285,406 registered Bimbos!

There was a news story a few nights ago about a new game on the internet where you have a character that you control and try to make her the prettiest, coolest, most popular girl. The prize for the winner is that she marries a millionaire. Most of the players are girls between the ages of 9 and 16. Here is the description of the game that appears on the homepage of the website (www.missbimbo.com if you're interested).

• Find your own cool place to live.
• Find a fun job to pay for your needs and all the clothes a Bimbo could possibly want.
• Shop for the latest fashions and become the trendsetting bimbo in town !
• Become a socialite and skyrocket to the top of fame and popularity.
• Date that famous hottie you've had your eye on and show the Bimbo world the social starlet you are !
• Even resort to meds or plastic surgery. Stop at nothing to become the reigning bimbo !
• Tackle your 104 tasks as quick as possible to become the rising star bimbo !!

Are you ready to become the hottest of hot Bimbos !?!

There were educators and doctors on the news program saying how it's a terrible influence and just promotes low self esteem and eating disorders. The game's creators were on for a second, 20-something British guys, they said they were just trying to make the game realistic.

On Wednesday at school I suggested to Lola, the teacher I work with in the 3rd-6th grade classes, that we do the Big Story idea that Isa's been doing with the 2nd graders. Basically it's a story that the class writes and illustrates, with one kid coloring a picture at home one night, then bringing it to school and telling the class what's happening in the picture. Then Isa translates their plot description into a couple simple English sentences which the kids memorize. The next night a different kid draws a picture, building off the previous day's plot and continuing the story.

So I explained the process to the 3rd and 4th grade class. Lola suggested we do a vote to decide who would write the first page of the story. The kids voted on little pieces of paper so it would be anonymous, and weren't allowed to vote for themselves. There were ten kids in the class that day (one girl was sick), four girls and six boys. It was a pretty evenly split vote. Moises won with three. But what surprised and saddened me while sorting the slips of paper was that, while every single boy in the class had received at least one vote, not a single girl had been voted for. Maybe it was a coincidence. Or maybe creative writing talent just isn't required to be the hottest of hot bimbos.