My View: Catherine Scott

She has adopted the endangered animal through the World Wildlife Fund. Of course we are paying the £5 a month, although to give her her due she did say she’d contribute – a bit hard though as we don’t as yet give her regular pocket money.

Anyway, my initial thoughts were that the fluffy stuffed tiger given away as a joining gift might have had something to do with her eagerness to become a WWF adopter. But under closer questioning she had done her homework and her motives seemed nothing but positive – which is lucky as the promised stuffed toy has not yet arrived. She knew all about the decline in numbers, the risk posed to the species etc etc. This coupled with a fixation with tigers at the moment – I suppose it’s better than a Justin Bieber fixation – made it a no-brainer for her.

And it seems she is not alone. Apparently the current social and economic climate has given rise to a new breed of pre-teen – Generation You – who are the polar opposite of the “Bieber fever” stereotype often reported.

Instead they are more concerned with the world around them and helping others, than keeping up with the latest pop craze. Research for parenting site, Netmums, reveals that, contrary to popular belief, nearly two thirds (62 per cent) of parents of “tweens” (8-13 year olds) say their child cares about people less fortunate than themselves and helps in small ways such as donating toys and books and raising money for charity. And their philanthropy contributes to their emotional well-being, with two in five (38 per cent) parents claiming their pre-teen is most happy when making others happy.

In contrast to the Facebook and MSN-obsessed image of the nation’s youth, our tweens enjoy the wholesome, simple things in life: being with friends (83 per cent), family time (74 per cent) and having fun outdoors (71 per cent). In fact the most common words used by parents to describe their tweens are a far cry from the stereotypical image of a child teetering on the edge of their teenage years. Girl tweens are described as sensible (64 per cent) and responsible (58 per cent) whereas boys are said to be knowledgeable (54 per cent) and individual (46 per cent).

The downside, however, to being so mature in their outlook is tweens’ propensity to worry.

Fretting about everything from their friendships (69 per cent) to natural disasters (24 per cent) and from schoolwork (57 per cent) to terrorism and wars (10 per cent), today’s tweens are carrying the burden of 21st Century life on their shoulders. Having read this I definitely have a “tween” on my hands, for better or worse.