Have you heard of the term"tweenager"？It's being used in the UK to describe children at either eight-12or ten-13years old．Why are the press and media suddenly referring to kids in this way？

Well，more and more companies are beginning to create products and services for tweenagers．You can get everything．The sales in the UK today tell us tweenagers must have more money，freedom and influence upon their parents than they've ever had before．

Most children in the UK today get more pocket money than kids did a decade ago．Parents have more money to give than previously，since parents are having fewer children on average．In addition，the divorce rate in the UK is continually rising and parents spend less time with their children than they used to，so they try to compensate by buying presents for their children．

You may wonder how tweenagers have more freedom than previous generations，Well，UK children today are very media-and-computer literate．A log of them have a television，if not a computer．They have access too much more information about life and the world．They may have experienced a lot in life as well，since 24per cent of UK children live in single-parent families，so people now say that"kids are getting older younger"．With such sophistication（老于世故）at such a young age，it's no wonder tweenagers are able to influence their parents．

Now，tweenagers are much more fashion aware and concerned about their image（形象）．In a world of television programmes that promise overnight success and fame at a young age（for example，the shows Britain's Got Talent and American Ido1），some people think it's extremely important to look fashionable．So what does tweenage fashion look？Well，it's quite horrible really，but then I'm a bit too old to appreciate it，I suppose．

Surely none of the above is a good thing，is it？Can it really be healthy for us to encourage kids to be like adults at such a young age？Are we stealing childhoods in return