The turning leaves are signaling the end of the lazy days of summer. Almost gone are the days spent by the pool, at summer camp, or by the shore. It's the time of year most children and teens both anticipate and loathe: Back-to-School. And while many can't wait to return to the musty old halls - either to see old friends or to renew cafeteria food fights, they all view the annual trek to the store or stores to buy new school clothes with dread.
To a kid, a shopping trip is about as much fun as winter sunbathing in Siberia. First comes the battle over what will or will not be worn. (Have you noticed how Mom's first choice is always something “nobody” at school would be caught dead wearing?) Then comes the debate over the budget. (Parents will explain how twelve dollars bought all of their elementary school clothes budget should equal the national debt. Of course, no one had shoes back when Mom and Dad went to school.) All this precedes the realities: the stressed-out sales help (if they're visible at all) and the long checkout lines.
Fashions for children are meant to be fun. Lighthearted. Something you put on them and enjoy looking at - and something they can toss on and forget about. But increasingly, kids' insistence on wearing what they want to wear is setting off alarm bells across the country.
Conspicuous Ostentation
One phenomenon of recent years has been the universal popularity of athletic shoes among children and teens. Originally developed during the seventies for jogging plain old sneakers didn't cut the mustard for running on hard surfaces, sports footwear is now specifically designed for nearly every kind of athletic activity.
But it hasn't stopped there. The clunky looking running shoe, once banned by nearly every school as inappropriate footwear, is now worn practically everywhere - to school, proms, and even weddings. Last year, the athletic footwear industry, dominated by names such as Reebok, Converse, Nike, Adidas, and British Knight, sold more than $8 billion worth of shoes.
Unlike the lowly sneaker, which was cheap, the newest and most coveted athletic shoes feature built-in “air bladders” for a custom fit and command prices that begin at $175. Who's buying them? That's right - your kids.
Teen idols like Magic Johnson and Spike Lee promote the top brands of shoe on television, making them well-nigh irresistible. Although $ 175 is more than most teens working a part-time, minimum-wage job at a fast-food restaurant bring home in two weeks, thousands of youngsters somehow manage to acquire several pairs of athletic shoes every year.
And the shoe phenomenon is only the beginning. Many inner-city children sport other expensive regalia: gold crowns on their teeth, purse-sized “Nefertiti” earrings, Triple F.A.T. brand goose-down jackets, high-priced athletic warm-up jackets emblazoned with major league logos, heavy gold chains, chunky knuckle rings, and leather and even fur coats. Decked out in name brands and loaded down with gold and diamonds, such kids become prime targets for muggers.
Other teens and preteens show
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