Appropriate magazine for my 12 year old daughter?

[kage_ar]

My daughter really liked the American Girl magazine, put out by the makers of the dolls that younger girls seem to love. When she outgrew the magazine, she was sad that there was not an equal magazine for the “next” step. It is a much more innocent magazine than others aimed at that age group. Stories of real girls, not celebrities or wannabees. Their books are also very good, particularly the one that covers grooming and relationships with friends. Sorry, but the name slips my mind just now.

Sadly, American Girls climbed into bed with Planned Parenthood awhile back (search the formus, you will find links to the articles).

How about a magazine that focuses on her interests? Sports Illustrated for Kids, Dog Fancy, Crochet World, Tast of Home Cooking magazine?

 

[tcm22]

I think it’s better that you didn’t! And I apologize for my assumption.

I seriously think what you did was the coolest thing ever. I love the visual I have in my head, too!! LOL! Your daughter will always remember these types of things, trust me. Maybe the bigger picture here is that you’re doing so much more than just helping her find cutesy little magazines. Not to sound overly deep or corny, but you’re really helping to shape the woman she will become, the mother, the wife… [SIGN]Well Done![/SIGN]

No need to apologize…it’s pretty funny actually.

I appreciate your comments since those are exactly the sorts of things I think about when she and I go and do things like that. I want her to know that men in her life should honor, cherish, and respect her and that there are boundaries in relationships. My goal is a happy, faithful, well adjusted daughter. So far so good…but I won’t stop praying.

This magazine thing has become a sort of pet cause for me. She’s been commenting on it every few weeks since Brio went out of print. The more I looked into it, the more frustrated I became at the lack of appropriate “lifestyle” magazines for girls. My son is a Boy Scout and has gotten Boys Life for years. I can’t imagine there’s not a market for a similar magazine marketed toward girls’ interests. I’m ready to invest some time and resources in just such a project if one comes my way.

 

[SophieG]

I’m not sure exactly what kind of magazine you’re looking for, but I love love love Cricket magazine. www.cricketmag.com It’s full of great stories and poems, it’s 100% clean, and there are no ads! I have about six or seven years of issues on my shelf upstairs. When she grows out of Cricket, she can move up to Cicada.

 

[Cat]

There are literary magazines for young teens and pre-teens. By literary, I mean that there are stories and poetry.

But these magazines don’t have the make-up ads, or the stories about how to make your stomach flatter, or which shoes go with which outfit–all the things that we women and girls love to read about.

There might be some online magazines, too, but searching for them might become an occasion of sin. Yi, yi, yi, what some people consider appropriate for kids is not what I would consider appropriate!

Have you ever considered calling Focus on the Family and asking what magazines they would suggest for young teens and pre-teens? When they discontinued BRIO, they must have had some alternatives in mind–call them and ask what those alternatives are for ex-BRIO readers! Focus is really nice and their help desk is truly helpful.

One more fun idea is to have her start her own magazine, and ask her friends, relatives, older women that you both trust, local celebs, etc. to contribute. I’ve heard of teens who have done this, and it sounds great to me. It probably won’t last very long, but even if she just puts out a few issues, she’ll learn lots.

 

[tcm22]

There are literary magazines for young teens and pre-teens. By literary, I mean that there are stories and poetry.

But these magazines don’t have the make-up ads, or the stories about how to make your stomach flatter, or which shoes go with which outfit–all the things that we women and girls love to read about.

There might be some online magazines, too, but searching for them might become an occasion of sin. Yi, yi, yi, what some people consider appropriate for kids is not what I would consider appropriate!

Have you ever considered calling Focus on the Family and asking what magazines they would suggest for young teens and pre-teens? When they discontinued BRIO, they must have had some alternatives in mind–call them and ask what those alternatives are for ex-BRIO readers! Focus is really nice and their help desk is truly helpful.

One more fun idea is to have her start her own magazine, and ask her friends, relatives, older women that you both trust, local celebs, etc. to contribute. I’ve heard of teens who have done this, and it sounds great to me. It probably won’t last very long, but even if she just puts out a few issues, she’ll learn lots.

I’ll admit it, as a guy I don’t get the need to research the shoe-outfit match issue month after month, but I’m handicapped by chromosomes there. You are so right that what people consider appropriate for kids is sometimes scary. I’m not sure why so many want to destroy their children’s innocence so quickly, or even before they’re ready. Of course that’s probably a subject for a different thread. I’m just thankful that I live in a community and have a Parish where we can surround ourselves with like-minded families and work together to provide a safe and moral environment for our kids. I certainly don’t buy the Hillary “takes a village” version of things, but it’s no secret that community matters. The Church has taught us that for thousands of years. It’s amazing how those same lessons apply in the information age as well.

I particularly like your idea of contacting Focus. I’m sure I won’t be the only one calling about that questions.

 

[jesusismyrock]

Dear Tcm 22,

I totally understand what your daughter is going through! Though I am 16 and not 12 I used to subscribe to Brio and very much enjoyed it and have since had difficulties finding and interesting Christian teen magazine. I’m Catholic, and there are Catholic magazines out there, but not any that spark interest.

I will continue to look, and if I find anything I’ll send you a link!

God Bless:blush:

 

[Cat]

I’ll admit it, as a guy I don’t get the need to research the shoe-outfit match issue month after month, but I’m handicapped by chromosomes there. You are so right that what people consider appropriate for kids is sometimes scary. I’m not sure why so many want to destroy their children’s innocence so quickly, or even before they’re ready. Of course that’s probably a subject for a different thread. I’m just thankful that I live in a community and have a Parish where we can surround ourselves with like-minded families and work together to provide a safe and moral environment for our kids. I certainly don’t buy the Hillary “takes a village” version of things, but it’s no secret that community matters. The Church has taught us that for thousands of years. It’s amazing how those same lessons apply in the information age as well.

I particularly like your idea of contacting Focus. I’m sure I won’t be the only one calling about that questions.

**I just want to make sure that all who read this thread know that Focus on the Family is NOT CATHOLIC! **

The way we’re talking about this organization makes it sound Catholic, but it isn’t and never has been.

I’m just afraid that people who are not familiar with this organization might think it’s Catholic, and it’s not, ok?

It is a Protestant organization, founded by Dr. James Dobson, a clinical psychologist and faculty member of University of Southern California at Berkeley (I think I have that name right). When I was Protestant, we often joked that Dr. Dobson was the closest thing we had to a pope!

I raised my children by Dr. Dobson’s books, and I am thrilled with the results. I would recommend his child-rearing methods to anyone. I know that some Catholics have problems with his methods because he is an advocate of spanking and teaches that little ones are very capable of defying their parents and need to be punished when they do this. He also teaches a method of getting babies to sleep that many of the Attachment Parenting advocates would not agree with.

But for the most part, his child-rearing methods could be described as common-sense and Christian.

Dr. Dobson was one of the first Protestant “celebs” to become active in the pro-life movement back when most Protestant churches were sitting back and ignoring the sin that became legal with Roe vs. Wade.

He is extremely conservative and most Catholics would have no major disagreements with him in issues of child-rearing, politics, etc.

But he is NOT CATHOLIC, and so any materials by Focus on the Family need to be filtered through Catholic brains before handing them over to your kids.

 

[Cat]

I’ll admit it, as a guy I don’t get the need to research the shoe-outfit match issue month after month, but I’m handicapped by chromosomes there. You are so right that what people consider appropriate for kids is sometimes scary. I’m not sure why so many want to destroy their children’s innocence so quickly, or even before they’re ready. Of course that’s probably a subject for a different thread. I’m just thankful that I live in a community and have a Parish where we can surround ourselves with like-minded families and work together to provide a safe and moral environment for our kids. I certainly don’t buy the Hillary “takes a village” version of things, but it’s no secret that community matters. The Church has taught us that for thousands of years. It’s amazing how those same lessons apply in the information age as well.

I particularly like your idea of contacting Focus. I’m sure I won’t be the only one calling about that questions.

There is a letter in Glamour Magazine this month from an 88-year-old woman who has never missed an issue of Glamour.

Yes, it’s a girl thing.

I’m 52, fat, arthritic, and worried that I won’t be able to walk by next year.

But I still love poring over my Glamour Magazine and reading about various make-up techniques (I’ll never use them), fashion trends (I’ll never wear them), shoes (I can’t fit into any of them), diet tips (I should try these–Glamour Magazine has consistently healthy dieting methods), and movies stars (I seldom go to movies and I think most of them are liberal troublemakers).

Some Christians try to pooh-pooh all these things and claim that Christian women should set their minds on higher things. That’s nice.

Frankly, I think they may as well save their breath. Even in the Little House books, over a hundred years ago, Ma and her girls avidly read *Godey’s Ladies’ Book * to learn about the latest fashions and techniques to make themselves more beautiful or interesting. There is nothing sinful or wrong with just bein’ a girl!