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)