Just what are the UK’s teenagers into? Only one way to find out… we asked them about fashion, books, gadgets and bands amongst other things and this is what they had to say.

Fashion accessories
When it comes to fashion, casual is the byword – jeans, ‘hoody’, t-shirt, shiny white trainers and a ‘bling-bling’ watch and, if they feel like making an extra effort, maybe a casual shirt. Meanwhile, gadgets are a top priority. For Mark, 17, from Mansfield, the best gadget is the ‘psp (playstation portable), which can play UMD files (movies)’. He also rates the xbox 360 (although he doesn’t have one), ‘with wireless controllers, amazing online options … you can talk directly to people online … pretty good console … graphics are amazing’.

Cool reads
As well as fantasy and adventure, teenage fiction often looks at social issues such as race, emotions, family difficulties and health. Popular authors include Malorie Blackman, Michael Morpurgo, Melvin Burgess and Philip Pullman. Joe, 15, from Grey Court School, says ’reading books about serious issues can sometimes be quite depressing although inevitably they are beneficial in learning about different ways of life and ways of thinking’. Alexandra Devereux, also 15, says two of her favourite books on social issues are Mondays are red by Nicola Morgan (about synaesthesia, an unusual condition where a person’s senses are mixed) and bestseller, The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, by Mark Haddon (about a boy with autism).

Sharing your reading experience is also popular. The British Council site, enCompassCulture, includes a section dedicated to teenagers with over 700 books, online chats, discussion board and reviews.

Bandwidth
RnB, drum and bass, and rock are all the rage. Mark prefers to listen to ‘a lot of the “emo” genre… which is slow rock’. His favourite bands are Yellowcard (rock with a violin), New Found Glory and Feeder, who play alternative rock. He also reckons ‘Lostprophets are the best thing that came from Wales’.

Free time
When they’re not busy reading, listening to bands or watching films on their psps, they enjoy going to the cinema, bowling or just chilling out with their mates. Sounds good to me…

Connie
July/August 2006

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