Write An Article For Magazine Such As 'Practical Parenting' In Which You Inform Parents Of The Content Of Teenage Magazines And Explore The Issue Of Whether Their Daughters Should Be Encouraged To Read Them

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TEEN MEDIA MANIPULATION

Do You Know What Your Teenager Is Reading?

I am reporting as both a child psychologist and a concerned parent, on the matter of the content of teenage magazines. My own daughter made me aware of this issue when I decided to look through one of her ‘Bliss’ magazines; I discovered what kinds of stories were printed in them and others teenage magazines such as ‘sugar’.  I was both shocked and concerned by the material printed in the ‘teen mags’ and decided that I should write this article to inform other parents of the content of them. The magazines I researched were; ‘Bliss’ which is aimed at 14-17 year olds and ‘Sugar’ which is aimed at 13-19 year olds, considering the graphic and persuasive nature of the content of these magazines, this seems, to me, to be an inappropriate age range.

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        The magazines are over-spilling with desirable products, which is yet another attraction for teenage girls. On average the magazines contain 17.5% of advertisements of up-to-date fashion items such as clothes, shoes and fragrances. Some of the products are far too expensive for a teen budget; endless pages of shoes and make-up are sending the wrong signals to impressionable young girls. It tells them that expensive frocks and loads of make-up is what they should have to be ‘in’. How many of you have heard the line ‘… but mum I need it… all my friends have got one.’ Why? Because like their friends they have been influenced by the media and manipulated into thinking they need named brands to look and feel good. Cheaper high street brands have been advertised more frequently on television, these magazines should adopt the same tactic. This would make teenagers feel more comfortable wearing high street brands and prevent parents from feeling inadequate for not being able to provide the latest Gucci handbag.

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Real Life Horrors  

        “I was kidnapped and sold to a brothel” ‘Bliss’ December 2006 “My midnight escape from a sick cult” ‘Sugar’ December 2006; these are just some of the shocking headlines which featured in the magazines I looked at.

        Is this the kind of literature you thought your daughter was reading? These are not the kind of real issues I would have thought of as appropriate for the 13 year old readers of these magazines. Some of the stories I read, including the ones I have already mentioned, incorporated some vulgar and sometimes quite disturbing details ...

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