E-Briefing July 21, 2000 First came the Baby Boomers...then came their kids. Today, many of those children are "tweens," the name given to kids anywhere from 8-14 years of age. Like their Boomer parents, the tweens are leaving quite a generational footprint by virtue of their numbers alone. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that there are close to 20 million 10-14 years-old in the U.S. as of April 1, 2000. They're nearly half the population of 48 million that filled America's schools in 1997, just shy of the all-time high of 49 million recorded by the Baby Boom generation in 1970. They're too young to hold a job. Nevertheless, they've got spending money ... often the result of having two working parents. So, not surprisingly, the business world is taking notice. There's a score of prepubescent publications targeting these tweens: "SI for Kids," "Teen People," "Teenstyle," the Washington Post's "Kids Post," and the new "hot!" a bimonthly for tween girls. This week's University of Cincinnati e-briefing reads between the lines on "tweens." Are they the terrible tweens? How much sway do they hold in society? What are the challenges they face? Table of contents 1. Traditional views of tweens A. Today's tweens were once just "little adults" B. Rethinking traditional age cycles 2. Trouble comes to tweens A. Today's juveniles younger than ever B. Smoking on the rise, particularly among tween girls 3. Tweens and money A. Courting tween investors B. Money attitudes 4. Tweens set the fashion A. Underwear is outerwear and "cute" is Asian-influenced B. Media craft offerings to appeal to tweens C. Hot sports and why baseball strikes out with tweens D. Sports franchises target tweens E. Setting the pace for global culture 1. TRADITIONAL VIEWS OF TWEENS A. TODAY'S TWEENS WERE ONCE JUST "LITTLE ADULTS" University of Cincinnati historian Howard Todd who specializes in the study of medieval life says the age group we call "tweens" were considered "little adults" until about 1900. In medieval times, children who managed to reach the age of 8 or 9 were accorded real attention, perhaps, for the first time in their lives. "Child mortality was so high that children were really not paid a great deal of attention. However, if you made it to about 8 or 9 years old, chances are you were going to make it. Among the common people, these children would be set to work in the fields like an adult. Among higher classes, females would start as ladies-in-waiting at 14. Boys would begin warrior training between 12 and 14." If the economy was good, girls married at about 15 to men who were between 20 and 25. Todd added that Western society's increasing affluence in the late 1800s spawned our current concepts of "childhood." Child mortality decreased markedly, and children were no longer seen as an economic/labor commodity. Child labor laws swept Europe and the United States, and "boy-" and "girlhood," a time of study and play, were viewed as extending into the upper teens. contact: 513-556-9174 B. WE NEED TO RETHINK TRADITIONAL AGE CYCLES Marilyn Rifkin, UC associate professor emeritus of social work, says parents and professionals need to rethink traditional views of life cycles and adolescence. "It could be our whole definition of what is age appropriate is changing," said Rifkin, who is working on the fifth edition of her book, "Human Behavior: A Perspective for the Helping Professions." She said we may need to add a new phase of life to the traditional view that now includes infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age and the like. "Parents can't keep thinking that the traditional view is the way anymore. We are walking in a fog if we aren't aware of these changes." contact: 513-635-3323 2. TROUBLE COMES TO TWEENS A. TODAY'S JUVENILES YOUNGER THAN EVER When University of Cincinnati adjunct assistant professor of social work James McBreen first started his social work career in 1971, the juveniles he worked with tended to be teen-agers of 15, 16 or 17. Today troubled juveniles can be young "tween-agers" -- 8, 9 and 10. McBreen is the clinical director for family outreach services at Beech Acres, a child welfare and behavioral health agency in Cincinnati. He said, "Kids under 12 seem to have more serious problems, more severe mental illness, commit more serious crimes." The community that used to exist to support young kids simply does not exist anymore and it has not been replaced with anything else yet, he warns. "That is one of the issues we are dealing with here: How do we help the community build a web of support for children? The kinds of communities we knew as kids as neighborhoods don't exist anymore for kids of this age. The neighbor next door is not going to call your mom anymore and tell her if you've done something wrong. The idea of community is missing." Today's tweens must face issues -- drugs, sex, crime, alcohol, pressure to perform in school -- that used to be the realm of teen-agers and adults. "With proficiency testing starting in the fourth grade on up, they do have pressure and concerns about passing and getting into college. They are more aware of drugs at a very early age. The pressure for drug usage is out there and most kids have more knowledge about it than I did at that age. And kids who want it can get it. There is a lot more sexualization of content on TV from shows to advertising, so these kids also have more thrown at them in this area." contact: 513-961-3677 B. SMOKING ON THE RISE, PARTICULARLY AMONG TWEEN GIRLS Larry Anthony, coordinator of the University of Cincinnati Addictions Studies program, says smoking is on the rise among tweens, particularly among girls. "They think smoking is a rite of passage into adulthood. A lot of kids see smoking as an adult thing to do and they consider it less risky than other behaviors, such as alcohol and drugs." Anthony adds youngsters in this age group are well aware their lives are controlled by authority figures such as parents and teachers, which makes rebellious behavior such as smoking appealing. "It gives them the feeling of exhilaration...they feel they're making their own decisions -- that it's secretive and exciting. As long as I can remember, kids of that age group have been smoking." Despite the health consequences and constant warnings about smoking, Anthony says those concerns go unheeded by this age group. "Kids that age don't think about the long term physical consequences." contact: 513-556-9196 3. TWEENS AND MONEY A. COURTING TWEEN INVESTORS Tweens have money, and a growing segment is interested in investing, a fact recognized by the National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC) and its new publication, "Young Money Matters." Bonnie Schmidt, membership development coordinator for NAIC, said, "I believe kids are becoming more interested in investing. They see what it has done for their grandparents and parents. And investing is so much in your face these days, you hear so much on the news about how the Dow is doing on that day." NAIC, a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation dedicated to investment education, has more than 2,500 members under the age of 18. A recent edition of "Young Money Matters" included information from Merrill Lynch stating that 9 percent of all kids between 12 and 17 have invested in stocks. contact: 248-583-6242, ext. 395 B. MONEY ATTITUDES Billie Dziech, UC professor of language arts who teaches the course "Money and the American Dream," talks to her current students about their younger brothers and sisters. "My students tell me that their younger brothers and sisters [of tween age] do think money drops off trees or, if not, it should be dropping off trees. They [tweens] assume money solves problems, and makes people happy. They take it as a given." As a group, today's tweens have never experienced economic hard times; however, the rising tide of American economic prosperity may not last. So Dziech continues to teach that "it's O.K. to have struggles. Life doesn't always work out the way we want it to." contact: 513- 556-1707 4. TWEENS SET THE FASHION A. UNDERWEAR IS OUTERWEAR, AND "CUTE" IS ASIAN-INFLUENCED Margaret Voelker-Ferrier, chair of UC's fashion design program: "They wear underwear as outerwear. Because of their tastes, underwear design and manufacturing have retooled to produce seamless knits that provide a smooth feel, no lines. Bras are colored and for show. Pantyhose are out. Tweens show their toes with vibrant colors on the nails, green, blue, purple, orange. The polish is 'peelable' and can be changed daily. 'Cute' is changing. It's more 'techie-pretty,' more Asian with influences from Japanimation. After all, Pokemon is just an Asian-looking robot." Voelker-Ferrier says tweens are changing make-up rules by making up their own rules. Forget highlighting eyes with a dusky color painted to the eyelid crease. "An asymmetrical look is o.k., and if you want an orange line up the center of your eyelid, that's fine too. They've given up on foundation too." In other observations, Voelker-Ferrier said, "Barbie is no longer an item of play for them. They are electronically connected and use and love electronic tools. So do their younger brothers and sisters. Their entertainment must have lights, action, power and movement." contact: 513-556-5041 B. MEDIA CRAFT OFFERINGS TO APPEAL TO TWEENS Media from movies to television are taking note of the tween audience and producing shows and films to appeal to them. "The Perfect Storm," which won the box office battle in cinemas over the Fourth of July weekend, is a near-perfect example, says Michael Porte, University of Cincinnati expert in mass media and popular culture. "It's is an example of action-adventure movie aimed at the tweens, particularly the boys. There is practically no love interest. That is the sort of scenario that is of great interest to tweens, who are still at the stage where they are embarrassed by romance," Porte says. The PG-13 rating is an essential for tween success since they aren't old enough to see R-rated movies without a parent or guardian. Other examples of TV and film that have tween-appeal are "Malcolm in the Middle," which is a big hit with a middle-child hero who is tween-aged; "Survivors," and even "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" with its initially easy questions. contact: 513-556-4473 C. HOT SPORTS AND WHY BASEBALL STRIKES OUT WITH TWEENS University of Cincinnati archivist Kevin Grace, who teaches courses on sports and society and heads a sports research archive, says interest in sports intensifies during the tween years. "They're starting to acquire their skills at this age so they've left the age when 'winning is not important as long as you're having fun.' Now, they're keeping score." Grace said that soccer, basketball and swimming are popular with tweens while baseball and football are losing popularity with this age group. "Baseball requires an attention commitment, and it doesn't move as quickly, so it doesn't appeal to this video-age culture. Baseball also requires a lot of space, and communities simply don't have the green space anymore. The same goes for football where there's also the injury factor." Grace added that parents can crush youth interest in sports, which might also help explain tween disinterest in baseball and football. Parents who played football or baseball may put pressure on their children to excel in the parent's favorite sport. Instead, the kids choose a sport they can make their own. Furthermore, both boys and girls can compete in soccer, basketball and swimming. contact: 513-556-1953 D. SPORTS FRANCHISES TARGET TWEENS Sports and society researcher Kevin Grace says some franchises are trying to secure the loyalty of tweens by creating mascots that appeal to that age group. For instance, the logo of the Dayton [Ohio] Dragons, a minor-league baseball team, is cartoon-like to help sell interest in the team as well as merchandise. "They also try to involve them [tweens] in the game itself, getting them into the stadium or arena by making it look fun and exciting, with loud music, video scoreboards and interactive displays...In terms of baseball, the major leagues are now catching up to the minor leagues...They want to develop their players as personalities that the kids can identify with." The biggest baseball heroes for tweens: Ken Griffey, Jr., Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa. Meanwhile, basketball's marketers tout Grant Hill, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. contact: 513-556-1953 E. SETTING THE PACE FOR GLOBAL CULTURE Today's tweens have greater opportunities to reach out to peers near and far, but the first generation to benefit from high-tech communication technologies like the Internet has already lost sight of what a significant advancement that is. "They are a very savvy group that are already used to being able to communicate around the world," says Dan Wheeler, an associate professor of education at the University of Cincinnati who specializes in educational technology. "It doesn't really sink into them that they are the first group of kids to be able to do this so easily." Wheeler has a long history of leadership with Kidlink (http://www.kidlink.org), an online effort that began in 1990 to build connections among youth round the world. Said Wheeler, "What really impresses me about this age group is how kids are taking to this new electronic world and are becoming part of a global culture. By observing them, it becomes very clear that they are part of a culture which (because of age) I am not a part of." contact: 513-556-3607 Click here to view previous UC e-briefings. E-mail reillymb@email.uc.edu if you would like to become a regular recipient of UC's e-briefings. 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