Teen fashion is like all other parts of teen culture: constantly evolving. Because of this, teen targeted fashion retailers must always be 2 seasons ahead of the current wave of fads in order to anticipate what young people will want to wear in the future. So what happens to teen fashion when the economy isn’t doing so hot?  Historically, it’s been believed that teen targeted clothing chains would fair better than other retailers but new numbers released from GAP and Abercrombie & Fitch show that that isn’t true this time around.  Brands that have been historically seen as the red badge of coolness in high schools around America are now seeing lower sales and less popular brands like Aeropostale are seeing big jumps in their sales.   

As teens begin to spend more money on food and fuel and less on things like clothes I think we’re going to see a big change in what is in and what’s out in terms of fashion.  I believe that as hipster culture rises and teens become not only more economically but also environmentally conscious, we are going to see more teens going to thrift stores to purchase clothing.  If you ask me this is a great development in teen fashion because not only are young people seeing the value of the dollar more and choosing to be thrifty.  But by buying clothes at the local Goodwill or Salvation Army, teens are breaking away from the tendency of dressing like the mannequins in storefronts and are developing their own sense of style.  This is a great way for teens to explore identity and individualism.  For more about how the economy is affecting teen trends visit this link. 

Sometimes I read news stories that just sound crazy.  Today that news story comes from The Dallas Morning News  and is about Abercrombie & Fitch’s practice of discriminating against employees based on their level of attractiveness.  In the article, several employees of the teen targeted retailer report being pulled from sales positions and placed in the stockroom because managers determined they weren’t beautiful enough to talk to customers.  To me this just sounds crazy and I would imagine that it is somewhat illegal.  However, it would only be illegal if employees were discriminated based on race or gender, not ugliness. The danger in all of this is that it communicates to young employees that their worth to their employer and the rest of the world is based solely on their appearance and not on their ability to do a job well.  There’s a lot more to say about this subject, but it might be best if you just read the article here. Comment with your take on this issue and I’ll keep you updated as this story develops.

Here’s a quick series of stories about teen girls and their search for identity in the media saturated world we live in.  A story talking about the effect of teen magazines like Seventeen, Cosmo Girl!, Teen, and Teen Vogue on girls can be found here.  It’s a good read and I suggest you check it out.  And to find out what your teen daughter is reading this month in those magazines, head on over to Ypulse and check out their summary.

After you finish reading those articles, you can head on over to Australian paper, The Age, and read an interesting article by Celia Walden about identity cannibalism among teen girls.  To explain that peculiar term for you a little bit, here’s an excerpt from the article:

“Focusing entirely on those whose personality or physical attributes she covets, there is a new breed of woman who longs to be someone she isn’t, as if it were as easy as creating an avatar in some paradise-like cyber-universe. By definition, these identities cannot be acquired; but that does not stop the covetous from trying, and young women are ending the first decade of this century in a black hole of impossible desires. They are Identity Cannibals — or Cannibelles — desperate to be anyone but themselves, willing to steal another’s clothes, look and lifestyle to create a new “me”.”

As we approach a new school year and a new set of expectations and pressures from teen boys and girls alike to conform and fit in, this is an article all parents, educators, and youth ministers should read.

One of the greatest threats that face the development and success of our current generation of teens is Affluenza.  Many of today’s teens suffer from Affluenza and full blown cases of entitlement.  Of course they didn’t just wake up one day thinking the world owed them something and that their self-worth was tied to the amount of possessions they could amass.  This was taught to them in large part by parents.  It is this behavior that a couple writers at the New York Times have written about in the past week or so.  

The first article, written by Tina Kelley, follows a group of affluent parents and kids as they head off to summer camp.  To me, the way these adults act is pretty absurd.  It’s hard to even know where to start so I suggest you just read the article. In response to this article, Judith Warner wrote an opinion piece in the Times where she dissects the idea of Affluenza and goes ahead and places blame in some justified places.   

She says of affluenza:

“…what mental health professionals are now calling “affluenza,” a social pathology that, they say, is rampant at a time when getting and spending — a lot — have become our nation’s most cherished activities, and when purchasing power has become, to an unprecedented extent, almost the sole source of many people’s status and identity. 

In our society, you don’t have to be wealthy to suffer from affluenza. Its symptoms — “debt, overwork, waste, and harm to the environment, leading to psychological disorders, alienation, and distress,” in adults; “lack of motivation … apathy, laziness, or failure to commit to and achieve goals … overindulgence and attitudes of entitlement” in children,

according to the New York University Child Study Center, are pervasive — and no one is immune.

For affluenza is not just a constellation of symptoms. It is an ethic, a play-the-system, lie-and-cheat-your-way-to-what-you-want, don’t-let-the-peons-stand-in-your-way ethic of amorality. You rock, kid, parents teach. And you — alone — rule.”

I suggest you check out both of these articles and think about what it means for our nation’s future to have the next generation of leaders raised with this mindset.  

Right now, teens across America are packing up the contents of their bedrooms and preparing to move into dorms as college freshman. But as they box up their clothes and other possessions there is one thing that most young people don’t think about bringing with them: debt.

According to school loan provider Nellie Mae the average college freshman brings $1,585 of credit card debt to college. As they progress through their college years many teens live beyond their means and rack up even more debt. As a result of mounting financial difficulties it’s estimated that between 7% and 10% of college students drop out in order to go to work and pay off their bills. Many students who remain in college graduate with student loans and crippling debt that leave their credit score in disarray and their ability to get into grad school, get the job of their choice, or find housing in jeopardy.

In light of this reality it is important for parents to determine how teens get into financial trouble and work to prevent it.

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  Lately there have been a lot of articles circulating the Internet about how teens and young adults are reacting to the current economic state of the country. In the spring we found that teens were going to be hard pressed to find summer jobs as the economy slowed down.  Then in the early summer we discovered that the housing crisis was seriously stressing out teens who were unsure if their family would lose their home or not (other teens decided that all the foreclosures meant that their neighborhoods were now full of prime party spots.) And now as we look to fall and Back to School we can see that teens are spending less and finding ways to stretch their money. Whether that means shopping at thrift stores, buying off the clearance rack or just waiting until coveted items go on sale, teens are learning to be thrifty and to be sensible in the recession.  To read an article about it click here.  

In related news, some teens aren’t being financially smart and are doing what teens often do: procrastinate.  But they aren’t putting off cleaning their room or working on a book report this time.  Research is showing that young people are now putting off paying for gas.  More and more teens are feeling the pinch of high gas prices and instead of changing their habits they are charging their tanks of gas on credit cards.  This sounds pretty scary to me. Charging $50 a week on a credit card just so you can cruise around town with your friends sounds like a big waste of time and money.  On the other hand, I did my fair share of cruising as a teen and at the time it seemed like the best possible way to spend my summer nights.  Of course in a year or so they’ll be spending their summer nights working a minimum wage job trying to pay off their credit card bills.  

The pursuit of coolness is a top priority in the lives of most teens.  I mean, when I was a teen my friends and I committed significant amounts of time and thought to doing the stuff that we thought was really cool and I think I can be so bold as to say that this is a universal thing that has always, and will always, exist.  Frankly, you will have a hard time convincing me that, at any one time, there isn’t a teenager somewhere in the world asking some form of the question “what is cool?”.  This article is my attempt at busting through the unrealistic definitions of cool to outline what it takes to be genuinely cool.  I think I am cool enough to at least give this a try.    

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Entertainment Weekly: How teens took over pop culture

Anyone who’s a teenager — or one of the many adults whose pop culture tastes lean in that direction — might want to blow off that summer job. Given how much teen entertainment will soon be gushing into the nation’s TiVo queues and iPod playlists, this might be the best time ever to be a fan of teen-tertainment. Whereas five years ago you’d have been stuck with only The O.C., now you’ll spend summer catching up on Gossip Girl while downloading new albums from Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, and Jesse McCartney. 

Read the full story… 

 

 What not to say to overweight teens.

Canadian study says Facebook violates privacy.

The university’s Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) is asking the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to investigate what it considers to be Facebook’s violations of Canadian privacy law.

Facebook’s policies – from sign-up requirements and advertising policies to third party applications and mobile access – represent 22 privacy violations, according to CIPPIC.

 Read the full news story…

Wall Street Journal: A film with underage fans faces marketing chalenges.

As I research teen culture I often come across headlines that say things like:  “1 in 4 Teen Girls has an STD,” or “Over 2 million American Teens are Depressed.”

To be honest, when I read those types of things I can’t help but feel like this generation of young people (which I am technically a part of) is hopeless. I mean, as compared to previous generations, today’s teens seem to be the laziest, most sexually promiscuous, drug addicted, morally bankrupt group America has ever seen.  

But, just as I begin to really worry about the future of today’s youth and, in turn, the future of our society, I am reminded that this generation also has an amazing amount of potential to change the world. It is this potential that I’d like to focus on in coming weeks.  

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