Tweens Are Changing
USA Today has a very interesting article today. Here's the link and a quote:
Childhood pastimes are increasingly moving indoors
The shift to an indoor childhood has accelerated in the past decade, with huge declines in spontaneous outdoor activities such as bike riding, swimming and touch football, according to separate studies by the National Sporting Goods Association, a trade group, and American Sports Data, a research firm. Bike riding alone is down 31% since 1995.This trend means the marketer has a clear responsibility. While understanding tween trends helps us be more effective in communicating with them, it also means we must seek ways to help stem this tide and allow kids the opportunity to experience the great outdoors, whether is scheduled or spontaneous activity.
A child is six times more likely to play a video game on a typical day than to ride a bike, according to surveys by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the CDC. Dakota Howell says his favorite video game —Tony Hawk's Pro Skater— is more fun than actual skateboarding.
What do you all think?
3 Comments:
I think we should try to present the "normal" landscape of a kid as one that is active and healthy. We've done this in a number of commercials with this objective in mind
July 21, 2005
Agreed. Indoor and media-activities should be measured and limited and combined with outdoor activity--much the same as parents monitor and limit certain food types to achieve a well-rounded, healthy diet for their children.
July 22, 2005
What dismal findings. In order to change the trend, we need to know more about what is driving it. Is it parents' sense of security, kids' own preferences, or somewhere in between?
August 08, 2005
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