Poison Ivy

A contemporary realistic fiction book that I recently read was Poison Ivy by Amy Koss.  In this book three popular girls, Sophie, Ann, and Benita are on trial for bullying and constantly berating Ivy, who is known throughout the school as Poison Ivy.  I found the girls in this book very similar to the main characters in the movie, Mean Girls.  They are popular and almost everyone in the school wants to be a part of their group, but at the same time almost everyone is afraid of them.  No one wants to do anything to upset them or get on their bad side for fear of being the next one that they choose to humiliate.  This is exactly what happens in the book.  Everyone knows how much the three girls pick on Ivy and call her names, but no one is brave enough to speak up and a few even lie in order to try to get on the girls good side.  I think this book is completely accurate and it is really sad.  Girls can be extremely mean and they don’t even realize how much they can hurt people.  They form cliques and exclude people and hurt people but everyone is trying to get in with the most popular kids.  I remember this from my middle school experience.  I don’t remember the girls being as vicious as the ones portrayed in this book but that may be because I was in the “popular” group and wasn’t on the receiving end most of the time.  I still remember being hurt a fair share of the time because the majority of the girls that were my friends would talk behind my back in a minute.  Unfortunately that is how things were and still are in middle and high school.  It is funny to look back on now and realize how ridiculous it was but at the time fitting in and being cool were extremely important. 

One of the things I enjoyed about this book was that a student stood up for Ivy and decided to tell the truth.  He wasn’t worried about what the popular girls thought and he was willing to stand up for what he thought was right.  There are people who are willing to stand up for others no matter what and this book brought that to light..

Koss, A. G. (2006). Poison Ivy. New Milford, CT: Roaring Brook Press.

Gaming Industry Markets Tween Girls

I found this article and thought it was really interesting because I have always associated video games with boys.  It seems that all of the games that are highly marketed deal with fighting, war, car racing, and street fighting which are things that are of most interest to boys.  I have never seen a push with advertisements towards girls in regards to gaming.  The article indicates one of the reasons for this is that the gaming industry has found that casual gamers are making up a large part of the market and therefore they are moving some of their focus to this demographic.  The majority of tween girls aren’t hardcore gamers but if games are made that are more in line with their interests I can see how there could be a large market for this.  A previous article I read by Whitley shows how large the tween market is and companies are trying to cash in on every angle that they can (Whitley, 2010).  The article notes that EA has a lineup of games aimed at tweens with one of the biggest being Charm Girls Club, which is a game that features proms, pajama parties, hair teasing, and malls (Campbell, 2009).  Sony is also working to appeal to tween girls by making a lilac colored PlayStation that will go with the Hannah Montana game (Campbell, 2009).  I think that Sony and EA are on the right track with their push to integrate tween girls into the market.  The features of the Charm Girls Club are in line with many of the interests of girls at this age and will likely be a big hit with them.  Many of them love going to the mall and hanging out with their friends, and a game that replicates this is ideal.

CAMPBELL Gerard.  (2009, June 23). Tween girls growing target for game makers. The Press,E.7.  Retrieved September 29, 2010, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 1757514741).

Whittley, A. (2010, August). Tiny Power Shopper: Children aged eight to 12 wield outsized economic clout when it comes to cellphones and the virtual world of video games. National Post, F.P.7. Retrieved September 14, 2010 from ProQuest Newstand. (Document ID: 2124837501).

Thoughts on the Tween Summit

I was really fascinated by the Tween Summit website.  Prior to this class I was not even aware that sites and organizations such as these existed.  One of the main things that I noticed from the website was the strong stance it took on giving tween girls a voice in society.  Many adults do not recognize that individuals at this age have important things to say and are thinking about real issues such as bullying and the environment.  These summit and also the past town hall meeting that was had was a place for tweens to go in order to express their opinions without fear of being laughed at or ignored.

The website is all about supporting tween girls in their thoughts and ideas.  Just from looking over all the material that the website has to offer I got an immediate sense of empowerment.  I believe empowerment is one of the main goals of the website. By doing so they are providing tween girls with the confidence they need to express their ideas.  The summit is an avenue to do this because it offers a safe and comfortable place for tween girls.  They are surrounded by peers and also adults who understand them.  The summit works to help them be comfortable with expressing their thoughts so that when they go back home they are able to better communicate with their parents and other adults.   Many young people have great ideas and are able to offer fresh perspectives on things and I think this website and the tween summit is a great way to start hearing from this demographic.

Tween Summit

Marketers are Impacting our Understanding of Tweens

I think that marketers play a large role in our understanding of tweens.  Marketers want to make money and are always looking for new ways to sell goods and new demographics to market too.  Due to this they are always doing research to find out who is buying what, and what groups have interest in various materials.  According to research the tween population is spending about 15 billion a year (Hulbert, 2004).  This is a huge amount of money and marketers all want a piece of it.  Another article I found by Whitley, also shows the strong buying power that this age group holds.  He indicates that “tween purchasing power has opened a window of opportunity for companies seeking fresh revenue streams (Whitley, 2010).  Therefore, marketers are willing to put up the money to find out what makes this age group tick; what they like, what they don’t like, where they are hanging out, etc.  They are then using this information to directly market to them.  The research and marketing then causes us to associate certain products, movies, songs, and websites with this age group.  By providing us with all this information about tweens they are directly influencing our perception of this age group.

Hulbert, A. (2004, November). Tweens 'R' Us. New York Times Magazine,6.31.  Retrieved December 14, 2009, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 749942491).

Whittley, A. (2010, August). Tiny Power Shopper: Children aged eight to 12 wield outsized economic clout when it comes to cellphones and the virtual world of video games. National Post, F.P.7. Retrieved September 14, 2010 from ProQuest Newstand. (Document ID: 2124837501).

Ways to Help Tweens with the Transition to Middle School

I remember my first day of middle school and how much I dreaded it. There were going to be new kids that I didn’t know, new teachers, and a completely different schedule. It was all so overwhelming that I didn’t know which area to even focus on. To top that all off my body was going through changes and I was having crazy mood swings. I think the feelings I had are experienced by many teens as they embark on their journey into middle school. Even though they are typical that doesn’t make the transition any easier. That is why it is up to teachers and administrators to create a school that supports adolescents (Inlay, 2005, p.42). This can be done by making small changes. One of the changes done at the River School in Napa was creating a democratic environment where teachers and students were treated with mutual respect (Inlay, 2005, p.42). This type of environment teaches adolescents that in order to be treated like an adult they need to act like one and also provide the teacher with the amount of respect he or she deserves. Another change that I personally experienced that helped with the transition was starting to change class in fifth grade. In my school during fifth grade we went to a different teacher for math, science, and language arts, and then had a main teacher for the rest of the day. This gradual change in going to different teachers really helped when I entered middle school where we were going to different rooms for every class. I already knew what it would be like because we had experience it so it made the process easier.


Inlay, L. (2005). Safe Schools for the Roller Coaster Years. Educational Leadership, 62(7), 41-3. Retrieved from Education Full Text.

Teen Prostitution

“Over the last year, (2003)local and federal law-enforcement officials say they have noted a marked increase in teen prostitution in cities across the country”, with girls as young as ten years old showing up in court (Smalley, 2003). Many of the girls are being targeted in malls, and a growing number are coming from middle class families (Smalley, 2003). The information in this article initially blew my mind but after thinking about it more I could see how easy young teens can become targets. Some teenage girls develop much younger than most so they can look very physically mature but still be very young. Also during the adolescent years many teens are facing confidence and self-esteem issues. This makes it easy for a pimp to swing in with a few nice words and gifts and have the girls willing to do anything he asks. The pimps make the girls feel pretty which increases their confidence and makes them feel good about themselves. It’s scary to think about how easy it is for a young impressionable teen can become a prostitute and how easy it can be for them to hide it from you. I think one of the best ways to prevent this is to keep the lines of communication open. Make sure to talk to you teens about these types of issues so they are aware of the types of things they may face in the future. A parent can also make sure that teens are properly supervised until they reach the age where they can make more mature and rational decisions.


This Could be Your Kid