Positive Teens Magazine Passes 5-Year Mark
Positive Teens, a magazine with a global readership published by a Jamaica Plain company, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. The magazine was started by youth advocate Susan Manning, a JP resident, in an effort to "highlight young people and their talents."
Positive Teens is composed of submissions received from young adults ages 12-21 and is staffed by high school and college interns as well as part-time workers and volunteers.
"I started it because I was interested in bringing diversity to the publishing world," Manning, who edits the magazine and runs the publishing company SATCH, said in a recent interview. "I am very proud of the magazine," she added. "I’m very proud when people tell me they’ve heard of the magazine. It’s a dream come true."
Manning has been a long time youth supporter, working with several local and national organizations, including Big Sister. She has also taught writing workshops at the Boston Public Library, and she worked with Citizens Schools After School Program to teach publishing. She has spoken to many different groups and has served as the program coordinator for Boston’s ScholarshipBuilder program.
Positive Teens readers span the globe from the U.S. to Canada, South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa and consist of males and females, teens, preteens and adults — though the majority are female and between 16 and 20. As many as 100,000 people read the magazine through subscriptions, newsstand sales and complimentary issues. In addition to the magazine, Positive Teens holds an annual poetry slam, a regional competition begun in 2001.
"[Teens] get bad reps because the focus is mostly on the negative in the media," explained Manning. "Young people do have a lot more interests than people give them credit for…they’re talking about life."
Positive Teens is a full-color glossy magazine that includes features, letters to the editor, teen-written opinion pieces, poetry and useful information.
Elizabeth Hawley
Jamaica Plain Gazette
January 23, 2004
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