Opinions – trendy parents
Victoria and David Beckham have been called Britain's most fashionable parents but are should parents try to be trendy?
| Trying to dress like your son or daughter is just a no-no. |
Many parents may try to act cool but get sucked into the 70's theme of hot pants and kipper ties. This is why trendy parents can become disturbing and why many children try to exclude their parents from their social circle. You don't always want your parents to know what you are talking about so that's why 'back slang' was invented. Some parents may actually be quite trendy already. However it takes a lot to be trendy and some parents just aren't cut out for it.
Annabel McLeod, 14
Trendy parents are a bad idea because they're adults and we're children and there needs to be a clear line between the two. It's okay for celebrity parents like Madonna to be trendy because she's famous and it's part of her job. If my mum started listening to S Club 7 and wearing babe tops I wouldn't like it because I'd think she'd gone back to her childhood.
Cindy Crome, 11
I understand why parents try to be trendy, I suppose at that age you try to find anything to remind you of your younger years. The fact that people feel they have to be trendy to be accepted is wrong, especially in adults. Adults are lucky because they don't have to follow trends to the extent that younger people do. Unfortunately some adults still think they have to be 'trendy'. Everyone has the right to do and look, within reason, what they want.
Akosua Bonsu, 15
Music, clothes, mobile phones and slang are some of the factors that make up the way we identify 'youth culture'. For parents to truly connect with their children, it's important for them to know about their child's interests. They don't have to like them. However, it doesn't take much for a parent to find out who is their child's favourite artist, which mobiles are in and what clothes are out. Times are a changing, why shouldn't parents move along as well?
Della Hicks-Wilson, 15
Parents shouldn't try and be trendy, they should just be themselves. Most parents want to look good because it's human nature but there is a limit to how far they can go. Trying to dress like your son or daughter is just a no-no. Parents should have their own style. They shouldn't try and dress trendy for the sake of it. Parents shouldn't try and be cool to impress their children's friends.
Benjamina Avro-Owiriwa, 13
If parents wear scruffy clothes they'll embarrass their kids. But they shouldn't act exactly the same as their children because that is also embarrassing. My mum says slang words like "innit", but only when she's telling me off for using slang. If she used slang for real I wouldn't like it. She really likes Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz, but she doesn't sing along to it, so that's okay.
Phoebe Saunders, 11
About the team
The Opinions panel are members of Children's Express London bureau. This column was published as part of Teen Talk, the Children's Express page in New Nation.
