J-14 Magazine Just For Teens

While perusing magazine stands, looking for magazines that are teen orientated and appropriate for classroom use, I happened upon J-14. I liked the title. J-14 stands for Just (J) for Teens (14). I liked the inside of the magazine as well. For once, the target audience is the young teen. It is a magazine that is fun to read. It’s about their interests, movie stars that appeal to them, and it isn’t full of “Sex is fun and everyone is doing it.” The magazine is formatted to show pictures, pictures, pictures of movie stars and music makers. There are no real articles but that’s okay. This is about and for young teens who want to “see” not “read” about their media culture. The longest article or blurb is one page and in the issue I’m using to write this, is about eminem called, “What’s he hiding?” It is all about the costumes he wears and what that might mean and then ends with, “What do you think?” So not real informative and not an interview of eminem but interesting. The cover price only $2.99 (and that's cheap for a magazine today and fits a young teen's budget) or a subscription is $14.95.

So, what does the magazine have that makes it fun for young teens to read? The following are the main sections that are carried each month along with some examples from a recent magazine issue.

It has “Cover Stories.”

In this issue this section covers topics such as, “Making misfits feel good about themselves”, “Which celeb stories from 2004 are burned in our memories?”, and “Secrets from American Idol.” In this section they also include the horoscope which tells you the depth and scope of the magazine’s “stories.”

It has “Close Ups.”

There is love advice from the One Tree Hill hottie, Chad Michael Murray. This gives a “problem” and then Chad’s “solution.” Each month they have a different famous solution maker. An example of how this is set up is: The Problem (in red print) “Most guys go for the pretty girls, and I’m worried I’m not pretty enough.” Solution (in white on a teal colored page) “There more to a girl than her looks. I dated this girl in high school who wasn’t incredibly attractive, but she was really cool…. (you get the picture). Actually I liked the kind of advice he gave. The questions he found solutions for were esteem builders and just right for girls this age.

This is where the eminem story was located. There is also a short blurb about why Ashlee Simpson doesn’t care what others think.
It has “Entertainment.”

The Entertainment section is the longest section of the magazine. There is a song lyrics page that gives the words to popular songs. This issue had “I Know (Part 2)” by Destiny’s Child and “Shut Up” by Simple Plan. While I’ve heard of Destiny’s Child, the other group was new to me. It’s a great way to “see” what the teens are “hearing.”

There is a pimp section for new releases such as, “Stuff from Lindsay Lohan, Black Eyed Peas, Lil’ Jon and more people that I’ve not had the pleasure of listening to but people that all of my middle school students seem to know.

There are short columns talking about Movies and TV, as well. Those discussed in this issue are the movies Fat Albert and Lemony Snicket.

It has, “All About You.”

The categories covered under this section are: “Embarrassing Moments”, “Tales of Truth or Dare”, “Cool Comebacks”, “Quiz”, “Astro Guide” and “Your Hot List.”

Embarrassing moments shared getting stuck without toilet paper (and throwing the hand towel used instead outside the window and it landing on the head of the friend’s mother who was just coming up the front walk) and walking into a wall when trying to look cool. Imaginative and embarrassing if these things actually happened. They also share one embarrassing moment that a celeb had (this month Will Smith.) Truth or Dare included kissing a friend’s brother and baring the butt of someone (commonly called Pantsing someone in our school.” There was also a trick to get older people out of a hotel pool where the girl put brownies in the pool and talked loudly about a bad stomach ache so all the “oldies” left the pool fast. While adults, like myself, find some disgust in all of these tales young teens will find them all funny.

Needless to say, the “All About You” section is my least favorite in the magazine.

It has, “Gossip.”

This is star gossip about stars that this age group likes. People like Rachel Bilson, Adam Brody, eminem, Usher, etc. It includes lots of pictures that fit into lockers or on bedroom walls.
It has, “Style.”

Their Style selection is great. They have pictures about Makeup, Winning and Losing Looks, Hair Makeovers and lots of Fashions.
Most of this section has movie stars as the examples, but the fashion Losing Looks all featured the kinds of fashions that make parents and teachers cringe. It’s good to have a magazine support what we tell them. While most of the makeup was heavy, that supports the fact that they include makeup products to buy on each page, as well. I will say that while somewhat exaggerated they do not appear to push the short, short or bare look in what they show.

It has, “Just For Fun.”

Just for Fun includes light articles about things like face reading; contests, and other shorts like celebrity resolutions. It is a nice rounding out of light reading. The last page of the magazine shows celebrities pictures with bubbled funny lines that they might be saying.

It has, “Poster of the Month.”

Each issue includes a picture poster of the stars that young teens like. This issue had a Hot Guys 2005 calendar. It included eminem, Adam, Chad, Nelly and others that I don’t know and therefore can’t name their last names. The girls in my class all want it however. Sometimes it’s a poster of a single person or group and sometimes they have a combination of celebrities. Girls love the pictures and the posters.

If you are looking for a magazine that will support the academic growth of your young teenage girl, then this isn’t going to be the magazine you want to subscribe to. If you have a young teen boy, I find that they love to look at these but they are not the target group and probably this won’t be the magazine they will want to receive. If, however, you have a young teen girl, then they will really like this one!