Brand Noise

Disenfranchised Young Brits Lead to Societal Migraines

Britons are frightened of their own young, reports Time Magazine. On any given Saturday night, in any town center across Britain, it's easy to see why. "It usually starts outside McDonald's — that's the hot spot," explains one London youth. "You might go with one mate, then you get a phone call. Give it an hour, there'll be 10 people there, with nothing to do. Intimidating people is something to do, a way of getting kicks. Like, 'Oh my God, did you see how they ran?' "

Compared to other cultures, British kids are less integrated into the adult world and spend more time with peers.

Meantime, The Independent reports that a 15-year-old boy, Brendan Harris, was convicted of kicking and stamping to death a young   woman in Stubbylee Park, Bacup, because she was dressed as a Goth. Harris had denied the murder charge but pleaded guilty to causing grievous   bodily harm to Mr. Maltby after drinking two litres of cider, a bottle of   Stella Artois lager and "quite a lot of" peach schnapps.

Interestingly, the solidarity kids everywhere find in Goth culture alleviates the disconnection. It's when kids can't find a connection and begin following a ring leader that the troubles begin.

(Photo: Fathers' Protest Sign.)

Adolescent Angst Goes Viral, Are You In?

After success with popular books and stage shows, Mortified now launches its debut web video series, The Mortified Shoebox Show.

Each week, The Mortified Shoebox Show treats viewers to "comic excavations" of the strange and extraordinary things we created as kids-- letters, lyrics, poems, journals, rap songs, home movies and more. Mixing concert clips, animated shorts, interviews and odd archival media, Mortified's debut series offers a snapshot of human history at its most hilarious and harrowing.

By moving online, Mortified is able give its participants -- writers, teachers, designers, actors, soccer moms, execs --  the terrifying chance to suddenly perform before a global audience.

An independently produced collaboration, season one is slated to last about eight or nine episodes... Interested in seeing season two? Contact them if you'd like to help facilitate. We dare you. It's common ground for Gen X and Y.

Fashion Bullying Moves to Middle School

Dorothy Espelage, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,  says she has seen an increase in "bullying related to clothes." Having access to designer clothing affords some kids "the opportunity to become popular -- and that protects you and gives you social power and leverage over others," she says.

Over the past three years, numerous designers have targeted the lucrative children's and teens' markets. Little Marc, the kids' clothing label by New York designer Marc Jacobs, expanded its line this winter and dropped its price, making it more accessible to a greater number of shoppers...

What's curious here is that middle school kids are at a crossroad, moving beyond the parental threshold. Yet they still are looking back for parental approval. Branding at this age shoots right back at the parents. How kids are perceived at this stage and how they receive that perception shapes their future brand directions. WIll they become Abercrombie kids and constantly seek what's "in" or will they break out of the mold?

Read the whole story.

(Photo: Vintage tintype of a pre-teen.)

Wal-mart, not cool

I love Daily Candy. I don't even mind getting their dedicated emails from advertisers. Because usually, these emails show new products right in line with the Daily Candy vision of latest, greatest stuff. That is, except for this morning. Today's dedicated email came from Wal-mart. I thought maybe they'd had something to talk about. But, not. Just more of the same: Mary-kate and Ashley brand outfits and run-of-the-mill mp3 players don't count as hip.

I feel like we're always panning Wal-mart. Don't get me wrong Wal-mart has some great aspects, especially when it comes to hurricane disaster relief. But for cool hunting, Wal-mart is not the place. That would call for a major product development/merchandising overhaul.

What no camp section at American Girl?

Ooops…the niece’s birthday snuck up on us. Have to expedite a gift to intercept her at camp or else join the ranks of deadbeat aunts and uncles.

Search search search online for camp gifts. Isn’t there a Camp-A-Gram or something that can walk a gift over? No such luck. But who knew about all the cool stuff out there.

CarePackageStyle.com will send Daily Hug care packages daily, every other day, or every third day. You pay for the hugs, but no additional shipping charges. They’ll also add counselor, bunkmate or cabin gifts to your camp care package.

Camp Pacs has more traditional explorer-style packages.

The Spoon Sisters offers autograph boxer shorts. I would’ve liked those.

In the end, I went to American Girl which offered no “camping” gifts section. There, after a little browsing I wound up buying an $8 autograph pillow. I paid $19.95 for 2-day shipping and an extra $6 for gift wrap. Why? Because the American Girl name carries weight with this particular 10-year-old and we need to leave a lasting impression. Sigh…

Press: Wal-Mart Tries to be MySpace. Yes, Seriously.

We were included in an interesting article in this week's Advertising Age on Wal-Mart's new entry into the world of teen social networking. Desperate to appeal to teens with something other than pencils and backpacks during the crucial back-to-school season, Wal-Mart is launching a highly sanitized, controlled and rather unhip site at walmart.com/schoolyourway. Teens are invited to create their own page, "show it to the world and win some fab prizes," including a chance to have their videos appear in a Wal-Mart TV commercial.  Read here

Screening out smoking

At the World Conference on Tobacco or Health, the Smoke Free Movies Action Network launched Screen Out!, the first campaign designed to help America's parents protect their kids against tobacco imagery in movies -- a primary influence on new adolescent smokers. The campaign is endorsed by the American Legacy Foundation, American Heart Association, American Medical Association and the State of New York Department of Health.

Screen Out! advises parents to limit kids' viewing of R-rated films, which give them half their tobacco exposure, and to press major studios and their parent companies to clear tobacco out of G, PG and PG-13 films, which deliver the other half.

I, for one, am always amazed at the number of friends and strangers who are still smoking. However, screening adolescents out seems like a parenting 101 no-no. You screen. They sneak. This is an area that calls for a lot of collaboration and cold, hard facts and scare tactics. Many smokers actually like to smoke. And that's compelling to a kid.

My grandfather had his lung removed in the 1950s due to lung cancer. All he wanted in the hospital was his pack of Lucky Strikes until he was plainly told by the doctor, "How would you like me to remove your other lung?"

Goth: A Place of Solace

According to an article from New Scientist, About half of teenage goths have deliberately harmed themselves or attempted suicide, a new study suggests. But joining the modern subculture – which grew out of the 1980s gothic rock scene – may actually protect vulnerable children, researchers say.

Researchers at University of Glasgow found that while most self-harmers started the practice at age 12 to 13, they did not become goths until they were a couple of years older, on average.                

“One common suggestion is they may be copying subcultural icons or peers [when they self-harm], but our study found that more young people reported self-harm before, rather than after, becoming a goth. This suggests that young people with a tendency to self-harm are attracted to the goth subculture,” says Robert Young, who led the study.

Michael van Beinum, a psychiatrist for children and adolescents, who advised on the study, agrees: “For some young people with mental health problems, a goth subculture may be attractive as it may allow them to find a community within which it may be easier for their distress to be understood.”

The 1980s goth culture grew out of the post-Punk movement and underwent a revival in the mid-1990s. Central to goth belief is the black aesthetic – taking icons that society regards as evil, such as skull imagery, and making them beautiful.

Enter the Governess

In what is an elite tweak on home schooling — and a throwback to the gilded days of education by governess or tutor — growing numbers of families are choosing the ultimate in private school: hiring teachers to educate their children in their own homes.

Unlike the more familiar home-schoolers of recent years, these families are not trying to get more religion into their children's lives, or escape what some consider the tyranny of the government's hand in schools. In fact, many say they have no argument with ordinary education — it just does not fit their lifestyles…

The cost for such teachers generally runs $70 to $110 an hour. And depending on how many hours a teacher works, and how many teachers are involved, the price can equal or surpass tuition in the upper echelon of private schools in New York City or Los Angeles, where $30,000 a year is not unheard of.

"It's a hidden group of folks, but it's growing enormously," said Luis Huerta, a professor of public policy and education at Teachers College of Columbia University, whose national research includes a focus on home schooling.

Read more.

NANCY DREW Graphic Novel #1

Everyone's favorite girl detective makes her dazzling graphic novel debut from PaperCutz. The graphic novels are based on Simon and Schuster's newly re-launched series of best-selling Nancy Drew novels by Carolyn Keene. They're written for tweens/teens by Stefan (X-Files, Kolchak) Petrucha, and illustrated by Sho (Sei) Murase.