“what?”

tweens: the middle ground between children and teenagers, 8-14 year olds who haven't

quite started wearing makeup and bras but have (quite literally) grown out of kid's

shows and barbie dolls.

In the US and Canada, this age has a territory all of its own: middle school.

However, the 21st century has seen the tween demographic steadily shrinking as children,

especially young girls, are encouraged to grow up faster than ever before.

the divide between child and teen is now starker than ever, and nowhere is this clearer than

in the media.

pre-teens start off watching cartoons and crazy antics on Nick and Disney, before taking

a drastic leap to shows on the CW, Netflix, and HBO that depict teens doing drugs , sleeping

or worse, - jingle jangle -, and partaking in other questionable teen activities such

as entering gangs.

as tweens grow up, there's little option for them to avoid potentially age-inappropriate

content.

Teen shows used to be more conservative in their storylines and relationships.

In the book TEEN TV Stefania Marghitun notes: “Due to network television’s Least Offensive

Programming agenda, showing teen s*x, and subsequent teen pregnancy, continued to be

taboo until the late 1990s.”

Even Friends, a show targeted towards adults, was pretty conservative in its depiction of

s*x.

However, as both the taboo and restrictions concerning teen s*x on screen decreased, teen

TV has become raunchy enough to rival or even outdo adult programmes.

We have to wonder if there even are many age-appropriate tv shows for teens, let alone tweens.

The tween-appropriate shows [Never Have I Ever, I am Not Okay With This] definitely

seem to be in the minority.

Not to mention, in the age of social-media, all content has been democratised.

Tweens no longer have to sneak downstairs to watch late-night shows [the iron giant

clip] or scrub their internet history of ‘[how to kiss]’ google searches from the family

computer.

Tweens are learning about s*x, dr*gs, and rock n’ roll earlier than ever before from

social media posts and increased internet access.

Shaniya of Shanspeare is making a video all about the impact of social media on tweens.

This video is actually in collaboration with Shanspeare, Shaniya’s channel where she

dives deep into issues of race, femininity, and class, and plays a personal stylist to

the stars, popular shows, and her subscribers.

Shaniya’s video analyses the link between social media and the s*xualisation of tween

girls.

In this video I pick up on similar themes in teen television: I analyse Nickelodeon

and CW shows to highlight the huge gap that exists between kids and teen's media and how

there doesn't seem to be much middle ground between them.

If you want to see the full scope of this analysis, I highly recommend watching Shanspeare’s

video as well.

I think the best way to truly illustrate the disparity between children and teen shows

is to analyse a sample of each.

Let's take an episode of Sam & Cat and an episode of Riverdale, one of the most popular

shows aimed at the teen/pre-teen demographic, to compare.

I used a random number generator to pick which episode each would be so there was no selective

bias.

It resulted in the 13th episode of Sam and Cat "#SecretSafe" and the 27th episode of

Riverdale "The Hills Have Eyes".

One of the principal characteristics of the typical Nickelodeon/Disney Channel Show is

that it follows a sit-com format.

While there are recurring characters [S&C - BritBrats] and some overarching storylines

[wizards of waverly place - school], each episode tends to have a narrative arc that

concludes within its 22 minute run time.

This episode of S&C revolves around a safe Sam & Cat find in their closet.

Once Sam cracks the code, they discover a hidden bunker that has long been abandoned.

They're babysitting their neighbour Dice, but he locks them in in order to sneak out.

Their friend Goomer frees them and the gang find out that Dice is a children's party performer.

To get their revenge, they lock Dice in the bunker and go off to enjoy "sloppy waffles".

As is the case with many children’s shows, Sam & Cat is a comedy with largely innocent

humour.

The humour tends to be very formulaic with punchlines relying on silly words and unconventional

delivery.

“That machine is called a motorcycle, but who knows what they’ll be called ten years

from now?

Maybe..

STRADDLEZOOMERS!”

“I don’t need a babysitter I’m 12…

POINT FIVE” It also relies on physical comedy and slapstick humour.

While the humour may be repetitive and a little odd to older viewers, it’s age-appropriate

for the young audience.

On the other hand, Riverdale, like all CW shows and the majority of teen TV, consists

of overarching storylines that take episodes if not an entire season to resolve.

From serial killers to cults, the show concerns itself with a broad range of adult topics.

And since every episode is over twice the length of a kid's show, they can pack a lot

more into each.

With a change in subject matter comes a change in style.

Both are significantly darker than their childish counterparts.

Riverdale, Gossip Girl, Sabrina, Euphoria all have dark, moody colour palettes that

contrast the bright-lit studio sets of Nickelodeon and Disney shows.

In episode 27 of Riverdale, friends Archie, Veronica, Betty, and Jughead go to a lake

house for a romantic getaway.

Archie and Veronica are dating and so are Betty and Jughead.

Their friend Cheryl, insulted that she wasn't invited, calls Jughead and tells him that

Betty kissed Archie in the past in order to spark some tension.

As a solution, Veronica and Jughead kiss to "level the playing field".

Each couple makes up (and makes out) and tries to make the most of their weekend.

The episode bounces between the lake house and Riverdale town, where we see Josie telling

Kevin that her mom and his dad had an affair, and Cheryl tells her girlfriend Toni that

her homophobic mother broke up her last relationship with a girl.

Back in the lake house, a group of men the gang saw in town break into the house, Veronica

activates a silent alarm, they escape, and one of Hiram's bodyguards kills one of the

intruders.

Ok, so obviously a very different tone from Sam & Cat.

S*x, violence, and mafia murder.. all in one episode.

Other episodes include more of the same themes as well as dr*gs (jingle jangle), gangs, attempted

su*cide, attempted SA..

It's a stark shift in subject matter and a rapid uptake of adult themes.

Though Riverdale has garnered a lot of attention for its sensational storylines, it's not the

first teen show to feature plots beyond the realm of teenage possibility.

Gossip Girl, Skins, Euphoria, and Pretty Little Liars also show underage s*x, dr*gs, murder,

and more, including inappropriate teacher-student relationships.

Though elements may ring true for teenagers, they don't feel representative of teenage

life.

These shows could easily be set in college, with adult casts and characters, there’s

really no need to set them in high schools.

If they have to make a show set in school, at least show the characters navigating school,

balancing study, family, friends, and hobbies that don’t involve sniffing out murder mysteries.

It feels gross and exploitative that middle-aged or older executives and writers are still

creating media that is supposed to be for and about teenagers but include highly inappropriate

plotlines and rampant teen s*xualisation.

The result is that tweens jump from watching shows where the climax of a relationship is

a first kiss like in iCarly and Wizards of Waverly Place, to witnessing teens getting

hot and heavy every other episode.

The default for teen shows has become grand melodramas in which the characters rarely

attend school, instead getting involved in distinctly adult activities.

I understand there is a need and desire for escapist media, but I think more importance

should be placed on portraying realistic teens rather than writing teens into adult stories.

In fact, the only teen / tween shows I have seen that feel somewhat accurate to the teen

experience are the Norwegian Skam, Sex Education, and Degrassi.

Granted, Degrassi covers a lot of bases and has a lot of drama, but it doesn't feel like

it's glamorising any of the more 'adult' parts of teen years.

Skam is very grounded in reality as the principal conflicts for the characters are their relationships

with their friends, crushes, and significant others.

Sex Education is a charming and wise look at the relationships and s*x lives of teenagers

in a school in England.

And though it may centre on s*x and s*xuality, it doesn’t fall into the all-too-common

trope of teen tv, that is: Casting older actors to play teenagers is

by no means a new phenomenon, from Rebel Without a Cause (james dean = 24 ) to Grease (John

Travolta = 24, Olivia Newton-John = 30), high school students have almost always been played

by actors in the mid-to-late-twenties.

there's reasons behind these casting decisions, of course, with strict child protection laws

limiting what child actors can do and what hours they can work.

Also, with the track record of child stars, abuse and mental illness [Amanda Bynes, Lindsay

Logan, Britney Spears, Jennette McCurdy] it’s vital that we don’t endanger and exploit

children for entertainment.

And with this, one of the most alarming repercussions of casting adults to play teenagers is the

hypers*xualisation of teenagers.

I believe part of the reason we've become desensitised to the unrealistic and hypers*xualised

portrayals of teenagers is because the actors are almost always 5 to 10 years older than

the characters they're playing.

So it's easy to forget that these teenagers.. are teenagers and in reality a 14 year old

would look more like this [insert pictures] than [this].

Mina Le just put out a video that explores this topic and I highly recommend checking

out her video too, as she retroactively examines shows she watched as a teen and highlights

their problematic portrayals of teens.

The only shows I've seen that have cast teenage actors to play teenagers are the Norwegian

show Skam and Degrassi.

I've been watching Degrassi recently and you really notice the difference in watching actual

teenagers acting, and even those teen actors are a year or two older than their characters.

Watching it as a 23-year old, their attempts to flirt and kiss feel viscerally uncomfortable.

The thought of these teens being s*xualised in the same manner as the adult actors in

other teen shows is sickening, and makes the stark reality of what those shows are depicting

sink in.

exploring one's s*xuality is a facet of many people's teenage years, it's important to

represent this exploration on screen.

The problem however is the excessive s*xualization of teen characters.

Many shows, from Riverdale to Gossip Girl, include unnecessary s*xual scenes that add

nothing to the plot.

The scenes essentially function as excuses to showcase the bodies of the attractive actors.

Euphoria goes as far as to show one of the teenagers engaging in s*x work.

Kat illegally (she’s 16/17) engages in s*x work as a way to gain empowerment, and though

it doesn't end positively, it plays a part in the normalisation of teenagers starting

s*x work, which i’ll address later.

The glamorised, unrealistic portrayal of s*x on film and tv is often teenager's first exposure

to s*x.

And given the fact that s*x education in schools is poorly lacking, many teens don't have the

education or points of comparison to contextualise it.

I think Degrassi is a show that strikes a good balance of exploring s*x and s*xuality

without s*xualising teenage characters.

It not only features heterosexual characters navigating crushes, s*x, and relationships,

but also portrays queer characters exploring their s*xuality.

It may allude to characters having s*x but doesn’t explicitly show it, which is a far

cry from other teen shows.

The s*xualisation of teenagers, especially young girls, has implications that extend

far beyond the tv screen.

It creates a sense that all teenagers are having s*x and living crazy lives, putting

pressure on teens to live up to these unrealistic expectations or making them feel dissatisfied

with a life that seems mundane by comparison.

It also impacts self-esteem during a time when bodies are drastically changing with

fluctuating weight and skin concerns.

But the characters have no acne, wear expensive clothes and have carefully curated wardrobes

that, even aside from everything else, makes them look like full-blown adults.

Framing these adults who, in their mid-to-late twenties, have left puberty far behind, as

teenagers ignores the trials and tribulations puberty throws at you.

Besides that, the s*xualisation of teens impacts young girls and women in particular.

Society is obsessed with s*xualising young girls, just look at the difference between

the google results for school boy and school girl.

Britney Spears, Natalie Portman, Millie Bobby Brown, Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus, all of

whom were child stars, are (young) women in the spotlight that were s*xualised from the

time they hit puberty - look at Britney's "... Baby One More Time" which was filmed

when Britney was SIXTEEN.

In this article, Onji J. Oduor points out that her costuming and choreography branded

Britney as a “North American unspoken Lolita”.

[Rolling Stone cover, Britney at 18].

Britney in particular straddled the line between family-friendly and s*xy but the continued

tendency for child stars to swing from squeaky clean to hyper s*xual represents a public

desire to see young girls in s*xual situations.

Even news outlets play into this with speculation about MBB’s love life when she was THIRTEEN,

and trending stories about Billie Eilish’s boobs as a 17 year old as well as countdowns

til her 18th birthday are just a couple recent examples.

There’s a gross desire for people to see “barely legal” women in provocative situations

- Bhad Bhabie started an OnlyFans 2 weeks after she turned 18 and she made $1 million

in 6 hours.

All of these real-life examples of hypers*xualisation of teen girls stem from the pervasive media

that frames adult bodies as teenagers and the “p*dophilic corporate elite” .

The tween to teen pipeline is steadily shrinking, and it feels as though we’re witnessing

the extinction of the tween demographic.

These kids are highly impressionable and susceptible to what they see in front of them, from social

media to network television.

The media depictions accelerate our growing up as tweens and teens emulate what they see

on TV.

And given the normalisation of dr*gs, s*x, and other questionable activities this becomes

a problem as children and teenagers are pushed into adulthood faster and faster.

It seems that the wealth of teen shows from Euphoria to Riverdale that are about teenagers,

don't necessarily seem to be for teenagers, especially younger ones.

Tweens have slim pickings for appropriate content, as shows swing from one extreme to

another with no real middle ground.

I think the problem lies in teen TV, as it fails to bridge the gap between kid’s programming

and teenage content, instead diving into adult topics without letting its young viewers come

up for air.

Watching teen TV as an adult, with the ability to contextualise its sensational plotlines

and unrealistic depictions, it’s easy to forget how damaging these shows are.

However, hopefully, with recent stories like Eighth Grade and Pen15, media that recognises

the importance of those tween years will continue to grow and a space will be made for tweens

once more.