Ever go to the grocery store, and see all those magazines at the front? There are so many! Some of them are news magazines, and some of them are fake news magazines! But an awful lot of them are just for women or just for girls.

Some teen magazines have names like Seventeen, Teen and CosmoGirl. They're for girls just a little older than you, teenagers - but you've probably flipped through one or two already!

What's in them, anyway?

Well, there's usually a pretty girl on the cover, with cool hair and a nice smile. But if there's not a girl, there's a cute boy! He might be a movie star, or a TV star, or a singer, but he's always cute!

Words all around the person on the cover tell what stories are inside. There are stories about makeup, boys, hairstyles, boys, clothes and - oh yeah - boys.

But next time you look at one of these magazines, remember this: there aren't a lot of stories about the good stuff you do at school. There aren't a lot of stories about the good times you have with your family. There aren't a lot of stories about the music lessons you take, the sports you play or the spelling bee you did really well in.

Those things are really important! They're what your real life is about!!

These magazines don't talk about helping people, making sure animals have safe places to live or how we can keep enough park land to play on.

Don't get me wrong - magazines for teenage girls are fun, fun, fun!! We all like clothes and checking out cool hairstyles.

But remember: there's a lot more to you and your life than just clothes, makeup and boys!!

Irene

Please email me at: irene@ustrek.org