Posts Tagged teens
College Application Videos
Application videos are no longer just for Elle Woods!
And further documentation that teen girls are a super-engine of content creation on the web.
This year Tufts University, for the first time, officially accepted short YouTube videos that students could post to supplement their application.
About 1,000 of the 15,000 applicants submitted videos. Some have gotten thousands of hits on YouTube.For a number of colleges, this is the year of the video, what with Yale’s 16-minute YouTube offering, “That’s Why I Chose Yale,” a spoof of “High School Musical,” and “Reading Season,” a musical by admissions counselors at the University of Delaware.
Even without prompting, admissions officials say, a growing number of students submit videos. Maria Laskaris, the dean of admissions at Dartmouth, noticed the trend last year, and said this year had brought even more videos, mostly showcasing music, theater or dance talents.
For Tufts, the videos have been a delightful way to get to know the applicants.
“At heart, this is all about a conversation between a kid and an admissions officer,” Mr. Coffin said. “You see their floppy hair and their messy bedrooms and you get a sense of who they are. We have a lot of information about applicants, but the videos let them share their voice.”
Videos are genuinely optional, he said, so not having one does not count against a student — and a bad video would not hurt their admission chances “unless there was something really disgusting.”
To his surprise, about 60 percent of the videos are from women, and two-thirds are from financial-aid applicants, easing concern that the video option might help the already-advantaged affluent applicants.
Add comment February 22, 2010
Snack Attack!
Between 1977 and 2002, the percent of the American population eating three or more snacks a day increased to 42% from 11%. Further, researchers found, the percent of children surveyed who said they had eaten three meals on the previous day went down, while those who had had a snack went up more than 40%.
Add comment February 2, 2010
Multiracial Youth Adapt
The link below is to a pdf of the full report.
Multiracial youth that identify with two or more of their ethnicities are happier than those who only identify with one, according to a study published by the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
In the study, “The Interpretation of Multiracial Status and Its Relation to Social Engagement and Psychological Well-Being,” multiracial high school students were asked which groups they primarily identified with. Those who identified with multiple groups reported either equal or higher psychological wellbeing and social engagement than those who identified primarily with a single group.
According to the researchers, the ability to claim different ethnicities indicates resiliency; youth who identify with multiple groups can also adapt to different racial environments more easily.
1 comment November 28, 2009
Coach Holds Its Own
Coach continues to be the envy of many retailers on the block, despite the challenging recession environment. It’s another one of those workhorse case studies that I pull out for study in many business scenarios. The two areas I often highlight: the brand’s strong commitment to consumer research (rather unusual in the fashion luxury world) and its flexible approach to product mix.
Consistently ranked among the most competitive retailers, Coach boasted $3.2 billion in revenue for 2008. Last quarter, the cash-rich company reported net sales totaling $740 million, compared with $745 million a year ago, a decline of about 1 percent—and an earnings drop of 29.3 percent—during the most challenging retail environment in decades.
Direct-to-consumer sales, mostly through Coach’s 400-plus retail and outlet stores, rose 9 percent last quarter to $634 million.
Eighty percent of its products are sold directly to consumers.In Japan, Coach holds a 14 percent share of the imported accessories market, second only to Louis Vuitton.
The company spends $5 million a year in surveys, tracking, and testing.
In 2010, 50 percent of the company’s bags will cost from $200 to $300, compared with 30 percent in 2009.Analysts praise the company’s chameleonlike ability to adapt rapidly. “Management has been thoughtful and strategic in how they approach this period,” said Todd Slater, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets.
Add comment November 5, 2009
Teens’ Perception of Normal
About half of teenagers’ social media posts refer to drinking, sex, or violence, according to Megan Moreno, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That discovery, which was reported earlier this year, left Moreno wondering if all that chatter was reality or trash talk. She’s still working on answering that question, but she has found out this: Kids do think that what they see on social media sites is real, and the younger they are, the more they believe it. That’s important, because teenagers are powerfully influenced by the behavior of their peers.
“There is good data that if kids think their friends are drinking, they’re more likely to drink,” Moreno says. “The perception of normal is powerful.”
Moreno doesn’t yet have hard data on how much of the teenage drinking on social media sites is real. She thinks some of it is, some is nonsense, and some is a “gesture of intention”—that is, a teen may be thinking of getting into the drinking scene and is testing the waters by putting up pictures or writing about it.
Add comment November 3, 2009
Teen Runaways
Not my usual numbers-type posting, but I found myself surprised and moved by these.
Most of the estimated 1.6 million children who run away each year return home within a week.
Nearly a third of the children who flee or are kicked out of their homes each year engage in sex for food, drugs or a place to stay, according to a variety of studies published in academic and public health journals.
But this kind of dangerous barter system can quickly escalate into more formalized prostitution, when money changes hands. And then, child welfare workers and police officials say, it becomes extremely difficult to help runaways escape the streets. Many become more entangled in abusive relationships, and the law begins to view them more as teenage criminals than under-age victims. Estimates of how many children are involved in prostitution vary wildly — ranging from thousands to tens of thousands. More solid numbers do not exist, in part because the Department of Justice has yet to study the matter even though Congress authorized it to do so in 2005 as part of a nationwide study of the illegal commercial sex industry.
But many child welfare advocates and officials in government and law enforcement say that while the data is scarce, they believe that the problem of prostituted children has grown.
Some resources and places to help:
Add comment October 29, 2009
Scientists’ Changing Findings on Kids and Race
An excerpt from the book NurtureShock was published in Newsweek last month. (Link to the book here.) One of the many topics the authors studied in the book is how and when we humans become aware of race and how societies’ efforts to be colorblind have many unintended consequences.
A quick summary on how scientists think about race and children has changed:
Then: We assumed children didn’t notice race until we pointed it out to them.
Now: Evidence shows children identify racial differences much like they see the differences between pink and baby blue—two colors often used to distinguish girls from boys.
Then: Like me, many parents figured children would get the “diversity” point after we exposed them to different races and cultures.
Now: Researchers have found the more diverse the environment, the more likely children are to self-segregate.
Then: Children often told about discrimination were less likely to see the relationship between working hard and achieving goals.
Now: Black children who repeatedly hear messages of black pride are more interested in school and more likely to connect their success to their hard work and persistence.
1 comment October 13, 2009
The Latest Generational Shopping Data
Excellent, data-packed article on current American shopping patterns. It parses out differences between different ages of shoppers, even in cases where the net results are similar.
While boomers and Gen Y-ers have become more value-driven, they demonstrate this new mindset in different ways. An August 2009 study by TNS Retail Forward, a Columbus, Ohio-based consulting firm, found that 46 percent of surveyed boomers bought only the things they needed this year, compared to 34 percent of Gen Y-ers.
In addition, 41 percent of boomers reported buying fewer things, compared to 28 percent of Gen Y-ers. Boomers are shopping less overall partly because they have accumulated plenty of clothes, books and electronic gadgets over the years, say researchers. Gen Y-ers, on the other hand, are still buying discretionary items, but looking for less expensive versions.
As a result of their necessity focused mindset, whatever shopping trips boomers do take are likely to involve visits to supermarkets and drug stores, mass merchants, office and pet supply stores and home improvement stores. Roughly 22 percent are shopping more at value and discount stores, compared to 14 percent of Gen Y-ers. Moreover, boomers say they are likely to hold on to their frugal ways even after the economy rebounds. According to the survey, boomers say the saving behaviors they will most likely retain include taking advantage of discount offers and doing more comparison shopping before making a purchase.
Members of Gen Y, on the other hand, continue to shop for what TNS calls “self-expression,” in addition to buying necessities and hunting for bargains on durable goods. Self-expression involves consumption of lifestyle goods like books, CDs and games, which bodes well for those retailers. Examples of retailers that offer self-expression include Nordstrom, Victoria’s Secret and the Gap, according to TNS.
“If you look at past [economic] recoveries, particularly after September 11, most of the people that traded down very quickly bounced back and resumed their normal shopping habits,” says Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a New Canaan, Conn.-based consulting firm. “Here, we believe there will be much more of a permanent change in shopping behavior. Wal-Mart isn’t going to retain all its new customers, but we think it will retain at least 50 percent because people will say, ‘Hey, the merchandise here is pretty good, the pricing is pretty good and the service is much better than in the old days.’”
That doesn’t mean, however, that specialty retailers are doomed to flounder. Such chains will simply have to find new ways to offer customers value, experts say. Grocery chain Trader Joe’s has thrived under new market conditions in spite of its gourmet reputation by offering a wide variety of private label products, which are often more affordable than mass brands but equivalent in quality. The chain guarantees that all products sold under its private label are made using non-genetically modified ingredients so customers feel they are getting a great deal for less. Plus, they don’t have to spend as much time comparing products from different brands to figure out which one is better, notes Asturias.
Add comment October 7, 2009
Embracing Student Blogs
Dozens of colleges — including Amherst, Bates, Carleton, Colby, Vassar, Wellesley and Yale — are embracing student blogs on their Web sites, seeing them as a powerful marketing tool for high school students, who these days are less interested in official messages and statistics than in first-hand narratives and direct interaction with current students.
But so far, none of the blogs match the interactivity and creativity of those of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where they are posted prominently on the admissions homepage, along with hundreds of responses from prospective applicants — all unedited.
Not every admissions office has been so ready to welcome uncensored student writing.
“A lot of people in admissions have not been eager for bloggers, mostly based on fears that we can’t control what people are saying,” said Jess Lord, dean of admissions at Haverford College, which posted student bloggers’ accounts of their summer activities this year, and plans to add bloggers this spring to help admitted students hear about campus life. “We’re learning, slowly, that this is how the world works, especially for high school students.”
M.I.T.’s bloggers, who are paid $10 an hour for up to four hours a week, offer thoughts on anything that might interest a prospective student. Some offer advice on the application process and the institute’s intense workload; others write about quirkier topics, like warm apple pie topped with bacon and hot caramel sauce, falling down the stairs or trying to set a world record in the game of Mattress Dominos.
Posting untouched student writing — and comments reacting to that writing — does carry some risks. Boring, sloppily written posts do nothing to burnish an institutional image, college admissions officials say, and there is always the possibility of an inflammatory or wildly negative posting.
Add comment October 2, 2009
A Nation of Paranoid Parents?
I find the numbers below very very sad…
In 1969, 41 percent of children either walked or biked to school; by 2001, only 13 percent still did, according to data from the National Household Travel Survey.
In many low-income neighborhoods, children have no choice but to walk. During the same period, children either being driven or driving themselves to school rose to 55 percent from 20 percent.
Experts say the transition has not only contributed to the rise in pollution, traffic congestion and childhood obesity, but has also hampered children’s ability to navigate the world.
In a study of San Francisco Bay Area parents who drove children ages 10 to 14 to school, published this summer in the Journal of the American Planning Association, half would not allow them to walk without supervision, and 30 percent said fear of strangers governed their decision.
1 comment September 14, 2009
