On July 1, 2009, she wrote:  Okay, so has anyone else heard of a project called Operation Beautiful? A lady named Caitlin organized it to eliminate all of the “Fat Talk” in the world. Basically, women and girls everywhere are leaving postive sticky notes and other pieces of paper with messages along the lines of “You are Beautiful.” If you go to the official website, operationbeautiful.com, there are daily updatees of pictures people have emailed Caitlin of the notes they posted. I myself woke up early and ran down to the community pool, to be the first one there. I even made it before the lifeguard : I left a message on the gate into the pool area that said “You areBeautiful” and two in the Ladies Room that said “Yes, You look GREAT in that suit” and “True beauty comes from your smile, not your hips” This project has really inspired me because when your a tween, who doesnt care about their body image? These notes remind you that there is no pressure to be anyone other than the already beautiful you I felt that posting notes at the pool was a good way to start because honestly, who doesnt feel at least a little self concious in a bikini? Well, get out there and start posting sticky notes, girls!

via I<3TaylorLautners Page – AllyKatzz.com.

Her July 2 post:  i went back to the pool today again and to notes on the mirror had been taken down, but the one over the sink in the handicapped stall was still up! my favorite note i posted is the picture!!! i’m so inspired by this so get posting girls!!!”  

Kennedy is a 10-year-old girl who skipped her last day of school to go with her dad to see President Obama at a town hall meeting in Green Bay.

[youtube url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY9793NCGxI]

I get it, President Obama has important things to do. But here’s why I posted this video… It would have been very easy for him to just answer the dad’s question and pay zero attention to the 10-year-old girl. But he didn’t ignore her… he paid attention to her. And in a world where many tween girls feel forgotten or lost, I think this is great. Maybe it’s a political play. Maybe it’s because he’s the dad of tween girls and knows how important it is to pay attention to our youth. Being the forever optimist that I am, I’m going for Door #2. I know I may be disappointed, but I’ll deal with it if and when that time comes.

“We should do stuff like global warming, going green, teen pregnancy, the economy these days.. Gay rights, drugs being forced or peer pressure, bullying, homelessness…”

“I think it’s important that all of us girls come together to help the world because when we grow up, we are going to have jobs, and take care of our elders.  And if we don’t do something now, then earth will be polluted, starvation won’t get any better, and it will be too late.”

“community service… abuse… teen pregnancy…”

“We need to empower girls all over the world… At school, in malls, at home… everywhere there are girls who are put down for just being girls.  That is unfair and unjust.”

“We want to let you know what we think about growing up as an American girl in 2009.  Stuff we worry about may shock you.  Everything from the environment, to personal appearance, to education, the economy and mostly our future.  What will it be like when we’re the adults?

“We should talk about how teens get left out of history!  We can’t make any decisions for our country!  We should be able to have some opinion about global warming!  Also I think we should talk about how innocent children in America have to live in SERIOUS poverty because of the economy!  How we have to live horribly just because our dads or moms got laid off!  Also the poor animals – we should get systems that help even more than now!”

“How the economy is struggling – in our point of view, of course. You should also speak about having more programs that offer a discount for extra-curricular school activities.  I know a lot of my friends had to quit, or are in danger of quitting rewarding and fulfilling activities because they cost too much money, and the really sad part is, they’re all very talented.

“We need to talk about education.  Mainly testing and the presure we face everyday.  I think we should voice our opinion of Iraq and Afghanistan… As well as our opinion on minoor issues (in comparison) such as driving limits, the legal drinking age, drugs and the pressures tweens/teens have to face these days… Most adults don’t think we have much of an opinion when it comes to politics… I don’t see a difference between democrats and republicans… I see Americans.”

Is oral sex for tween-teen girls becoming as benign and as acceptable as kissing?  According to a new book and documentary by Sharlene Azam, the answer is yes.

Middle-class Canadian girls are giving oral sex after school to pay for sweaters and handbags.

Worlds away from the poverty, neglect and drug abuse that are the hallmarks of prostitution, teenagers who appear bright and well- adjusted are prostituting themselves without batting an eyelash.

For some in Azam’s film, this ultimately leads to payment for sex because, after all, if they are doing it anyway, why not get paid for it?

via TheStar.com | News & Features | Oral sex no longer a big deal, teen girls say.

I do not believe (and neither does Azam) that all girls are giving oral sex in return for cash.  But connect the dots: Rainbow parties are becoming more mainstream for tween-teen girls… girls are seeing sex every day on TV (if you are a parent who wants to believe that you know what your daughter is doing 24/7, reality is that you do not)…  boys download pornography on their cellphones – gives an extra boost to hormones already gone wild… low self-esteem is a major problem for girls… boy approval is huge… tween-teen girls are sending, receiving and posting sexy messages and photos to their friends via cell and social networking sites… girls want extra cash to buy cute clothes… economy isn’t giving them the extra cash they need.    It’s a perfect storm for girls selling sex.

See the Video.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Kris, America’s newest idol, is one singing sensation tween girls are NOT totally responsible for.  According to tween girls on AllyKatzz.com…Before the Idol finale,  girls ages 9-15 cast their votes and gave us their pulse-check:   39% said Adam. 24% said Kris. I wasn’t surprised when I saw those numbers because tween girls will follow the leader… and in the case of Idol, the leader they were all buzzing about was Adam. But while Idol is gloating about the record breaking number of votes… here’s something they need to think about… in the same pulse-check report, 36% said they aren’t watching Idol this season. That’s more shocking than Kris winning.

There’s a lot of fuss and TV coverage (Today Show, GMA) about Bristol Palin… she’s the new teen ambassador for the Candie’s Foundation, an organization dedicated to preventing teen pregnancy through abstinence.  Bristol is the 18-year-old daughter of Governor Sarah Palin.  And surprise… most of the fuss is about Bristol contradicting herself  (Katie Couric was nowhere close to this one).  As the Candie’s ambassador, she is promoting abstinence.  But in an earlier Fox interview (before she was Candie’s ambassador), she said abstinence is “unrealistic.”  OK, maybe it’s genetic. Or maybe she’s just a teen – they contradict themselves constantly.

What bothers me is bigger than another Palin contradicting herself in interviews.  What troubles me is the message she’s sending to young girls.  First of all, she’s saying she believes in abstinence and safe sex, but she’s holding her baby boy, Tripp, in her lap… so she’s really saying, “Don’t do as I do, do as I say.” That never works with tween-teen girls.  They want you to walk the talk.  Sure, it’s OK to say, “I made a mistake and I don’t want you to make one because your life could turn out hard like mine.”  But Bristol’s life isn’t looking so hard – in fact, it’s looking pretty darn glamorous… she’s on TV!   Tween-teen girls would love to be on TV.   She’s sitting on the sofa on the Today Show with her dad (that was a little too Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus for me) and her baby, Tripp… loving him and showing the joys of motherhood.  It’s great that she loves her baby… the problem is that young girls see this and think “baby, unconditional love, dad by my side…”

I think Candie’s should find a celebrity role model who tween girls will look up to… a role model who practices abstinence who can talk about how cool it is.  Or maybe the problem is they can’t find one?  So maybe Bristol was right when she said abstinence is “unrealistic.”

Here’s their  Top 10 “Scares Me” List:

Image via Wikipedia

79% are scared of their parents dying

75% are afraid of being raped

74% = being kidnapped

70% = not being able to breath

69% = being shot by someone they don’t know (note:  while 41% are afraid of kids at their school with weapons)

64% = cancer

62% = terrorist attack

62% = tornadoes and/or hurricanes

61% = losing their homes

54% = fire

What else?  52% are afraid of getting pregnant.  44% are afraid a family member will go to war and 37% are afraid they will have to fight in a war.  41% voted AIDS/STDs.  If you’re wondering, “What happened to being afraid of the dark?”  “Dark” is in the bottom 5 things they are afraid of (24%), along with flying on an airplane.

Based on what the girls post every day, these numbers do make sense.  They feel “out of control”… even for things they have control over such as “getting pregnant.”  But the majority of things they really don’t have control over/don’t understand.  They are baffled by the economy.  Girls talk about trying to understand what’s going on,  but parents say it’s too complicated and teachers say it’s not part of the lesson plan.  These girls do not consume news the way we do (24/7) – they pick it up in bits and pieces, often from friends at school.  That’s always dangerous!   Parents, use this list to see what your daughters are afraid of… do it in a fun way… you can even make it into a game… vote on this top 10 list, add others, etc.  Girls love fun quizzes – especially when it’s about them.  Marketers – there are some great tips in this list for you.

Here’s how one girl explains her fear of losing her parents:

i am really afraid of my parents dying from a car accident or something, so everytime they walk out the door to drive somewhere, i take a good look at their face and give them a hug and kiss, just in case its the last time i see them. its kinda like the superchick song ‘we live’ “theres a cross at the side of the road where a mother lost a son, who could she know that the moment he left would be the last time she’d trade with him for a little more time. she could say she loved him one last time and hold him tight, but with life you never know when your coming up to the end of the road.”

via The Top 10 Things That Scare You – AllyKatzz.com.

From Solveig, the 10 year old British graffiti artist:  I wanted to do a picture of two skeletons that have a hair salon called ’scare cuts’ the skeleton on the left is not very good and is always messing up the hair cuts. the one on the right is the boss and drops the cups of tea when he sees what the other one has done. The dude with the glasses is cross because he is late for work as he only wanted a trim. The girl has accidently been turned into a blond amy winehouse. The black man likes his haircut though.

via SOLVEIG – SCARE CUTS. on Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

Image by Peter π via Flickr

A new survey released today from the nation’s leading tween girl marketing consultancy and research company, AK Tweens, shows an alarming trend among tween girls — sexting. Believed by most experts and parents to be a “teen” only problem, the survey revealed that 30% of tween girls — many as young as 10 years old — are “sexting” — sending, receiving and/or posting sexy messages/photos e.g. photos of themselves in their underwear, or without clothes, messages of a sexual or suggestive nature online and via cell phone/email.

via New Survey From AK Tweens Reveals Sexting Not Just a Teen Problem; Tween Girls as Young as 10 Are Also Sending, | Reuters.

If you’re thinking or hoping that tween girls don’t really understand what sexting is… that maybe their definition of sexty messages/photos isn’t the same as teens, young adults and adults, brace yourself.  We asked the girls to give us examples of “Sexting”… here’s what they said:

“Message:  You can do whatever you want babe ”

“Someone is nude or showing too much skin or acting ’sexy’ in a picture.  Messages would be like sendin things that say what they would want to do with them in bed.”

“You exposing your body parts or you making out with someone or having sex.”

“A picture that one of your friends takes of you while your in your undewear while you’re playing around at a sleep over, and then texts it to one of her guy friends.”

WHY? When asked why they send or post sexy messages/photos, 82.2% said to get attention, 66.3% said to be “cool,” 59.4% said to be like the popular girls, and 54.8% said to find a boyfriend.

What does this mean to parents of tween girls? Most parents of tween girls have a false sense of security that their daughters aren’t old enough to know or care about sexting let alone participate, so they are less likely to talk about sexting and the consequences.  They mistake not hearing about it from their daughters as a sign that it’s not happening, when instead, it’s likely a sign that they just aren’t telling their parents about it.  Even the recent spate of media attention sexting has received has been almost exclusively focused on teens.  Tweens are just as tech savvy and connected these days as their teen counterparts, but even less equipped to understand or deal with the negative and long lasting consequences sexting produces.

What should parents do? Talk to their daughters (and sons).  It’s no different than “Don’t jump in the car with the strange man.”  The problem is that many parents don’t really understand who the “strange man” is and they don’t know how to talk about it, so they don’t talk about it… until it’s too late.  That’s why we conducted this survey… to help parents understand what’s really going on… and to know that their tweens need their help before it’s too late.