European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 13, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Teen magazines Battle for readers by Deirdre Carmody the new York times they sign letters to their favorite magazines with names like utterly alone and majorly bummed. They Are overwhelmed by their moods which Range from totally psyched to totally embarrassed. And Here s something they would surely describe As totally cools they have sparked one of the most ferocious competitions in the Magazine Industry. Teen agers particularly girls have become a hot Market and the four leading magazines for teen age girls a seventeen my teen and Sassy a Are wooing readers As hard As they know How. Quot suddenly marketers have seen that teens Are More influential Quot said Janice Crossman publisher of seventeen the Leader. Quot teens Are doing food shopping preparing the meals and getting More responsibility because their moms Are working they spend $28 billion a year in grocery shopping for their parents and $12 billion on clothing for  last year As the oldest baby Boomers were anxiously planning their 50th birthday parties and with the Market of 18-to-34 year Olds declining the teen age population increased for the first time in 16 years. Projections from the 1990 census estimate that the number of teen agers will grow 14 percent this decade to 26 million in 2000 from 22.8 million in 1990. Quot they have significantly More Money to spend than they had 10 years ago Quot said Jay n. Cole publisher of teen. Quot the and Community is particularly interested because they want to establish Brand awareness and Brand loyalty in these Young women so they can carry it on into . Teen age magazines Are nothing new. Seventeen was launched by Walter Annenberg in 1944 and edited by Enid Haupt it has dominated the Field since then having switched publishers several times. Now. Published by kill magazines seventeen had a circulation of 1.9 million for the first six months of last year and in 1992 it carried 948 advertising pages Well ahead of its competitors in both categories. But the Field is changing As rapidly As a teen Ager s mood. With the introduction in 1988 of Sassy the Brash irreverent Knock of of Dolly a wildly successful australian teen age publication the other magazines were put on notice that they could not simply. Coast on past successes. Under the Editorship of Jane Pratt who was then 24, Sassy immediately took on the kind of sexually explicit subjects that had been taboo. After pressure from conservative groups advertisers began to Back away and Sassy tamed Down. Now published by Lang communications with a circulation of 682,000, it is still the most provocative of the four. Meanwhile a Magazine that began life in 1940 As calling All girls became Polly pigtails in 1946 and Young miss in the 1950s, changed its name to my in 1986. It reinvented itself again in 1989 under the Editorship of Bonnie Hurowitz Fuller. Circulation has risen 47 percent in the last five years to 1.2 million. According to Dan Capell editor of Capell s circulation report my which is published by Gruner amp Jahr Usa ranked third in circulation for last year with a particularly Strong performance on Newsstands. Quot my is closing the Gap on seventeen Quot Capell said. Quot you Don t get this kind of newsstand Sale increase without some dramatic improvement in the  Petersen publishing s teen is also still a powerhouse with a circulation of 1.1 million. Quot our Niche is High school girls 12 to 19 years old Quot said Cole. Quot we Are carefully focused on that particular  picture improves for camcorder buyers by the los Angeles times during the past year makers of camcorders have increased the selection of products in the $600-$700 Range. For example it is now possible to find More lower priced camcorders in the popular 8mm format a compacts weighing about 3 pounds. Previously the Low end was dominated by the full size vhf camcorder which weighs in around 6 pounds. Another difference is that More Low end camcorders have 8z1 zoom Lens for better close Upan improvement Over the 6z1 previously found in this Price Range. However for exceptional close ups with say a 12z1 Lens it is still necessary to step up in Price. When choosing a format vhf vhf a or 8mmconsider which features Are better for you. The compacts 8mm and vhf care lighter but Only the full size vhf and Vii a with an adapter Are compatible with the Standard videocassette recorder. The main tiling to remember is that there s no significant difference in picture Quality provided by the formats a no matter what the sales Derk says. The 8mm units have slightly better sound but for the average camcorder user the sound Quality in lower and Middle Small camcorders Are becoming less expensive. End models is Fine. Also Don t let the clerk Tell you Liat there s any great difference in camcorder ability to shoot in dim Light in general they re adequate in Normal Light and inadequate in Low Light the big difference in the Low end and High end $1,000 and up models is that the More expensive ones offer More features a some not really vital a and higher Quality parts. At the higher end the new thing is image stabilization a a built in process that automatically provides a steadier picture even when you re not holding the unit steady. For camcorder rookies the full size camcorder is in Many ways the Best buy. First cheaper. Second the tape is. Compatible with a Var so it is possible to play tapes at Home easily without hooking the camcorder to the to. Third it s easier to get steadier pictures because this Model is larger and meant to rest on your shoulder eliminating the shakiness you get with hand held compacts. Fourth the tapes a the Standard vhf cassettes a Are the cheapest about $3. The most important thing about buying a camcorder whatever the Price is to test it in the store to get the feel of it and make sure it is a weight you can handle. On the family Ages 13 and 14 Are Tough 24 months q a James i. Dobson a what is the most difficult period of adolescence and what is behind the distress _ to the 13th and 14th years commonly Are the most difficult 24 months in life. It is during this time that self doubt and feelings of inferiority reach an All time High amid the greatest social pressures yet experienced. An adolescent s Worth As a human being hangs precariously on peer group acceptance which can be a Tough to gamer. Thus relatively minor evidences of rejection or ridicule Are of major significance to those who already see themselves As fools and failures. It is difficult to overestimate the Impact of having no one to sit with on the school sponsored bus trip or of not being invited to an important _ event or of being laughed at by the Quot in group or waking up in the morning to find seven shiny new pimples on your bumpy forehead or being ignored by the girl whom you thought liked you As much As you liked her. Some boys and girls consistently face this kind of social catastrophe throughout their teen years. They will never forget the experience. Or. Urie Bronfenbrener an authority on child development at Cornell University told a Senate committee that the Junior High years Are probably the most critical to the development of a child s mental health. It is during this period of self doubt that the personality is often assaulted and damaged beyond repair. Consequently said Bronfenbrener it is not unusual for healthy Happy children to enter Junior High school but then emerge two years later As broken discouraged teen agers. Q a i keep hearing that is unwise to get too carried away with the successes of your kids but i can t help it. Is it wrong for me to feel a sense of fatherly Pride when my son succeeds in basketball How can i not care about the Quality of his performance at there s nothing wrong about feeling Good about the successes of our children. The problem occurs when parents care too much about those triumphs and failures. When winning is necessary to maintain their Parent s respect and love. Boys and Girts should know they Are accepted simply because they Are created that Way. That s enough. In a reminded of John Mckay the former football coach from the University of Southern California and a former successful football player on the us team. I saw him interviewed at a time his son John jr., was on the us football team the interviewer referred to John or s athletic Talent and asked the coach to comment on the Pride he must feel Over his songs accomplishments on the Field. His answer was most impressive Quot yes i m pleased that John had a Good season last year. He does a Fine Job and i am proud of him. But i would be just a proud of him if he had never played the game at  coach Mckay was saying that John s football Talent is recognized and appreciated but his human Worth does not depend on his ability to play football. Thus his son would not lose respect if the next season brought failure and disappointment. Johns place in his dad s heart was secure being Independent of his performance. I wish every child could say the same. Or. James c. Dobson is president of focus on the family a nonprofit ,? l0 he preservation of the Home. Correspondence Colo 80903 a a me family p 0 Box 32 Colorado Springs