Hi everyone
During a quiet moment I picked the latest YPA book down from my bookshelf. It's pretty much stayed there since my relatives came back from the latest convention. I couldn't bring myself to see the extent to which the Society is now trying to claw its way into the lives of teenagers. Imagine my surprise that even a young girl's wardrobe is now the subject of a "worksheet", to be filled out by both teenager and parent. Here is the worksheet and its questions in full.
REMEMBER, these questions are designed to have handwritten responses by teenager and parent respectively...
>wardrobe worksheet
Instructions: Copy these pages. Ask your parents to fill out the worksheet on the right while you fill out the one on the left. Later, swap worksheets with your parents, and discuss your answers. Are there any surprises? What did each of you learn about the others' perspective that you didn't know before?
for you - Think about a particular outfit that you want to wear or purchase.
Why do you like this particular outfit? Number the factors below in order of your priority.
...... Brand name
...... Appeal to the opposite sex
...... Acceptability to peers
...... Comfort
...... Price
...... Other ............................................................
My parents' initial reaction to this will probably be
[_] "No way!"
[_] "Maybe."
[_] "No problem."
If they object, the most likely reason would be
[_] "It's too provocative."
[_] "It's too sloppy."
[_] "It's too trendy."
[_] "It reflects badly on us as your parents."
[_] "It's too expensive."
[_] Other.......................................................
can we work together on this?
What merit can I see in my parents' view?...................................................................
What, if anything, can be done to make the garment acceptable?.................................................
Second page
for your parents - Think about a particular outfit that your adolescent wants to wear or purchase.
Why, do you think, does your child like this outfit? Number the factors below according to what you think are his or her priorities.
...... Brand name
...... Appeal to the opposite sex
...... Acceptability to peers
...... Comfort
...... Price
...... Other ............................................................
My initial reaction is
[_] "No way!"
[_] "Maybe."
[_] "No problem."
The reason why I might object would be
[_] "It's too provocative."
[_] "It's too sloppy."
[_] "It's too trendy."
[_] "It reflects badly on us as your parents."
[_] "It's too expensive."
[_] Other.......................................................
can we work together on this?
Is our objection to this outfit merely a matter of our personal taste? [_] Yes [_] Possibly [_] No
What, if anything, can be done to make the garment acceptable?.................................................
If there are any parents with teenagers out there, I would be fascinated to hear your honest opinion on this worksheet.
My own view is that the Writing Department clearly gave themselves too many pages to fill in this book release, and were really scraping the bottom of the barrel with the above.
Cedars