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The Tween Years 吞世代

详细资料: 创建于 2009年7月17日; 最后更新于 2024年5月25日; 发布于 2012年7月02日; 作者：Mike Lee; 点击数：233

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It’s cooler than ever to be a tween 作个吞世代少年，如今可说是前所未有的酷

The prepubescent children of days gone by have given way to a cooler kid – the tween – who aspires to teenhood but is not quite there yet. Tweens are in-between – generally the 8-to-12 set.

过去被视为青春期前年龄层的孩子，如今已经转型了，因为他们变成更酷的孩子──亦即吞世代──这个世代渴望能步入青少年阶段（译注：青少年期一般指十三岁至十九岁间），但他们目前还处在半大不小的年纪，这种青黄不接的吞世代少年，一般界定为八岁至十二岁之间年龄层的孩子。

Retailers know tweens are a hot market for clothes, music and entertainment. But now psychologists and behavioral researchers are beginning to study tweens too. They say tweens are a complicated lot, still forming their personalities, and are torn between family and friends, between fitting in and learning how to be an individual.

零售业者早就很清楚，吞世代可是个相当热门的市场，包括服饰、音乐和娱乐产品都开始想深入研究吞世代少年了，因为他们认为，吞世代是相当复杂的特定族群，他们的个性正在成形当中，此外，他们也往往摆荡在两种不同的选项之间，显得彷徨失措左右为难，例如不知道该偏重家庭还是朋友，也对究竟该选择融入社群，还是该学习作自己，不知如何是好。

Tweens have “their own sense of fashion in a way we didn’t have before and their own parts of the popular culture targeted toward them,” says child and adolescent psychologist Dave Verhaagen. How will this shape their personalities? “Time will tell, we don’t know.”

专研儿童与青少年问题的心理学家戴夫．维哈根指出，吞世代拥有「自己独特的流行感，而这是过去所不曾见到过的现象，而流行文化中属于吞世代年龄层的部份，更是把焦点完全锁定在这个族群身上。」那么这会如何形塑出吞世代的个性呢？答案是：「只有时间能证明一切，目前我们尚无所知。」

A turning point 转折点

Research has shown that middle school is where some troubles, particularly academic, first appear. Also, a 2007 review of surveys in the journal Prevention Science found that the percentage of children who use alcohol doubles between grades four and six, with the largest jump between fifth and sixth grades.

研究显示，中学阶段往往是孩子们最早开始出现一些问题征兆的时期，尤其是有关学业方面的问题。此外，《预防科学》期刊在二００七年针对各项调查所进行的评估则发现，小学四年级到六年级间，孩童喝酒的百分比倍增，而五年级到六年级之间所增加的百分比最高。

“They’re kids for a shorter period of time,” adds psychologist Frank Gaskill, who also works with tweens. “More is expected of them academically, responsibility-wise.”

「吞世代孩子所享受到的童年更短了，」心理学家法兰克．加斯奇补充说，他也处理吞世代相关问题，「无论在学业上或是责任方面，外界对吞世代的要求都变得更高了。」

Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer, a parenting expert in London and author of Talking to Tweens, says the tween years are when young people begin to realize the wider world, and to see themselves as separate from their families. That’s why the peer group is so crucial, she says.

《和吞世代交谈》一书作者、住在伦敦的教养子女专家伊丽莎白．哈特利－布尔表示，孩子步入吞世代年龄层时，开始发现更广大的世界，也开始把自己视为独立于家庭之外的个体，这也就是为何对这个年龄层的孩子来说，同侪会变得非常重要的原因了，她如此说道。

Jade Jacobs, 12, of Maryland, is active in soccer, basketball, gymnastics and two cheerleading teams. “The main reason I do most of my sports is to hang out with my friends and to get exercise,” she says.

马里兰州十二岁的洁德．杰可布斯对足球、篮球、体操等运动都相当热中，还加入了两个拉拉队。她说，「我之所以参加这些运动的主要原因，是为了能和朋友在一起，而且同时也能健身。」

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More Information

prepubescent [͵pripjuˋbɛsənt] adj. 青春期前的 relating to the stage before the period when someone develops from a child into an adult

days gone by 已往从前

give way to 让位于, 为…所代替 to be replaced by something

teenhood 青少年时期; 青少年阶段

be torn between 左右为难

fit in 相处融洽, 适应环境; 使适应

responsibility-wise 就…责任方面 in term of responsibility

-wise 表示像……的样子; 在…方面

parenting [ˋpɛrəntɪŋ] n. 对子女的养育; 养儿育女

gymnastics [dʒɪmˋnæstɪks] n. 体操；体育

cheerleading [ 'tʃɪrlidɪŋ ] adj. & n. 竞技啦啦队(的)

hang out (infml) (呆在某处，或与某人呆在一起)闲逛，出去玩儿

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Generational trends 世代趋势

“Right now, their friends and their status is everything to them,” says Marissa Aranki, 41, of California. She is a fifth-grade teacher and has two daughters, 18 and 12.

「对这个年龄层的孩子来说，目前他们的朋友和自己的身分地位，就是最重要的事情了，」加州四十一岁的马莉莎．亚兰奇表示。她任职教师，教小学五年级的学生，自己也有两个女儿，年龄分别是十八和十二岁。

“It’s universal for the age, but they show it in different ways. For boys, the whole friendship thing is through technology and through sports,” she says. “Girls like to talk, either about other girls or about boys.”

「这个年龄层普遍都有这种现象，只不过孩子所展现出来的方式可能不大一样。对男孩子来说，他们主要透过科技和运动来建立友谊，」她说道，「而女孩子则喜欢透过讲话，无论是谈论其他女孩，或是讲有关男孩子的事。」

Tweens are part of the larger generational group sometimes called millennials or Generation Y. Those in their late teens through mid-20s are “first-wave” millennials because they’re the ones who set the trends that his later wave (born between the early 1990s and about 2003 or 2004) continues to follow, suggests historian and demographer Neil Howe, coauthor of several books on the generations.

历史学家暨人口统计学家尼尔．霍伊指出，吞世代包含在一个范围更广的世代之中，后者有时被称为千禧世代（译注：一般来说指一九八二年至二０００年间出生者），又称Ｙ世代。年龄在青少年晚期至二十五岁之间的孩子是「第一波」千禧世代，因为由他们所引发出来的趋势会由更晚期的另一波（于一九九０年代早期至二００三或二００四年间出生者）世代延续下去。霍伊着有多部探讨世代的相关书籍。

Fewer perfectionists 完美主义者较少

Verhaagen, author of Parenting the Millennial Generation, says older and younger millennials share certain traits, such as comfort with technology and diversity, and being family-oriented.

《教养千禧世代》一书作者韦哈根表示，无论是年纪较大和年纪较轻的千禧世代都拥有某些共同的特质，像是他们同样都对科技得心应手，也具有多样化的特性，此外也都很重视家庭。

He believes these economic hard times will also leave an imprint on both groups of millennials, with the younger ones possibly becoming less materialistic and consumer-driven.

他认为，经济危机应该会在两种不同年龄层的千禧世代身上都留下印记，不但可能会使较年轻的一代变得比较不会那么物质化，也会使他们消费者导向的色彩不至于那么浓厚。

Howe says tweens are even more interested in being sheltered than their older millennial siblings; he says this stems from the fact that the parents of older millennials tend to be baby boomers while parents of the younger group are often part of Generation X, in their 30s to mid-40s.

霍伊指出，吞世代甚至比年纪较大的千禧世代哥哥姊姊们还更希望能受到保护；他表示，这是源自于年纪较大的千禧世代的父母辈，往往属于婴儿潮世代（译注：广义的婴儿潮世代一般指一九四六年至一九六四年诞生者），而年纪较轻的千禧世代的父母则往往属于Ｘ世代，年纪介于三十岁以上至四十五岁之间。

“These Xers are concerned about such things as safety and protection,” he says. “They’re not as worried as boomers were about making their children paragons of perfection. Xers care less about that and try to do less. They’re more pragmatic.”

「Ｘ世代的人往往比较重视安全感和受到保护，」他表示，「这个年龄层的父母比较不会像婴儿潮世代父母那么忧心是否能把子女教育成完美的典范，Ｘ世代比较不会在乎这点，他们倾向于无为而治的管教法，而且比较讲求实际。」

−by Sharon Jayson

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