COVER

Being 13: 13 Poll: Thirteen-Year-Olds: What They Really Think (Being 13)

TIME conducted a national online poll of 501 13-year-olds to get a glimpse of the attitudes, ambitions, tastes, fears and fantasies of this age group

Web Extras
  • Being 13
    TIME takes an inside look at an age of mystery and challenge
Photo Essay
  • Teen Spirit
    Middle-schoolers at cheerleading camp at Southern Methodist University
Exclusive TIME Poll
First Person

Being 13: Gotta Have It (Being 13)

It's not just conspicuous consumption, it's self-expression. From embroidered jeans and flashy phones to body spray and graphic T shirts, here are a few of the ways in which 13-year-olds announce their identities (and keep the global economy flowing).

You Wanna Take This Online? (Being 13 / Behavior)

Cyberspace is the 21st century bully's playground where girls play rougher than boys

The Push To Be Perfect (Being 13 / Competition)

Why you have to be an athlete, a diplomat and a scholar to succeed on the squad

NATION

Why NASA Can't Get It Right

A glorious launch. A wayward chunk of foam. And another black eye for the space agency. Should the shuttle fleet stay grounded?

Ghosts in the Machine

A corruption scandal in Chicago raises the question about Mayor Richard Daley: Like father, like son?

WORLD

The Terrorists Next Door

A flurry of raids yields the arrests of four suspected London bombers, but more may be planning strikes

BUSINESS

Al Gore, Businessman

What's on the former Veep's agenda these days? Investments and a new TV network

RELIGION

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Terry's Flying Circus (Movies)

Seven lean years after his last completed film, director TERRY GILLIAM is in fighting form with two visionary new works

BRIEFING

When They Knew (Notebook)

Sources indicate that Rove may have learned Valerie Plame's identity from within the Administration rather than from media contacts

A War by Any Other Name (Notebook)

From the Global War on Terror to the global struggle against violent extremists

YOUR TIME

PEOPLE

LETTERS

ESSAY