Western values influence teens

Western values influence teens

They wear branded clothes and shoes, eat at fast food
restaurants, hang out at shopping malls, listen to rap and rock,
speak in slang and are very pompous. They are what Jakartans call
the ABG, an abbreviation for anak baru gede -- urban pre-teens.
Their lifestyle is an indication of the country's growing wealth
and reflect the strong influence of foreign cultures, American in
particular. The following article and three others on Pages 2 and
6 discuss the ABG spectacle and what parents and experts have to
say about the group.

JAKARTA (JP): Sasha is only 12 years old, but there's no
doubting her vocabulary of international brand-names.

"I like Esprit, it's comfortable and fashionable. I have
several Benetton sweaters. My favorite is Guess blue-jeans. I
also have a pair of Doc Martins, they're in now."

Ask where she spends her weekends with classmates from a
private junior high school in southern Jakarta and you get:

"It depends. Sometimes we drive around in a friend's car,
sometimes we go to Pondok Indah Mall, hang out for hours in a
fast food restaurant or just stay at a friend's house, watch a
new video or a basket ball game and have a nice chat. If one of
us is celebrating a birthday, we go to the Hard Rock Cafe or
Planet Hollywood to have a party."

Clad in an A-line tartan mini skirt and a tight white T-shirt,
a pair of black boots with a bag dangling on her back, Sasha is
the epitome of the growing number of middle to upper class urban
pre-teenagers known as ABG.

They are easy to identify by their uniform. Girls wear trendy
mini skirts or bell-bottomed pants, backpacks, tight T-shirts and
thick high-heels. A baseball cap, extra large and unbuttoned
tartan or striped flannel shirt, knee-length pants and sneakers
is the standard for the boys. They never fail to attract
attention whether they are idling inside shopping malls, fast
food restaurants, cafes, movie theaters or being driven around in
their parents' luxury cars.

Nunui, 12, in her second year at Sumbangsih junior high school
in southern Jakarta, says the ABG are keren -- trendy, stylish
and fashionable.

Subculture

Aged between 10 and 15 years old, they are sixth grade
elementary school to third year junior high school students. Rap
and basketball are their passion.

Their existence has become more and more obvious in the past
two years because of their relaxed, but self-possessed attachment
to their peer group. They don't like being treated as children
but don't follow the older generations' style.

Paulus Wirutomo, a sociologist and lecturer of the University
of Indonesia explained the ABG as an unique subculture which is
not possessed by the generations that came before them.

"There are special products made just for them, which push and
encourage the creation of this subculture that is not understood
by their parents. Consequently, parents loose control over them,"
Wirutomo said.

Rap music, for example, is difficult for the average parent to
enjoy. State Minister for Research and Technology B.J. Habibie
bluntly expressed his dislike for the music, although he later
said it was only the lyrics he hates.

Aware of the teenagers' need for something exclusively their
own, businesses rally and market new products at them. Banks have
begun offering special products for this niche, like special
credit cards for teenagers, which will likely pass on to the ABG
or pre-teenagers. Fashion designers target them and there is an
increase in the number of special media for pre-teens and
teenagers.

Global phenomenon

Psychologist Danny Irawan Yatim and deputy chief editor of
teenage magazine Hai, Irwan Iskandar, agreed that ABG is a trend.
Just like the hippie and punk craze which dominated Indonesian
teenagers in the 1960s and 1980s.

"It is a global phenomenon. Teenagers all around the world
hangout in malls because of the lack of proper places for them.
They are consumptive and only know how to have fun because their
parents were like that when they were teenagers. But what is
lacking in Indonesia is good education," said Yatim.

Irwan pointed out that the ABG trend is common teenage
behavior which has existed for ages. It has only become more
obvious because of the establishment of hangout venues which
didn't exist in Indonesia before.

However, they both agree that the rapid flow of information
has allowed this lifestyle to quickly gain popularity. In the
1980s there was only the state television station, but now five
private television stations have added to the programs available.
The private TV stations have become a perfect marketing devise.

Movies and TV influence the kids beyond belief.

"Indonesian teenagers translate stuff on TV into reality. I
was shocked to find that most kids in Jakarta use dirty words
such as f--- you. Even in the United States, the country which
produces most of the TV films we see here, children are taught
not to say such things," said Irwanto, a psychologist .

The number of teenage magazines has also increased.

"The favorite sport among teenagers is basket ball, they even
collect basket ball cards. Their sport heroes are Magic Johnson
and Michael Jordan because of television," Yatim said.

Indonesian girls defer to American television series like
Beverly Hills 90012 and Melrose Place for fashion.

Nani, a creative-art freelancer who has worked for some
product advertisements, said Indonesian teenagers are very
receptive to the mass media because they are trying to find their
own identity and lifestyle.

Irwanto, a psychologist and head of the research department of
Atmajaya Catholic University, said the influx of information has
brought about "hurried children".

"In the past, information, especially on global issues, was
limited. Today we get verbal and visual information easily. As a
result, children in fifth grade of elementary school are more
mature than children of the same age 10 years ago. Emotionally
they are still children," Irwanto explained.

Today a 10-year-old doesn't want to be considered a child
anymore, but are too young to enter the teenage world. The only
choice is to join the ABG.

Yudo Hery Setyawan, a counselor at the Al Ikhlas Moslem junior
high school in Cipete, South Jakarta, confirms this notion and
added that members of the ABG are cheeky only in the anonymity of
the group.

"Individually, they are crybabies," he stated.

Responsibility

In the 1980s the youngest drug abuser was 11 years old, now
kids as young as 10 are doing drugs.

"They are exposed to consumerism, drugs, long hair and
drinking through the mass media. And, frighteningly, with the
increased buying power of Indonesians, they can afford the
stuff," Irwanto stressed.

The mass media, therefore, should enhance its role as an
educator, said Irwanto.

"They must take responsibility for the young generation.
Information allows teenagers to have more self-confidence, obtain
more knowledge and become more open. This is what should be
expanded."

Irwanto said parents should play a more active role.

"By talking to their kids, parents can filter the mass media
and the influence of the peer group. Don't hesitate to reprimand
them if they are wrong."

Psychologist Sartono Mukadis added that most teenagers still
rely on their parents or their siblings as the main source of
information.

A recent Kompas survey involving 291 ABG confirms this idea.
The survey found that 68 percent of the respondents stated that
their parents are their closest friends.

"It is clear that parents still play an important role in
their lives. Be their friends and don't be so suspicious of their
active and sometimes aggressive behavior. It is natural," he
explained.

Both Irwanto and Wirutomo suggest that the city administration
participate in educating young people.

"They hang out in malls because Jakarta lacks libraries, sport
complexes and art centers. Allocate some money for these places,
or order all housing developers to build the facilities in their
housing complexes," Wirutomo demanded.(raw/anr/als)