In April 2004, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers called for teenage magazines to have age restrictions placed on them, claiming that they glamorize promiscuity. But youth projects are using magazines as a positive tool in their programmes.
MediaRelate, a programme created to be used both in schools and informal settings, employs teenage magazines and television programmes to educate students about sex and relationships. Sara Bragg and David Buckingham created the course at the Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media at the Institute of Education in London. "Throughout the project we found that young people are looking for different sources of information about sex education," says Buckingham.
A survey of 800 young people, conducted by the Broadcasting Standards Commission in 2003, discovered that two-thirds of the participants thought television programmes and magazines were very useful in finding out about sex and relationships.
MediaRelate encourages young people to keep diary scrapbooks of images from the media for discussions. "Using magazines gives young people the chance to explore issues at a distance without using personal experiences," says Buckingham, who is launching a teaching pack in May 2005 for classrooms and more informal settings.
Marc Tidd, a personal, social and health education (PSHE) and advance skills teacher at Hatch End High School in Harrow, taught the course to his students last term. "The programme integrated sex and relationships together. It is not replacing sex education; we use the course to fill the gaps in the programme," explains Tidd.
Other schemes running
MediaRelate is not the only scheme to utilise magazines to teach young people about sex and other issues. Youth workers at YWCA England and Wales are using magazines to encourage discussion in the various young women's groups they run.
Jo Holt, a project worker at YWCA Doncaster Women's Centre, uses teen magazines in her group work with young women from the age of 13. Holt finds that magazines can be useful when dealing with issues such as self-image, sex education and assertiveness training. "We use magazines to encourage conversation," she says. "I give the young women a problem from the magazine and I ask them to compose a drama scene of what they think is going on in the young person's life."
Young men can also benefit from using women's magazines, says Vanessa Rogers, a training instructor at The National Youth Agency and a youth team manager for Hertford children, schools and families service, who uses men and women's magazines within her youth projects.
"There is a distinct lack of role models for young boys. There is nothing in magazines about what it's like to be a teenage dad or what a boy should do if their girlfriend is pregnant," she says.
Steve Pritchard, an outreach and education worker at Brook Advisory Centre in Sandwell and Dudley, works with 16- to 18-year-olds, discussing sex, gender and the presentation of women and men in the media.
Pritchard initiates group discussions by using teenage magazines during group work sessions. "It's a real throwback to primary school," he says.
"I get the young people to make collages of the images in magazines that they feel are relevant."
On their level
Teen magazines are aware that they are a source of information for their readers, sometimes the most trusted source. Fleur Fisher, the independent chairman of TMAP, says: "Teenage girls trust teen magazines; they feel that magazines talk with them and not at them."
Fisher believes the MediaRelate programme recognises that teenage magazines are written by people who "understand what teenagers are looking for".
Chantelle Horton, acting editor of Bliss magazine, agrees: "We are like sisters to our readers, providing information and entertainment. We always have their best interests at heart."
Teenage magazines are the most regulated magazines in the business, according to Miranda Eason, deputy editor of Cosmo Girl!. "We are very responsible in our approach towards issues like sex and drugs, as we all have to abide by the rules of TMAP," she says.
TMAP's recommendations apply to magazines where at least a quarter of readers are under 25. The guidelines ensure that when magazines are discussing underage sex, it is clearly stated that it is illegal and the age of consent is highlighted. Magazines also have to encourage responsible attitudes towards sex, with safe sex being discussed when relevant.
Claire Irvin, editor of Elle Girl and former editor of Sugar, believes that by providing information on issues such as sexual health, young women are more likely to be put off having sex early.
"Information is power and information is the power to say no," says Irvin.
But The NYA's Rogers believes that publications have to be careful. "Young people reading magazines may think that everyone's got a boyfriend, everyone's having sex, and if I'm not there is something wrong with me," she says.
May Al-Shaghana, 14, has attended group sessions at YWCA Doncaster where the content of magazines like Sugar and Bliss has been discussed. She says it has made her more aware of the way magazines use sensational headlines to sell issues. "Magazine articles are exaggerated, some of the situations would never happen to me and my friends," she says.
Magazines may be the way forward in helping young people understand issues in a non-threatening or judgmental way, but only if they are used responsibly. The messages given by magazines have to be reinforced with other information leaflets and books to be fully informative. "Their purpose is to inform young people to help prepare them for adulthood, but they are also a means to entertain," says TMAP's Fisher.
In the end, teenage magazines provide information, and it is up to teenage girls how they use it. "Just because a 15-year-old has a condom it does not mean she will have sex," says Irvin, who edited Sugar when it ran the Marie Stopes article. "Sugar was educating and empowering young women to say no to sex."
MAGAZINES ON THE MARKET
COSMO GIRL! "For fun fearless teens" Readers: Girls aged 12 to 17 Features: Issues include celebrity interviews and real-life stories Circulation: 200,168 (Jan-Jun 2004 ABC figures) Contact: 020 7439 5957
ELLE GIRL "Dare to be different" Readers: Girls aged 16 to 20 Features: The magazine focuses on beauty and fashion trends and celebrity interviews Circulation: 80,000-100,000 (since relaunching in Jan 2004) Contact: 020 7150 7000
BLISS The magazine's core values are to be stylish, sexy and supportive Readers: Girls aged 13 to 18 Features: Problem pages, celebrity interviews and real-life stories Circulation: 257,162 Contact: 020 7208 3478
SNEAK "Guaranteed to provide all the week's juicy gossip" Readers: Both girls and boys aged 11 to 18 Features: The magazine centres on celebrity gossip and fashion Circulation: 92,368 Contact: 020 7436 1515
SUGAR Readers: Girls aged 13 to 18 Features: The magazine deals with sex, relationships, fashion and lifestyle advice Circulation: 294, 972 Contact: 020 7150 7050
MIZZ Readers: Girls aged 10 to 14 Features: Centre on family, friends and fashion. The magazine does not feature articles on sex Circulation: 78,158 Contact: 020 7261 5000
ACTIVITIES USING TEENAGE MAGAZINES
1. Use the problem pages in magazines for discussion. Get groups of young people to pick out various problems and discuss how they would answer them. Look at other sources of information and discuss whether the agony aunt's answer is informed and balanced.
2. Examine the different ways the teenage media addresses young people. Look at real-life stories within teenage magazines. Are they representative of what young people are doing?
3. Look at the advertising within teenage media. Get young people to make collages of adverts within teenage magazines. Discuss whether these images have a positive or negative effect on a young person's body image and self-esteem.
4. Dramatise pictures and problems from teenage magazines. Get members of your youth group to create drama scenes and improvisations based on pictures or problems from a teenage magazine. Ask the young people if they are well informed about the issues involved.
5. Compare teenage girls' magazines with men's magazines. Analyse different sets of men and women's magazines and look at differences in the presentation of gender.
