Homework due Wednesday, June 6
In your best English, using my example on teen spending (reverse side of this page)
and the following guidelines, write 4 paragraphs about your issue:
Paragraph 1: Define the issue:
Explain the issue to someone who isn’t familiar with it. Raw material for this
paragraph would be in your notes from the first Overview reading. It will not
necessarily reflect your chosen STEEP factor; it will be brief and to the point).
Paragraph 2: ______________________context of this issue today
(Fill in the blank above with social, technological, economic, environmental or
political, depending on the perspective you’re researching.) Use material from
Outlook notes and other research to write a paragraph about how your assigned
STEEP factor sheds light on your issue today.
In my example on the other side of this page, I explained what I had researched
about the main social factors shaping teen spending today. My research
suggested that 2 demographic factors currently explain a great deal about today’s
teen spending, so I explained those. You should explain what you have identified
as the most important factor or factors.
Paragraphs 3 & 4: Historical moments that shaped the issue:
(Write 2 paragraphs, one for each historical moment you’ve selected, viewed
through the lens of your STEEP factor. Be sure you explain how that moment
shaped the issue.)
 Completed write-up will be about 2 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font.
(My example is single-spaced to fit on a single side of a page.)
 Students who submit the write-up on time and as specified will
receive feedback helpful for completing final phases of the project.
Topic: Teen Spending
Social
Define the issue:
A teen spending boom has been under way over the past two and a half decades. As a result,
American businesses have changed their strategies to target this highly profitable market.
Because teens are wary of the hard sell, marketers have devised sneaky methods of delivering
their message to teens. For instance, they recruit children as young as 9 as “buzz marketers,” to
influence peers in favor of particular products. Friends of the “buzz agent” don’t realize that their
friend is working for a marketing agency, either for money or for free products. The current issue
about teen spending is centered on the claim that marketers are forcing kids to grow up too fast
and are using unethical tactics to capture the teen market.
Social context of this issue today
The recent boom in teen spending can largely be traced to demographic factors. The number of
teenagers now is greater than the number of baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964. The
sheer number of teens tells only part of the story; equally important is the fact that the number of
children per family has declined, as more parents choose to have smaller families. This means
that parents have more time and resources to lavish on their children.
Another social influence that may help to explain why today’s teens have so much money to
spend is parental fear. Some social scientists think that globalization of the world’s economy has
led parents to fear that their children will be left behind in the global race for jobs, so they spare
no expense to give them every advantage they can. Sometimes, this drive to position their
children for success leads parents to permit activities such as unrestricted internet use that sets up
a ripe opportunity for marketers to slip questionable sales pitches to kids.
Historical moments that shaped teen spending:
The Baby Boom, an American population explosion in no small part created by the G.I. Bill of
1944, set up the demographic forces that have resulted in high spending by today’s “Echo
Boom.” Afraid that returning WWII G.I.’s would flood the job market causing high
unemployment, the U.S. government decided to encourage them to go to college instead, by
paying tuition directly to colleges and giving G.I.s cash for living expenses while they were in
school. The G.I. Bill, signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, also provided
zero down-payment home loans at very low interest rates, making housing affordable for
returning soldiers. Feeling secure about their future employment prospects and able to afford
houses of their own, G.I.s married in droves, bought homes in the suburbs, and produced the
Baby Boom. As Boomers grew up and had children of their own, the stage was set for the Echo
Boom.
FDA approval of the Birth Control Pill on May 11, 1960, was a second event that created the
demographic forces responsible for today’s teen spending. First developed and marketed by
Searle (today part of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.), The Pill revolutionized the American
family by allowing parents to determine the number and spacing of children. The most dramatic
result of the Pill has been a decline in the number of children per family, resulting in more family
resources available for the children a family chooses to have.