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Well, more and more companies are beginning to create products and services for tweenagers. The Disney company sells the Hannah Montana television show, music, film and merchandise to tweenagers and their parents. You can get everything from branded lunchboxes and mobile phone covers, to monthly fan magazines and clothing. The High School Musical series of films is also intended for a tweenage audience. So, it’s all about sales, which tells us tweenagers must have more money, freedom and influence upon their parents than they’ve ever had before.
Most children in the UK today get more pocket money than kids did a decade ago. Despite the credit crunch, parents have more money to give than previously, since parents are having fewer children on average than in the past. In addition, the divorce rate in the UK is continually rising and parents spend less time with their children than they used to, so many parents try to compensate by buying presents for their children. It’s a bad habit for both parents and children to get into, but parents are under constant pressure from commercial marketing and the pleas of their children.
You may wonder how tweenagers have more freedom than previous generations. Well, UK children today are very media- and computer-literate. A lot of them have a television, if not a computer, in their bedrooms. They have access to much more information about life and the world. They may have experienced a lot in life as well, since 24 per cent of UK children live in single-parent families, so people now say that kids are getting older younger. With such sophistication at such a young age, it’s no wonder tweenagers are able to influence their parents.
UK tweenagers never used to be worried about spending money on clothes and fashion accessories. That’s changed. Now, they are much more fashion conscious and concerned about their image. In a world of television programmes that promise overnight success and fame at a young age (for example, the shows Britains Got Talent and American Idol), some people think it’s extremely important to look fashionable. Such ideas are also promoted by both the Hannah Montana story, in which a tweenage girl suddenly becomes a world-famous pop star, and the High School Musical story, in which tweenagers go through various auditions for musicals and talent shows.
So what does tweenage fashion look like? Well, it’s quite horrible really, but then I’m a bit too old to appreciate it, I suppose. It’s lots of bright coloured materials, particularly pink, and usually plain, not patterned. There are plenty of bows, necklaces and bracelets, too. It’s all very cute, if that’s your taste.
Surely none of the above is a good thing, is it? Can it really be healthy for us to encourage kids to be like adults at such a young age? Are we stealing childhoods in return for a bit of profit? Well, the UK government is certainly concerned, and for that reason has strict laws preventing companies from explicitly marketing their products and services at children.
Even the rest of UK society is concerned. Now that people are aware of the problem, there is a popular backlash against the exploitation of children by commercial marketing. In addition, many tweenagers outgrow the bright colours and fashions of their tweenage years and go for something darker, such as gothic clothing. So, is there a happy ending to this story? Well, companies have just worked out that the older tweenage audience is now looking for something darker and more rebellious. As a result, we are seeing dark films such as Twilight being produced for the older tweenage audience.
Activity 1: Connotations
Look at the following words from the article and try to decide which ones have a positive (Pos), negative (Neg) and neutral (Neu) meaning.
1constant pressure
2influence
3happy ending
4commercial exploitation
5tweenager
6compensate by buying presents
7popular backlash
Activity 2: Vocabulary
Match the categories to the examples. One of the answers is given.
Categories:
1 slang (c)
2merchandise
3tweenage fashion
4commercial exploitation
5television programme
6getting older younger
7being fashion conscious
8overnight success
Examples:
aBritains Got Talent
bsophistication at a young age
ctweenager (1)
dsuddenly become a pop star
ebranded mobile phone cover
f bright colours and bows
gspending money on clothes and
image
hmarketing aimed at children
Activity 3: Comprehension
Are the following statements true (T) or false (F) according to the article?
1Tweenagers often get their parents to buy merchandise for them.
2When parents get divorced in the UK, the children get presents.
3Tweenagers today know more about the world than tweenagers in the past.
4In the UK, companies market their products and services directly at children.
5When tweenagers get older, they
still wear the same style of clothes.
6The author of the article suggests there wont be a happy ending.
Most children in the UK today get more pocket money than kids did a decade ago. Despite the credit crunch, parents have more money to give than previously, since parents are having fewer children on average than in the past. In addition, the divorce rate in the UK is continually rising and parents spend less time with their children than they used to, so many parents try to compensate by buying presents for their children. It’s a bad habit for both parents and children to get into, but parents are under constant pressure from commercial marketing and the pleas of their children.
You may wonder how tweenagers have more freedom than previous generations. Well, UK children today are very media- and computer-literate. A lot of them have a television, if not a computer, in their bedrooms. They have access to much more information about life and the world. They may have experienced a lot in life as well, since 24 per cent of UK children live in single-parent families, so people now say that kids are getting older younger. With such sophistication at such a young age, it’s no wonder tweenagers are able to influence their parents.
UK tweenagers never used to be worried about spending money on clothes and fashion accessories. That’s changed. Now, they are much more fashion conscious and concerned about their image. In a world of television programmes that promise overnight success and fame at a young age (for example, the shows Britains Got Talent and American Idol), some people think it’s extremely important to look fashionable. Such ideas are also promoted by both the Hannah Montana story, in which a tweenage girl suddenly becomes a world-famous pop star, and the High School Musical story, in which tweenagers go through various auditions for musicals and talent shows.
So what does tweenage fashion look like? Well, it’s quite horrible really, but then I’m a bit too old to appreciate it, I suppose. It’s lots of bright coloured materials, particularly pink, and usually plain, not patterned. There are plenty of bows, necklaces and bracelets, too. It’s all very cute, if that’s your taste.
Surely none of the above is a good thing, is it? Can it really be healthy for us to encourage kids to be like adults at such a young age? Are we stealing childhoods in return for a bit of profit? Well, the UK government is certainly concerned, and for that reason has strict laws preventing companies from explicitly marketing their products and services at children.
Even the rest of UK society is concerned. Now that people are aware of the problem, there is a popular backlash against the exploitation of children by commercial marketing. In addition, many tweenagers outgrow the bright colours and fashions of their tweenage years and go for something darker, such as gothic clothing. So, is there a happy ending to this story? Well, companies have just worked out that the older tweenage audience is now looking for something darker and more rebellious. As a result, we are seeing dark films such as Twilight being produced for the older tweenage audience.
Activity 1: Connotations
Look at the following words from the article and try to decide which ones have a positive (Pos), negative (Neg) and neutral (Neu) meaning.
1constant pressure
2influence
3happy ending
4commercial exploitation
5tweenager
6compensate by buying presents
7popular backlash
Activity 2: Vocabulary
Match the categories to the examples. One of the answers is given.
Categories:
1 slang (c)
2merchandise
3tweenage fashion
4commercial exploitation
5television programme
6getting older younger
7being fashion conscious
8overnight success
Examples:
aBritains Got Talent
bsophistication at a young age
ctweenager (1)
dsuddenly become a pop star
ebranded mobile phone cover
f bright colours and bows
gspending money on clothes and
image
hmarketing aimed at children
Activity 3: Comprehension
Are the following statements true (T) or false (F) according to the article?
1Tweenagers often get their parents to buy merchandise for them.
2When parents get divorced in the UK, the children get presents.
3Tweenagers today know more about the world than tweenagers in the past.
4In the UK, companies market their products and services directly at children.
5When tweenagers get older, they
still wear the same style of clothes.
6The author of the article suggests there wont be a happy ending.