The mid to late 2000s was the peak of what was considered "tween" media. That is, movies and tv shows for an audience between children and teenagers that was "too old for toys, too young for boys". The Disney Channel was a forerunner in this demographic with smash hits like Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Camp Rock, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Wizards of Waverly Place, That's So Raven, Kim Possible, and many more. Nickelodeon also had its hits with iCarly, Zoey 101, Drake & Josh. These shows combine goofy sitcom antics and childish gags, with hip teenage characters and pop music to make the largely female child audience think they're watching something aimed at teenagers.
I've recently revisited some of these shows (partly out of nostalgia), and upon more and more research from this general time period of pop culture, it dawned on me that "tweens" as a tangible demographic, makes no logical sense. The general age range of what is considered "tweens" has changed over the years and varies from person to person, but the most common age groups cited are "8 to 12", "10 to 12", or "9 to 13", some go as low as 7 year olds.
The fact that people can't agree on a specific age group for this concept shows how flawed it is at its core. That's not to say the idea didn't start out with good intentions. When Disney Channel first coined the term in the late 90s, it was mainly to appeal to a niche of kids in middle school who wanted a more family-friendly alternative to edgier channels like MTV, which were starting to become popular at that age, but not all kids felt comfortable with just yet. But then that strategy became too successful, and suddenly marketeers and toy companies used it as an excuse to try and sell parent-friendly teen-esque lifestyles to 9 year olds.
So middle schoolers feel like the most accurate description for what the concept of "tween" would entail (in between childhood and teenhood). But here's the thing, Middle school in the US is generally aged 11 to 13, or 10 to 14 depending on your birthday. That's quite a bit older and more narrow than the age groups that are usually cited when referring to tweens. On top of that, middle school has always been a notoriously tricky age group when discussing what exactly is "appropriate" for that age, due to just how shattered kids are at that age (both psychologically and physically) thanks to puberty. If you look at any middle school, in any grade, you see a bunch of kids already dating, sneaking drugs, and talking about adult topics, and then you also have a bunch of kids who still play with Hot Wheels and Rolblox, or still believe in cooties, and then a bunch of kids who don't fit in on eitther extreme. It's a giant melting pot, and perhaps the hardest age group to find one size-fits all stuff for compared to younger children or teenagers.
But I think the ultimate problem with "tween" media during this time, was that it never was a true middle ground between content for kids, and content for teenagers. There's a really good video on YouTube discussing this problem comparing a tween show to a teen show, and how drastic the difference in tone and content is. Where you can instantly go from squeaky-clean kidcoms, to raunchy, brooding dramas filled with tons of sex, drugs, and violence.
Basically, the question boils down to, why was there never any middle ground between "iCarly" and "Gossip Girl"? To me, the closest has always been anime. Anime fandom in my view at least, often peaks during middle school because it's often that middle ground between "kids shows" and "teen shows" that you don't find much of in American-made pop culture, particularly with Shonen and Shojo. Something like One Piece, Full Metal Alchemist, or newer stuff like My Hero Academia were a nice combination of colorful worlds, humor, and sense of adventure and optimism found in children's shows, with still having more mature themes and content that kids in middle school start to crave, while also not going too far in themes in content that parents of a 12 or 13 year old would worry about.
Point is, I feel like there has always been kid of a lack of a between "Kids stuff" and "Teens stuff" in media, and that "tween" over time, just started becoming an excuse to let 8 year old girls pretend they're teenagers.
I've recently revisited some of these shows (partly out of nostalgia), and upon more and more research from this general time period of pop culture, it dawned on me that "tweens" as a tangible demographic, makes no logical sense. The general age range of what is considered "tweens" has changed over the years and varies from person to person, but the most common age groups cited are "8 to 12", "10 to 12", or "9 to 13", some go as low as 7 year olds.
The fact that people can't agree on a specific age group for this concept shows how flawed it is at its core. That's not to say the idea didn't start out with good intentions. When Disney Channel first coined the term in the late 90s, it was mainly to appeal to a niche of kids in middle school who wanted a more family-friendly alternative to edgier channels like MTV, which were starting to become popular at that age, but not all kids felt comfortable with just yet. But then that strategy became too successful, and suddenly marketeers and toy companies used it as an excuse to try and sell parent-friendly teen-esque lifestyles to 9 year olds.
So middle schoolers feel like the most accurate description for what the concept of "tween" would entail (in between childhood and teenhood). But here's the thing, Middle school in the US is generally aged 11 to 13, or 10 to 14 depending on your birthday. That's quite a bit older and more narrow than the age groups that are usually cited when referring to tweens. On top of that, middle school has always been a notoriously tricky age group when discussing what exactly is "appropriate" for that age, due to just how shattered kids are at that age (both psychologically and physically) thanks to puberty. If you look at any middle school, in any grade, you see a bunch of kids already dating, sneaking drugs, and talking about adult topics, and then you also have a bunch of kids who still play with Hot Wheels and Rolblox, or still believe in cooties, and then a bunch of kids who don't fit in on eitther extreme. It's a giant melting pot, and perhaps the hardest age group to find one size-fits all stuff for compared to younger children or teenagers.
But I think the ultimate problem with "tween" media during this time, was that it never was a true middle ground between content for kids, and content for teenagers. There's a really good video on YouTube discussing this problem comparing a tween show to a teen show, and how drastic the difference in tone and content is. Where you can instantly go from squeaky-clean kidcoms, to raunchy, brooding dramas filled with tons of sex, drugs, and violence.
Basically, the question boils down to, why was there never any middle ground between "iCarly" and "Gossip Girl"? To me, the closest has always been anime. Anime fandom in my view at least, often peaks during middle school because it's often that middle ground between "kids shows" and "teen shows" that you don't find much of in American-made pop culture, particularly with Shonen and Shojo. Something like One Piece, Full Metal Alchemist, or newer stuff like My Hero Academia were a nice combination of colorful worlds, humor, and sense of adventure and optimism found in children's shows, with still having more mature themes and content that kids in middle school start to crave, while also not going too far in themes in content that parents of a 12 or 13 year old would worry about.
Point is, I feel like there has always been kid of a lack of a between "Kids stuff" and "Teens stuff" in media, and that "tween" over time, just started becoming an excuse to let 8 year old girls pretend they're teenagers.
