Être
By Erin Brereton,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
More interactivity, updates would boost the positivity site.

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What you will—and won't—find in this website.
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Être
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What’s It About?
With sections like Be Informed and Be Strong, it's no surprise ÊTRE is about self-empowerment; its content -- influenced by an advisory board of middle- and high-school-age girls -- includes information about managing money, having a mentor, and young inventors. Founder Illana Raia set the site up to provide girls with encouragement to pursue what they love and what they want to be. Users will also find reading suggestions, volunteering tips, and other info on Être (which means to be) along with inspiring quotes from various professionals.
Is It Any Good?
This guidance-based site offers a great dose of positivity. Être presents a live-your-best-life approach to creativity, volunteering, and a number of other pursuits in sections to help girls be informed, brave, smart, charitable, happy, strong, connected, wise, innovative, and well-read. Girls are encouraged to be inquisitive, kind, engaged, and happy -- things parents can probably agree are good goals. But some may be less thrilled with the links to corporate partner sites kids will see -- in addition to nonprofit research organizations, the site contains links to companies like a subscription-based professional networking service, Huffington Post, which includes items on sex, crime, and other topics, and a tech start-up from the founder of Huffington Post.
Generally, the site's content is well-written and extremely upbeat; girls are, for example, told to be fearless, and they are given examples of brave entrepreneurs and other role models. Some sections offer links to resource sites that provide additional background and information on subjects. Some pages also feature a takeaway thought to summarize what girls have read. But the site unfortunately doesn't sport a lot of bells and whistles. The images and design aren't unattractive, and an attempt has been made to break up the text with different font sizes and colors, but girls won't find a lot of interactive elements that would engage them on a deeper level. If site visitors are OK with a fair amount of reading, though, they should enjoy scrolling through the sections. Girls may not repeatedly visit Être for information -- it doesn't seem like new items are posted daily or with any regular frequency, but the site can still serve as a solid resource when they need a dose of inspiration.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about news literacy. If a TV news program and a newspaper cover the same event or topic, how does their coverage differ? Does Être help you distinguish between these two sources?
Être mentions some tips about volunteering and getting involved in the community, but what are some ways your family can contribute locally?
The site encourages girls to be their authentic selves and participate in the activities they love in life. What makes you happy? How can you work to be responsible while also bringing more joy into your life?
Website Details
- Subjects: Language & Reading: reading, Social Studies: citizenship, power structures
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: applying information, investigation, Creativity: innovation, Self-Direction: initiative, motivation, personal growth, Responsibility & Ethics: fiscal responsibility, honoring the community
- Genre: Educational
- Topics: Great Girl Role Models
- Pricing structure: Free
- Last updated: September 14, 2020
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
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