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December 13, 2000
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| Beyond the Mainstream |
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The film Pay It Forward revolves around a boy's idea to improve the world. He performs three good deeds, with the request that the recipients help three others in return, and so on. The movie hero is not alone. Many young people are working to change the world. Where can you read about them? Typical teen magazines focus on beauty, fashion, dating, celebrities, and music. Delve a little deeper, though, and you'll find numerous alternative magazines, newspapers, and Web sites that chronicle teenage participation in environmental and political movements worldwide. Some of the publications also serve as safe havens for teenagers to express themselves. New Moon does both. Billing itself as "The Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams," the publication is edited by an editorial board of 15 girls aged 8 to 14. Article topics are diverse. In the magazine's Global Village department, girls living outside of North America reveal what life is like in other countries. One article examines bizarre and dangerous clothing and fashion trends throughout history, such as the application of lead on the face to make one's skin paler. In another article, a 17-year-old writer urges readers to think about the clothing they buy by discussing clothing sweatshops (factories around the world in which workers, including children, labor long hours in harsh conditions for low wages). The magazine is organizing its second annual "Turn Beauty Inside Out Day," to be held on May 16, 2001. The focus of the day will be on changing images of and messages about girls and women in advertising. "It's about honoring inner beauty, not outer," says New Moon Publisher Nancy Gruver. "We all have inner beauty. But most of us, and the world, don't recognize it enough." Complementing the day, New Moon's May/June issue will profile "25 Beautiful Girls," all of whom are doing unique things with their lives. The results of a survey asking readers for input on the best and worst ads aimed at girls and women will also be published in this issue. Gruver was prompted to launch New Moon in 1992 as her twin daughters approached adolescence. She knew that many girls abandoned their individuality and dreams in order to become who they thought they "should" be. She didn't want that to happen to her girls, or any other girls, for that matter. "The problem with most magazines for girls is that the images in those magazines tell girls what they should be," she says. "New Moon is where girls tell the world who they are, without adults or advertisers or interpreters."
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| Signs of Hope |
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Holes in the ozone layer, global warming, urban sprawl, contaminated water... it's easy to get discouraged about the planet's future. Alternative publications serve to alert readers to certain problems, but they also reveal what people, including teenagers, are doing to make a difference. The November/December 2000 issue of Sierra magazine features a special section called Youth & Environment. The section contains four feature articles, including one called "Generation Green," which describes how young people are reinventing environmental activism. For example, just five years ago, activists chained themselves to redwood trees in attempts to save them. Now, inspired by Julia Butterfly Hill's two-year stint in Luna, young activists tree-sit, literally living in redwoods on small platforms. But teens are doing more than environmental work. In its Fall 2000 issue, Hope magazine ran an article written by Charlie Simmons, one of the survivors of the Columbine High massacre. In the article, Simmons talks about how he helped form a youth drop-in center after the shootings and what adults can do to help prevent future tragedies. In the article, he stresses the importance of teenagers having adults who they can talk to about their secrets.
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| Making Voices Heard |
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While not all of the alternative magazines mentioned focus primarily on youth, the editors say they try to consider the needs of youthful readers when planning issues. "We keep younger people in mind, but we wish we had a stronger affinity and identification with them," confesses the Editor-in-Chief of Hope magazine, Jon Wilson. You can help magazines learn about what's important to you and what you would like to read about in their publications. Contact the editors at: The chart below reveals some of the questions magazine editors must face while producing a magazine. See if you can work your way through the problems to create the perfect magazine. Use the space below each question to fill in your ideas.
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