Friends and Family
Creators
Jaclyn Colletti (Nowelski): jaclyncolletti@mac.com
Kate McCarron: kate.mccarron@comcast.net
Laura Meeker-Korch:lim32@drexel.edu
Definitions
What is a Friend?
"Samantha Skey showed how the definition of a friend has evolved to be much looser and inclusive than in previous generations, often including those met online, but not in person. Basically, friends are people teens "know" in some form or another, and they are sensitive and savvy about the ways they interact with their different levels of friends, which she demonstrated with an "intimacy scale" and the form of communications that follow the different levels. For marketers, she recommended finding the social leaders within networks , seeding them, providing them the mechanism to pass the word, and allow for personalization." Social networking is different in todayŐs era of MYSpace.com. Teens agree that they have different friends based on the medium-some are known only through chat. (
The Ten Biggest Themes of 'What Teens Want')
What is Family?
Family has also become more difficult to define in today's culture. It has gone beyond the traditional definition of a mother, father and child. What we really liked was the idea that family is an environment. Today's family may not be the typical social unit of 2 parents and child but may be lesbian or gay or single parent, grandparents, guardian or even an older sibling. It is not necessarily the who but it is the bond.
Description
"Friends and Family" encompasses much more than just divorce or dealing with cliques. When family members pass away, teens deal with grief and coping. When friendship turns into young love (or at least serious like), teens deal with sexuality and identity issues. This site does not seek to cover all of these areas. The resources chosen for this site have been aimed at the relationships that occur between a teen and his/her family and friends. Also included are resources that will aid a teen in being a good friend or relative to someone dealing with serious issues such as alcoholism, eating disorders, and self-injury.
This website is organized by resource type and topic. For example, the "Websites" image links to a page of websites broken down topically. Another considered organization scheme was to classify all resources by topic, but because of the overlap that occurs in many of these resources, using a more simplified approach seemed appropriate.
Purpose
This website is a guide to teens and their families about some of the books, magazines and organizations that offer insights into building strong friendships as well as improving communication with family. There is a section on what books your teen may be reading, what e-zines and magazines are popular (Seventeen is NOT!) and various organizations that may be a great way for your teen to meet peers and build leadership, community and sports skills. While we do not profess to know you or your family, hopefully something will trigger your interest. The web is an enormous place and we have attempted to cull some of the most interesting information and resources.
Selection Criteria
Our goal was to offer guidance to teens and their parents in the issue of "Friends and Family." While we realize the importance of strengthening these ties, we also understand that both can create turmoil in a teenŐs life. We have searched such resources as the American Library Association website, VOYA, the YALSA-BK list-serv as well as other teens and many public library websites.
Some of the criteria were:
- Is it up to date? Teens like to be on the cutting edge.
- Have we included many mediums- pod casts, wikis, DVD'S television, books and pamphlets, organizations, magazines?
- Are the web sites updated often, have a contact name and an opportunity for teens to chat online?
- Most important, do the resources have teen appeal?
- Will the resources be accessible to most teens? We therefore chose larger national organizations that had many opportunities for membership in the U.S., magazines that were available in print or online, web sites that did not require Flash, DVD'S, books and resources available through public library systems.
Obviously, our list is not exhaustive and websites, magazines and organizations change. In the midst of our collection we were dismayed to find the disbanding of Family Support America organization and discontinuation of several print versions of teen magazines, especially Hue and Teen People.
Audience
First and foremost, this website is for teenagers. It provides a list of resources they can turn to in order to become better family members and friends, deal with problem relationships, and learn more about themselves. Included in this site is a page of resources for parents.
Teen Input
We would be happy to hear from you on any additional websites, blogs, wikis, books you would find interesting. Please click on the link below to drop us an e-mail.
Last updated: August 30, 2006
