Entry #3: Tween Programs

The Orange County Register has had ads in the Sunday paper for a Young Author’s Faire. Sponsored by the Orange County Department of Education, the program made me think if there were art and programs available specifically to tweens. This particular program is open to children in grades K – 8. Using Google searches I decided to look more into this topic.

The first search I conducted was just a keyword search using “young adult programs.” While that search found great sites, it was more for teens and emerging adults. I then tried searching “adolescent programs.” This search found materials more for treatment and support groups. Then I decided to go right to the source and search “tween materials.” Here I was able to find more programming specifically for tweens. The first hit was a summer camp and family membership at Hale Reservation in Massachusetts. Other programming included individual library programs as well as the Boys and Girls Club in Newport County, Rhode Island and a Christian programming service for tweens.

Interestingly, while I didn’t find a lot of programming for the arts and social clubs, the Google search did show that there are some programs available. However, parents looking to find more information for Tweens should be aware of the wording needed to retrieve more accurate results. Additionally, most of these programs look like they are sponsored either by social programs such as the Boys and Girls club or libraries.

This concerns me in the fact that it reinforces the idea that tweens are a bit of a forgotten age group. While inroads are being made at libraries, which will hopefully promote other institutions to do the same, I was surprised that there wasn’t more available. This makes our jobs as librarians even more important to the tween demographics. Ensuring that these students don’t feel left out or in a difficult stage between children and teens is even more important.



References
Boys and Girls Club of Newport County. (2011). Tween program. Retrieved from http://www.bgcnewport.org/page11451857.aspx

Hale Reservation. (2011). Programs and lessons. Retrieved from http://www.halereservation.org/fmb_programs_teen.html

Orange County Department of Education. (2011) Young authors faire. Retrieved from http://yaf.ocde.us/home.htm