This is the Treasure Hunt research project that I worked on in JoMC 50. It may not look very interesting but you should check it out. Especially if you are curious about advertising or computer hacking.

What I know about advertising to children is that a lot of advertisements are aimed towards teenagers. Teens today...

are extremely impressionable and vulnerable when it comes to buying material possessions because whatever they

purchase will ultimately affect their image. I have a 13-year-old sister at the age difficult for parents to understand-

the pre-teen stage. She is worried about what her peers will think of her if she shows up to school without wearing

name-brand clothes, such as Abercrombie and Fitch or J. Crew. She has expensive tastes in clothes and shoes. My

parents are already worried that she is wasting too much of the money they give her. They also want her to get a job

so she will know the value of a dollar. Times have changed since my parents were young. I can see that now when I

compare how my Mom used to have her clothes made by my grandmother to my little sister HAVING to go to the mall

to buy the trendiest new clothing on the market. I understand where my sister is coming from because kids were like

that at my high school. However, the older I get, the more I realize how superficial it is to judge others based on the

things they own. It is more important to like someone for their values and not their valuables.

 

 

The questions I want to ask are very simple. It takes a lot of will power for teens to not give in to what society tells them

to buy. My little sister reads Cosmo Girl and Seventeen all the time. She is influenced by all the advertisements she sees

for clothes and cosmetics. I know the answer to my second question will be the money. Every business has to make the

money and teens are an easy target. However, I think the brand names companies should stop advertising so much

because they are going to make money either way. They should let other smaller companies display their advertisements

and they should stop hogging commercial slots and magazine space with their pricey and eye-catching products. There is

no need for them to continuously spend so much money just to capture the attention of our youth. They should give

other companies a fair advantage to make some money, too.

 

UNC Library Catalog:

1. consumers AND teens

2. children OR teens AND trends

Academic Universe Lexis-Nexis:

1. advertis! children OR teens

2. teens / brand names

http://www.altavista.com/:

1. teen trends and brand names

2. teens and clothing

 

1. McGough, Elizabeth. Dollars and sense: the teen-age consumer's guide. New York:

Morrow, 1975. CALL NUMBER: HC79.C6 M3

2. Moses, Elissa. The $100 billion allowance: accessing the global teen market. New York: John Wiley, c2000.

CALL NUMBER: HF5415.32.M673 2000

3. Zollo, Peter. Wise up to teens: insights into marketing and advertising to teenagers. 2nd ed. Ithaca, N.Y.:New Strategist Publications, Inc.,

c1999. CALL NUMBER: Hf5415.32.z65 1995

 

Lexis-Nexis Sources

1. McDaniel, Matthew. (11 June 2001). "Just do it! Ignore commercials!" The Herald- Sun Durham. [online, 732 words]. Available: Lexis-Nexis. [12 July 2001]

2. Ganahal, Jane. (24 August 2001). "Some Things Never Change, Especially In Magazines Aimed At Teenage Girls." News & Record. [online, 1719 words]. Available: Lexis-Nexis. [12 July 2001]

3. Holub-Moorman, Samara. (2000). "Advertisers attempt to cater to teen market." The Herald-Sun Durham. [online, 758 words]. Available: Lexis-Nexis. [12 July 2001]

4. Gale Group Inc. (12 February 2000). "Targeting the teen consumer." Business & Industry. [online, 600 words]. Available: Lexis-Nexis. [12 July 2001]

5. (27 March 2000). "Teens Need Guidance to Go With All That Cash." News & Record. [online, 390 words]. Available: Lexis-Nexis. [12 July 2001

6. Rowe, Jeri. (26 March 2000). "Teen Power! Flexing Economic Muscle, Teens Shape Our Popular Culture." News & Record. [online, 2748 words]. Available: Lexis-Nexis. [12 July 2000] Section IV: Web Sources

 

 

1. Title of Web page: Youth Being Served

Web Address: enquirer.com/editions/1998/12/12/bus_teens13.html

Brief Description: Great articles about teen peer pressures. Gives stats on teen spending in the past couple of years and has an opinion poll for visitors of the site. All of the writers of the articles got direct quotes from teenage kids.

Source of Web Site: The Cincinnati Enquirer

 

2. Title of Web page: Teens put faith in brand names

Web Address: www.fayettevilleobserver.com/news/archives/1999/tx99jul/b25t2axx.htm

Brief Description: Editorial from Fayetteville Observer. Great picture and very informative stats about teens and how they spend their

money. Organizes categories of information about reasons for teens' fashion.

Source of Web Site: Fayetteville Observer

 

3. Title of Web page: 'Josie' Spoofs Exploitation of Teen Trends

Web Address: www.planethollywood.com/crashing_hollywood.hotgossip_article.htm?

Brief Description: This website is very new and it gives a great explanation of why teens are influenced by the media and stars. This

specific article is a detailed analysis of the new movie Josie and the Pussycats, which compares characters I the movie to real

teenagers who will do anything to fit in with other teens their age.

Source of Web Site: Planet Hollywood

 

4. Title of Web Page: Fair Treatment for Teens

Web Address: www.fairtreatment.org

Brief Description: This organization's web site is very informative and organized. The links are very detailed. The web site gives the

names of retailers and businesses who ensure to their young customers that they will not be taken advantage of. This site also gives

names of companies that have been known to take advantage of young people in the past.

Source of Web Site: Fair Treatment of Teens Organization

 

5. Title of Web page: Why do we all have to look the same?

Web Address: www.layouth.com/6_3_7_2.htm

Brief Description: This is an excellent source of information for my topic. The website is designed and organized by teens and there

are links to teen services, a newsletter, the organization of LA Youth, information for teens and parents, and a page set up where you

can meet the staff of LA Youth. The article I read was written by a 13-year-old by the name of Jennifer Gottesfeld from Horace

Mann, MS. This website features articles like her's monthly to let teens bond on the issues that they all face in society. Source of

Web Site: LA Youth Section

Title: The 411 on Hackers

Topic Area: Dark Side of the Net: Computer Hackers

 

Originally, a hacker was just someone who works on computers with exceptional enthusiasm and a sense of exploration.

Hackers were more interested in gaining knowledge about computer systems and performing playful pranks (2). Lately,

though, "hacking" has come to mean electronic trespassing and acting with malice (3). These attacks range from

obtaining access to hard disks, to causing machines to crash. Hackers often use their skills destructively-such as in

"denial-of-service" attacks, which shut down Internet sites Ebay and Yahoo (2). One of the most common forms of

hacking is web site altering. For example, in September of 1996 a group of hackers changed the CIA's home page to

read, "Welcome to the Central Stupidity Agency" (2).

The explosion of viruses is yet another example. Viruses like the Melissa Overload e-mail systems by sending excessive

mail. Those like the Love Bug overwrite computer files destroying users' data (2). One of the deadliest, Chernobyl,

overwrites the BIOS Chip, leaving users unable to boot (or start) their computers. Hackers have also stolen credit card

numbers, modified the contents of bank accounts and invaded military computer systems (3).

Unfortunately, law enforcement has yet to take action on any but the largest, most prominent computer crimes. Viruses

and computer hackers cost businesses around the world more than $1.5 trillion in the year 2000, according to a study by

the Information Week Research (1). But the good news is that security and protections are available to counter the

activities of hackers. Our Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and software manufacturers provide many of these.

 

Notes: 1. Auster, Bruce B. "Terrorism at the touch of a keyboard." U.S. News, 13 July 1998. Available [online: 350 words]. [15 July 2001]

2. Brimley, Peter. "Computer hackers in Waco bank." Houston Chronicle, 3 June 2001. Available [online: 520 words]. [15 July 2001]

 

1. Title of Web page: Spoofing hides computer hackers' footprints

Web Address: it.mycareer.com/au/breaking/20000210/A10655-2000Feb10.html

Brief Description: News item based on breaking news from I.T.

Source of Web Site: I.T. (Information Technology)

 

2. Title of Web page: So you wanna be a Hacker?

Web Address: http://www.accessor1.net/~cyberwar/hacker.html

Brief Description: News item based on recent hackers.

Source of Web Site: Cyber War

 

3. Title of Web page: Computer Security-Hacking and Hackers

Web Address: http://www.ationline.com/s

Brief Description: Informative research on computer hacking from A.O.

Source of Web Site: AntiOnline