Everybody's tastes are different; there's no universal gift, teen-agers observe.

Everybody's tastes are different; there's no universal gift, teen-agers observe.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- What a teen wants, what a teen needs, is cash for a shopping spree.
The specific Christmas gift preferences of teen-agers are unpredictable and as varied as teens themselves.
Talk to teens, though, and you'll find that gift certificates to a favorite store ... or, better yet, cash, will work out nicely.
"Teens are quite picky. You never know what's the right gift for a teen-ager, so I think the gift certificate or cash is a good way to go," said Doug Duncan, 19, of New Middletown, who listed his preferences as games for use on PlayStation 2, cash, DVDs and clothing.
Mark Long, 19, of Petersburg and Robert Hallas, 18, of Poland -- who were engrossed in the NFL Fever 2002 game on the X-Box at Best Buy in Boardman -- said they prefer the more expensive X-Box to PlayStation 2 because they think it has better graphics.
Both said a gift certificate is a good idea. "It lets the kid pick whatever he wants," Hallas said.
Meanwhile, four Struthers High School girls, ages 16 and 17, sat in a car in the store's parking lot late in the afternoon, munching fast food before going shopping and expressing widely divergent gift preferences.
Their wide-ranging wish list included CDs, clothes, a car, a CD player for a car, a cellular phone, biographies, cash and gift certificates.
What works: When you're in doubt, gift certificates are a good idea because they eliminate the chance of buying the wrong gift and having it gather dust at home or get returned to the store, said Brieanne Young, 17, one of the occupants of the car.
If a gift certificate is being given, her friend, Kristina Smith, 17, said she'd prefer it be placed in a gift-wrapped box to preserve some of the mystery about it "so you could still have fun opening it."
"Everybody wants something different. You can't just give a universal gift," said April Nagle, 16, another Struthers High School student, who said she prefers cash to a gift certificate because she once got a certificate for a store she didn't like.
"The absolute best thing to do with a teen-ager, I think, is get them a gift certificate," for a store the recipient is known to patronize, said Patricia McBroom, assistant manager at Barnes & amp; Noble in the Shops at Boardman Park, which features a teen book section, a music section and popular board games.
Expanded interests: Perhaps spurred by world events, many teens have recently expressed interest in history and political science books in addition to fiction, she observed.
She urged getting a gift receipt to include with any merchandise gift to allow the recipient to return the item to the store and make an exchange, if desired.
Carmen Patterson, assistant manager at The GAP in Southern Park Mall, also advises giving gift certificates, which are valid at any GAP store nationwide, to allow teens to make their own choices.
"A lot of the girls like flared jeans and sweaters. The boys, carpenter wide-leg pants, sweat shirts,'' she said of teen clothing preferences.
"Definitely ask them what they want before you go out and buy. They're very difficult to buy for," warned Stephanie Tombo, 19, of Hubbard, who was interviewed outside Old Navy in the Shops at Boardman Park, one of her favorite clothing stores.
"I'm hoping for quite a bit of clothes and hopefully some CDs and a new computer for the whole family," said Tombo, who also endorsed giving gift certificates for the recipient's favorite stores.
"Get what the kids want," echoed Caleb Pagley, 13, of West Middlesex, whose gift preferences include a Nintendo game cube and basketball souvenirs pertaining to North Carolina and to Alan Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers.
"Ask them what they want, and if they can't decide on anything, just get them money, because, otherwise, they might be unhappy with what you get them," advised David Cameneti, of Warren, who will turn 14 next month and lists a paintball gun and a skateboard as desired gifts.
He and Pagley were interviewed at Jillian's Entertainment Complex at Southern Park Mall.
Young, of Struthers, concluded: "Pay attention to what your kids want. If you get to know your kids, you'll figure it out easier."