Scream , the Rrated horror film about a serial killer who stalks young women, is a favorite on the tweens slumberparty circuit although, as Beth Schrooten, of Katy, Texas, discovered after her 10yearold daughter saw it at a friend's house, the film's graphic sadism may bring out a child's true age. But then she couldn't sleep the next night. If the tween phenomenon were merely a matter of fashions and fads, it might not be cause for much alarm. But there is disturbing evidence that tweens are shedding not only the goodygoody image of childhood but its substance as well. Tellingly, many of the copycat threats that followed in the wake of the Littleton, Colorado, massacre occurred not in high schools but in middle schools.
Sexual activity is also on the rise.
Between 1988 and 1995, the proportion of girls who reported having sex before 15 rose from 11 percent to 19 percent. This statistic means that approximately one in five middleschool kids is sexually active and it doesn't even include the muchtalkedabout predilection among middleschoolers for oral sex. To some extent, this desire to adopt the customs of the next age group up is nothing new. Young kids have always emulated their teenage babysitters and highschool sports stars. But what's different about today is that the entire society seems to be a coconspirator.