Material World Makes Material Teens

March 14, 1985|By Denise Salvaggio, Orlando Sentinel

The songs that teen-agers listen to have long reflected their state of mind. Now a Top 20 song is dealing with the materialism of youth.

In Material Girl, singer Madonna is matter-of-fact about the chase for big bucks: Don`t you know that we`re living in a material world, and I am a material girl?

For many adults, the song merely confirms their observation that today`s teen-agers are preoccupied with consumerism and status. Are teen-agers really self-centered materialists, or is that view an unfair generalization?

As is often the case, the truth lies somewhere in between. According to the annual Rand Youth Poll, teen-agers spent an estimated $48.1 billion in 1984. Although that figure may seem overwhelming, the amount of money spent by the average teen-ager does not.

The poll, which surveyed about 3,000 students, shows that males ages 16 to 19 last year spent a weekly average of $9 for entertainment, $8.15 for clothing, $6.60 for food and snacks and $8.50 for cars. Females of the same age spent an average of $4.30 for entertainment, $13.30 for clothing, $10.25 for cosmetics and $4.40 for cars.

``One thing that is not reflected in these figures is the enormous amount of money spent on teen-agers,`` says Lester Rand, who directs the poll from his office in New York City. ``Parents and other relatives give them a great deal of money and gifts. For example, 14 percent of teen-agers own some sort of stock or securities, which are usually gifts from relatives. It`s used as a form of savings toward a college education.``

Rand attributes the impact and high visibility of the teen-age market to teen-agers` natural enthusiasm and willingness to try new products.

``A lot of the teen power you hear about is due to the fact that they set the fashions, fads and styles in music -- they`re in the spotlight. Teen-agers have the enthusiasm and verve Americans idolize. They`re also very new-product oriented, whereas adults tend to wait to see how something does in the marketplace before they buy. This quality makes them attractive to advertisers.

``On the other hand, they`re not the greatest shoppers in the world. They tend to overbuy and sometimes never use the items. They`re more gullible than adults to advertising claims.``

The lyrics of Material Girl reflect the philosophy of a gold digger, but not everyone is digging.

``All I`ve heard in the past four years is `college, college, college,` `` says Chris Tibbets, 16, of Winter Park. ``You have to get into this college, you have to be successful, you have to know what you want to do by the time you`re halfway through your sophomore year, et cetera, et cetera.``

Such early awareness of the world beyond high school has not been lost on

TeenAge Magazine, which was founded three years ago to address the concerns of college-bound teens from families whose annual incomes average $31,000. Unlike other teen-market publications, it has an almost equal number of male and female readers.

``We handle topics that other teen magazines don`t -- things like how to deal with a friend`s suicide, the death of a parent and problems with stepparents,`` says Paul Rothkopf, advertising director for TeenAge. ``We write a lot about achievement-oriented teens -- 88 percent of our readers are college-bound.``

Rothkopf says a TeenAge poll of 300 randomly selected high school students last year showed they ranked money fifth in importance, behind friends, family, school and relationships. But when asked to project what they expected to be important in their lives in 10 years, the students placed money third, behind family and friends.

``So when you ask yourself if these kids are influenced by money, the answer is: They sure are,`` Rothkopf says.

``Everybody wants to live life great,`` says Orlando student Ernest Humphries, 17. ``They want to have material things, but they also want to enjoy what they`re doing. They really want the best of both worlds, because what`s the use of making money if you don`t enjoy what you`re doing?``

The desire to find a high-paying, yet enjoyable, career is reflected in the top four career choices made by 900,000 students who took the Scholastic Aptitude Test last year. According to the College Board, which administers the exam, business majors were the students` No. 1 choice, followed by health, engineering and computer science majors.

Making the grades for college entrance and paying the bills takes a good deal of hard work -- in school and often at part-time jobs. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, 6.5 million teen-agers were employed nationwide in January.

Lester Rand agrees that setting aside money for college is a major problem for high school students.

``Although many teen-agers have jobs, it`s almost impossible to save enough to underwrite the entire four years or more. In the past, it was possible for young people to work their way through college, but that isn`t the case anymore.``

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