers, and educators about issues faced in the online world. The organization has education programs for schools and other organizations to use with students and parents. The first product

855-540: The ESRB rating process, citing the wide availability of the leaked version and the damage to children that the censored version still had. Questioning whether Common Sense Media had begun functioning as a lobbying group rather than advocacy group the Los Angeles Times called the organization "one of the most zealous voices when it comes to encouraging state legislation limiting the sale of ultra-violent games to minors" and

900-715: The Sherwood, MacArthur , and Hewlett Foundations, which enables CSM to offer these products to educators for free. In 2012, CSM released its "Digital Passport", an online curriculum designed to teach children how to safely and responsibly navigate the Internet. The courses can be accessed for free by classroom teachers, who are then able to monitor their students' progress. Digital passport lessons are presented as games that reward progress with badges. In 2021, resources were updated for UK learners, fully translated to British English and Welsh, and available in every school. Lessons are built on

945-493: The United States were compared to surveys of Japanese families and found that both countries struggle with the impact of technology on family life and relationships. Common Sense Media released a PSA with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in 2017 called Device Free Dinner which featured Will Ferrell as a distracted dad at the dinner table, in order to raise awareness for responsible technology and media usage. Common Sense

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990-421: The age for which a title is either appropriate or most relevant. An overall five-star quality rating is also included, as are discussion questions to help families talk about their entertainment. In addition to CSM's traditional rating system, they also offer a set of learning based ratings, which are designed to determine complex educational values. CSM partners with a number of media companies that distribute

1035-490: The books is to interest children in reading and especially to make reading fun for children who have difficulty in school. The series' defining characteristic of strange teachers comes from Gutman's belief that children enjoy reading about "grownups doing dumb things." Gutman feels that along with having his own son, the series My Weird School helped launch his writing career. Various spinoff specials have been published since 2013. A series of early reading books as part of

1080-506: The boycott, including Adidas , Coca-Cola , and Unilever . Founder Jim Steyer launched the Future of Tech Commission with former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings . The commission will develop a tech policy agenda for the Biden administration. Common Sense Media played a major role in the passage of the 2005 California law criminalizing

1125-399: The comments were "too hurtful." She once wrote "Some people believe that the value of a children's book can be measured only in terms of the moral lessons it tries to impose or the perfect role models it offers. Personally, I happen to think that a book is of extraordinary value if it gives the reader nothing more than a smile or two. In fact, I happen to think that's huge." When asked about

1170-478: The endorsement was Disney's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day . To cover the organization's ever-growing expenses, Common Sense Media started charging for access to its media reviews in 2021. Users may access a limited number of media reviews per month for free. Unlimited access to reviews (for the website and the mobile app) requires a paid Common Sense Media subscription. As of 2016,

1215-561: The game, which was censored to prevent the game from remaining banned in both countries, was still banned in the UK via the ratings given by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). They also noted that players could still play a "leaked uncensored version" of Manhunt 2 on modded PlayStation 2 , as Take-Two Interactive mentioned. The organization asked the FTC to launch a federal investigation into

1260-792: The goal of providing information on their suitability for children. It also funds research on the role of media in the lives of children and advocates publicly for child-friendly policies and laws regarding media. Founded by Jim Steyer in 2003, Common Sense Media reviews and allows users to review also, divided into adult and child sections. It has reviews of books, films, television shows, video games, apps, websites, podcasts, and YouTube channels and rates them in terms of age-appropriate educational content, such as " positive role models ", "positive messages", diverse representation, " violence and scariness", " sexual content ", " language ", " consumerism " and more, for families and caregivers making media choices for their children. They have also developed

1305-443: The group also wanted websites to feature an "eraser button" that would allow children and teens to delete information that they've posted online about themselves. The group also favored a ban on "behavioral marketing" to children—ads targeted at children based on their online activities. In 2013, CSM pushed for the passing of California's "Eraser Bill". In 2014, they advocated the passing of California Senate Bill 1177, which prohibits

1350-460: The narration of Jared Goldsmith on the audiobook, Miss Cooney Is Looney!, for capturing the voice of A.J. in a way that "brings him to life." The series has been very successful with young readers, although Common Sense Media notes in a review that the series sometimes reinforces gender stereotypes . The series also receives criticism for characters having caricatured personalities and repetitive plots. Junie B. Jones Junie B. Jones

1395-409: The national advocacy effort, Common Sense Kids Action, to push for certain state and federal efforts to bolster education for children. CSM supported the U.S. Department of Commerce's creation of an "online privacy policy", which would include a "Privacy Bill of Rights" and would make clear which types of personal information companies are allowed to keep on clients. It has also called for updates to

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1440-651: The organization had over 65 million unique users and worked with more than 275,000 educators across the United States. Common Sense serves over 100 million users a year. In 2016, Charlie Rose reported that Common Sense Media was the United States' largest non-profit dedicated to children's issues. In August 2020, CSM announced the formation of a for-profit subsidiary, Common Sense Networks, to create and distribute original media targeted at children. Common Sense Networks then announced an OTT platform named Sensical, which launched June 29, 2021. After founding JP Kids, an educational media company for children, and Children Now,

1485-519: The organization's free content to more than 100 million homes in the United States. According to their website, the organization has content distribution contracts with Road Runner, TiVo , Yahoo! , Comcast , Charter Communications , DIRECTV , Disney , NBC Universal , Netflix , Best Buy , Google , Huffington Post , Fandango , Trend Micro , Verizon Communications , Nickelodeon , Bing , Cox Communications , Kaleidescape , AT&T , and NCM . The organization's current rating system differs from

1530-474: The respondents expressed support for the bill, and another 75% held negative views of the video game industry when it comes to how they protect children from violent video games. On August 12, 2006, CSM protested to the Federal Trade Commission about the ESRB's rating downgrade of a revised version of Manhunt 2 from "Adults Only" to "Mature". It protested on the basis that the revised version of

1575-478: The sale and disclosure of schools' online student data. The bill also forbids targeted ads based on school information and the creation of student profiles when not used for education purposes. As of January 2015, social media websites must allow California children under age 18 to remove their own postings. In 2018, CSM advocated for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). CSM also endorsed

1620-486: The sale of violent video games to minors. The organization submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court regarding the case Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (formerly Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association ). They published a survey, conducted by Zogby International, which asked 2100 parents whether or not they supported the "video game ban bill" – CA Law AB 1793; results showed that 72% of

1665-540: The same curriculum with the addition of new teaching tools and activities. In 2013 CSM launched Graphite, an online resource for teachers that allows them to review and rate educational technology. The project is supported by Chicago philanthropist Susan Crown and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ' bgC3 . Common Sense Media has played a role in influencing billions of dollars in government spending on education-related technologies including classroom broadband access and various learning apps. In April 2015, they launched

1710-504: The separate industry-controlled ratings systems for music, movies, video games and television." Common Sense Media reviews thousands of movies, TV shows, music, video games, apps , web sites and books. Based on developmental criteria, the reviews provide guidance regarding each title's age appropriateness, as well as a "content grid" that rates particular aspects of the title including educational value , violence , sex, gender messages and role models, and more. For each title, they indicate

1755-440: The series habit forming , writing, "Fortunately, the habit is reading." Booklist has also called the depiction of some of the adults in the series as " satire ." The Weird School Fast Facts series has been reviewed favorably. School Library Journal called the drawings "hilarious" in both My Weird School Fast Facts: Sports and My Weird School Fast Facts: Geography . School Library Journal also noted that Gutman's writing

1800-564: The system used by the Motion Picture Association of America and the Entertainment Software Rating Board. It has received positive support from some parents, and was singled out by US President Barack Obama as a model for using technology to empower parents. Common Sense Media began allowing studios to use their ratings and endorsements in order to promote family-friendly movies in 2014. The first film to use

1845-459: The teachers' personalities which are written to be "outlandish." Gutman was initially inspired to write the books after being exposed to the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park and wanted to write something similar from a boy's point of view. Gutman says that he has been inspired by visiting real-life schools, going to 60 schools a year to gather material. He has also stated that his goal in writing

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1890-480: The topic of a feature-length film adaptation based on the books, Barbara Park stated in an interview that "Junie B. has been pretty successful already living in the readers' imaginations, so I am happy with that." On June 14, 2022, it was announced that Nickelodeon is developing an adaptation of the books. Common Sense Media Common Sense Media ( CSM ) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with

1935-498: Was "splitting hairs" regarding the difference between lobbying and advocacy in its efforts. Common Sense Media participated in the FCC's Child Obesity Taskforce in April 2006 and hosted Beyond Primetime , a panel discussion and conference on issues related to children and media, featuring lead executives from the nation's top media. In June 2006, CSM and The Department of Clinical Bioethics at

1980-479: Was especially suited to his audience of younger readers. Booklist wrote that Sports was entertaining and informative. My Weird Writing Tips is a book written to help students become better writers. School Library Journal wrote that the book makes " grammar entertaining," but criticized the introduction for not being sensitive to the issues faced by bilingual students and others who have trouble with grammar. Booklist , however, felt that My Weird Writing Tips

2025-441: Was extremely funny and informative for a broad group of young readers. Kirkus Reviews found the book to have useful information even if the tone of the book was "disingenuous at times and too self-consciously fun." The first four books released as an audiobook in 2005 were read by John Beach. His narration was good at capturing the voices of the characters in the stories, according to Booklist . School Library Journal praised

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