European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A americ an teens spend by Mariann Caprino associated press c median Jay Leno tells a joke about How a Parent punished her teen Ager by sending him to his room. Big mistake. The kid should have been sent to the parents room a place devoid of the accoutrements of youth like cd Boom boxes or High tech sneakers. A Leno delivers the punchline in a to commercial for Tortilla chips but As an increasing number of businesses Are discovering today s american teens Are in a position to buy far More than snack foods. Controlling More Cash than the thirty something set can imagine Many adolescents Are downright affluent and they re playing a part in big ticket purchases like never before they re not buying just fast food soft drinks and dime store makeup anymore Quot said Peter Zollo who Heads teenage research unlimited in suburban Chicago they Are Quot significantly More confident in their ability to buy big ticket items than they were just one year ago Quot he said. Indeed teen car ownership in the United states is up nearly 13 percent for new vehicles and 9 percent for used cars when compared with 1989 Levels according to Zollos Survey of More than 2,000 people Between the Ages of 12 and 19. Nearly half of All american teens own their own television sets compared with just 29 percent a decade ago and about 20 percent own video cassette recorders the new York Market research firm Rand youth poll  Are the Days of $5-a-week allowances. Teens spent $55.9 billion last year just on their Day to Day needs like food entertainment and clothing up from $25.3 billion in 1975, Rand studies said. Michelle Moiger o 16-Ycar-old from new Yorkus Long Island said most of her allowance and babysit Ling Money goes toward Quot makeup and a.  teen shops for compact discs in new York. Last year teens spent $55.9 billion on their Day to Day needs a food entertainment clothing a up from $25.3 billion in 1975. But teens also Are buying some of the family groceries a $31.7 billion Worth last year atone according to Rand a All while making critical Brand decisions. That Hasni to gone unnoticed by corporate America. Weight watchers and lean cuisine for instance have begun advertising their Frozen entrees in youth magazines in the Hopes that teen agers will pick up a Box or two while shopping for the family. Quot we know teen spending is becoming incredibly More important Quot said Jane Fitzgibbon senior vice president at the advertising Agency Ogilvy amp Mather s trend sights division. Some experts speculate that two earner parents suffering guilt pangs Over Long hours at work tend to be More generous when it comes to giving their teens Money. Others say that because couples Are having fewer children there a simply More Money to go around. But when it comes to earning Power demographics and economics have combined quite favourably for today a teens. For one thing there Are fewer teens out there which Means More jobs available. The number of americans Between the Ages of 13 and 19 has fallen 15.5 percent since 1980, to 22.76 million according to Rand youth poll. Although the teen population is expected to be begin increasing in 1992, no substantial upturn will take hold until the year 2000. High risk factors link teen suicides by r she s Young pregnant homeless and an alcoholic. A study shows that alcohol and drug use figure prominently in teenage pregnancies. Byton Natale Cox news service the 17-year-old boy and the 15-year-old girl never met but they had a to in common. He came from a broken Home. She lived with her Mother and younger sister. He had trouble adjusting to his new school. She was thinking of quitting. He had a peer self image she Felt isolated and fearful of the future. A one Day they both tried to escape their respective pain she had sex and became pregnant. He committed suicide. Different escape routes maybe. But the warning signs along their journey were very much alike. The signs Are Cal de High risk factors. It s a term used by social workers and other experts alarmed Over an Ever increasing a number of teenage pregnancies and suicides. Quot there Are common High risk factors in most teenage pregnancies and suicides Quot said Anna Leblanc a staff assistant for the data network for human services in Mesa Ariz. A fact gathering Agency High risk factors can be compared with prospective heart attack victims whose risk factors for example would include smoking eating fatty foods drinking alcohol and rarely exercising. For troubled teens they May include a broker Home use of a Cohol and drugs Lack of supervision in Abl ily to cop with life s daily pressures and a feeling of a venation. Leblanc who he Ped prepare a report on the increase of teenage pregnancies and suicides noted a major shifts in the family have caused teens to become unsupervised and vulnerable to Early  she also said that cuts in Community programs inc uding after school programs have resulted in a dearth of supervision. There Are no National or statewide programs aimed at family planning or that support abstinence she said. A Quot also Many parents Are ambivalent toiled daughters having Early sex Quot she said. Quot these kids Feci there is no Hope in the future. They want instant gratification and for nothing better to do they takes risks and Hae sex Quot Leblanc said. Quot or they commit suicide her views Are shared by other social Warkeo in the Phoenix area. I Page 14 the stars and stripes tuesday