ABSTRACT
Who are “tweens”? The glib definition is those too old for elementary school but too young to get into a PG-13 movie on their own. Siegel et al. (2001, p. 27) define them as children between eight and twelve years inclusive (although eight seems awfully young to me— starting this young almost begs to have “early tweens” and “late tweens” because anyone who has been a parent can tell you there are significant differences between the two ages). Siegel et al. state that this group is different in cognitive, social, and physical development from those both younger and older. They further contend (2001, p. 29) that this age group is a significant segment, representing (in 1999) 19.5 million people, larger than the Asian population in the United States. In make-up, it is 66 percent white, 15 percent African American, 15 percent Hispanic American, and 4 percent Asian American.
