* Vani

J every:
- (Ort. 18), at the-North Van

22 —- Wednesday, October 13, 1999 — North Shore News

I have been amused
recently, tracing a new
philosophical fad that
asserts that today’s
teens are somehow dif-
ferent than teens of
any other generation,
that they have, in fact,
created their own cul-
ture.

= twould argue that teens
arent significantly different
from the rest of us: that they
have not created a new cul-
ture so much as it is simply
a phase.

Teens have, for centuries,
marched to their own drum.
mer while trying iv figure
out just what the future
would hold for them and

nA

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Kindergarten and “Grade""17
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at the North, Van City

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3-5-year-olds. Wednesdays, at

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* before long, they were no
longer teenagers and went
on to become dreaded
adults with teens of their
own,

Today's teens certainly
have their own style.
Whether it is the music they
listen to, the clothing they
wear or the latest lingo they
use, the attempt to be dif-
ferent from either children
or adults remains a strong
driving force. However, the
nature of this difference,
and the consequent notion
of culture that it creates, is
often driven by those who
are no longer teenagers.

In fact, let me go as far
as to say most clements of
today’s teen culture are dri-
ven by marketing people
much more interested in the
disposable income of youth
than the development of a
deep cultural base. In many
ways, this illusion of teen
culture is really nothing but
a form of exploitation.

The Spice Girls were a

’ perfect example of this phe-
nomenon.

A male marketing execu-
tive discovered that girls
aged nine te 12 had huge

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City: Library. © Pres register: ;

: 980- 4424
‘Toddlers
“Seen more pe 24 :

Two containers of:

ountry Festus

north shore news

ars

wads of disposable cash and
with a few other male
friends, took applications for
a band, created catchy tunes,
pretended it was all about
girl power and made a for-
tune.

Meanwhile, little girls too
young to understand what
was really going on, ate up
the make-up, tank tops,
miniskirts and girl power
messages in an attempt to
grow up too quickly. Parents
reeled at the expenses and
hoopla, but caught up in the
whirlwind of popularity that
surrounded the band, and
the attendant popularity
which girls who could be a
mini-version of one of the
Spice Girls was accorded,
felt they had no choice.

Before fong, an entire
bevy of such bands were cre-
ated both for boys and girls.
This certainly wasn’t about

culture; it was about cash.

Who really believes that
teens are responsible for the
popular music, food, cloth-
ing, and entertainment that
gives them their cultural
uniqueness? Most of what
they are wearing and doing
is developed by adults, and

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marketed through sports
and entertainment models,
particularly in movies and
television, to an impression-
able and wealthy bunch of
kids,

They are constantly
hyped about free choice
while being constantly
manipulated into popular
choice.

But frankly, it’s not the
teens I worry the most
about. They will soon come
to realize that free choice is
not necessarily what others
wish you to have but what
you wish to have yourself.

What I worry more about
is the parents who actually
buy into the teen culture
hype. They cither overreact,
by rejecting their teens per-
sonally instead of under-
standing the influences

ig PARENTAL GUIDANCE

under which they make deci-
sions, or they under-react by
assuming that this indepen-
dent culture cuts them out
of the communication loop
and such a circumstance is
inevitable. Either way, they
lose touch with their teens,
at just the time their chil-
dren may need them the
most.

The teenage years are a
stage, not a lifestyle. Teens
need opportunities to
explore, not complete isola-
tion trom guidance. Teens
benefit from the challenges
of their parents when they
must really think about what
they are doing and why, and
not simply follow the path
of peers whose judgement
skills may be no better
developed than their own,
even if their risk-taking

IS...

‘For people w with
@ disability chrough
October's ‘Commtsnity

The North Shore Association for the
Mentally Handicapped supports and_
encourages the full. involvement of *”
people with a developmental ~
disability in their community. -

Their 1999 Community Living
Contest participants have come up
with four unique projects to enhance .
community involvement for people:

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* Please j join us for the f following. 7
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Future Dinectians of North
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living with a disability. A resource *
library with relevant material and~
creation of a video will support the
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behaviours are.

If we separate our teens
inte a completely different
culture, we imply that our
differences are so great as to
be an obstacle in our rela-
tions with them.

We all know that too
much emphasis on cultural
differences leads to a lack of
tolerance.

Different? Yes, and every-
one of us has experienced
that sense of separation from
our parents during our teens
years. But a cultural divide
that leads to a loss of inter-
action? I think not, and cer-
tainly hope not, for the sake
of our teens who need our
support.

— Graham Hookey is the
author of Parenting Is A.
Team = Sport. . (ghookey
@dowco.com)

“North Vancouver’ § |
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