It’s a Tween Thing

1. It’s a Tween Thing Presented by LuCinda Gustavson Youth Services Librarian West Jordan Library Salt Lake County LibrarySystem Adapted from a presentation by: Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D. St. Augustine Hall Library & Information Science Division, Queens Campus VOYA Editor-in-Chief Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

2. So what is this thing we call a Tween? Too old for dolls. Too young for dates.

3. So what is this thing we call a Tween? Too old for Tonkas. Too young to drive.

4. Defining Tweens • Tweens is a fluid definition because different cognitive, emotional, and social developments happen at different rates in different adolescents. Some define tweens as 8 to 12 years old, others say 10 to 14 years old. It is more a stage of being than an age. Anderson, 2007

5. To truly understand what a Tween is, we shall embark on a virtual fieldtrip.

7. EEN

8. Close your eyes (yes… close your eyes) and travel back.. to a time long ago; about the age of 8 to 13 or 4th to 7th grade. Remember something you loved to do. Remember what you wanted to be when you grew up. Remember a time when you were embarrassed. Remember getting into trouble. Remember a book that meant a lot to you. Remember going to the library.

9. Now take a moment to share one of those memories with the people around you. How different were your memories from the person next to you? They may have been very different or there may have been some similarities.

10. There are no cookie-cutter experiences, but there are some common paths of development.

11. What’s going on physically?

12. Some Physical Basics • Tweens and early teens are being bombarded by hormones and begin to develop reproductively (i.e. breasts, pubic hair, etc.)* • Many experience a growth surge. Guys get taller, and girls get rounder. But this growth is not uniform, their feet and hands grow first making them clumsy. • Many experience a hormonal rollercoaster – becoming moody and seemingly different over night. Pruitt, 1999

13. What’s going on psychologically?

14. Some Psychological Basics • Their reasoning capabilities rise to new levels of complexity. • The adolescent is learning how to handle adult responsibilities. • By age 12, he or she will be able to think about possibilities, consider hypotheses, think ahead, consider the thought process, and think beyond conventional limits. • Increased ability to use abstract verbal concepts. Pruitt, 1999

15. More Psychological Basics • Increased ability to engage in abstract thought to engage in issues like politics, religion and morality. • Moral development continues to evolve as the adolescent becomes more aware the relationship between the individual and society. • Enter the most impressionable period of their lives. Memories made between the ages of 10-16 are the longest lasting.

16. What’s going on socially?

17. Social Development Basics • Expected increase in freedom • Move away from family toward peers • Likely to have best friends of the similar social and ethnic backgrounds. • In 7th grade, the above holds true PLUS they want friends with similar attitudes and values. • Peer approval and acceptance grows more important. Pruitt, 1999

18. Social Development Basics • Rely on friends for everything from companionship to understanding. • In middle school, the more a child is pressured by peers, the greater the chance he or she will go along or join in. Pruitt, 1999

19. Libraries can help tweens and early teens to successfully navigate the rocky road of adolescence by providing a wide range of materials, programs and services to meet their diverse needs and experiences.

20. Anderson, S. (2007). Serving young teens and ‘tweens. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. • American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (1999). Your adolescent: Emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development from early adolescence through the teen years. New York: Harper Collins. • Zuckerman, D. (2001). When little girls become women: Early onset of puberty in girls. The Ribbon,6(1).