Special Issues for Teens and Tweens
This article was from the Media Awareness Network website and it describes some of the ways corporations and businesses target young tweens and teens through media influences. It begins by describing how the usual definition of a tweens is from the ages of 8-12, however now, kids over the ages of 10 do not consider themselves "children" anymore and advertisements are playing off of this belief.
This article was from the Media Awareness Network website and it describes some of the ways corporations and businesses target young tweens and teens through media influences. It begins by describing how the usual definition of a tweens is from the ages of 8-12, however now, kids over the ages of 10 do not consider themselves "children" anymore and advertisements are playing off of this belief.
Companies play on the "cool idea" of teenagers. They hire scouts and people to discover the next cool thing and then infuse that into the media to get teens to buy this cool thing in order to think that they are cool. The important thing is "that parents discuss these issues with their teens, and challenge the materialistic values promoted in the media."
Fashion marketers are filling media images with ultra thin, sexy, fit, and beautiful people everywhere, enforcing the idea to tweens that if you do not look like these people you will not be accepted or wanted in society. What they are doing is selling adult sexuality to kids who are not ready for it. It is important again for parents to open the lines of communication up with their tween about healthy sexual practices and healthy body images.
Tobacco companies have also jumped on this bandwagon of media exploitation of tweens in order to develop some lifelong customers. By using younger models for ads and depicting tobacco use as being "cool," tweens start to use the products to express a certain lifestyle. The alcohol industry is using the same tactics as well.
It is unfortunate that at an age when tweens can be developing life long skills and interests such as sports, arts, crafts, hobbies, academics, they are almost brainwashed to focus on other non important things such as boys, being thin, being muscular, shopping, or dating.
This article was very informative. It explains the current issues with tweens and the media in a clear and concise article using studies and facts to support their claims. At times it seems a bit dated, definitely written more than 10 years ago, however, no date can be found on the site. The information is good and gives nice overview of the issues facing tweens. Some more examples could have really given a clearer picture of some of the media's influences but overall it provides enough and even gives some solutions to help our teens focus on the more important things in life.
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