Stupid, horrible teenie dollar

My cousin has a 13-year-old daughter. I remember what it was like being 13. The desperate conformity to everything that's supposed to be cool, yet simultaneously trying to figure out who you are and where you fit into the world. That said, I'm sure we all know all about what's known as the "teenie dollar": the economic potential of teenagers. Because of the desperation to be accepted, teens will basically buy just about anything guaranteed to make them fit in. Assholes like the fashion and music industries have figured this out, and like to capitalize on it. Many teens rely on their parents to buy things for them. They insist upon having what's supposedly cool, which tends to be horribly overpriced. I hate the teenie dollar.

Here's where my cousin's kid comes in. She loves all the things she's told to by the industries. Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Twilight, Camp Rock, High School Musical, the list goes on and on. Being 13, she can't legally get a paying job. Not that it's easy to get a job right now anyway, but I digress. She can't pay for her own overpriced, cookie-cutter crap, so she gets her parents to do it. They're not exactly doing very well financially, either. And she's reached a phase that all teens go through, where they don't appreciate their parents for anything and the whole world sucks, even when they get what they want. Her mom wants me to talk to her about how important it is to stay in school and respect your parents, because she kind of looks up to me. Do I think she'll listen? Probably not. But I would love to take her shopping at Ragstock and show her that you can buy cool clothes at a good price and they don't have to have stupid sparkly "vampires" all over them. Do you think that could help me infiltrate her brainwashed mind? Seriously, please tell me.