It’s no secret that middle schoolers these days are much more “rambunctious” than they were when today’s college kids were that age. Middle school is known for being the awkward phase. Everyone’s body is growing and changing at different rates, hormones are kicking in, and kids are finally figuring out what social groups they fit in with. These days, kids are skipping that entire stage of life and heading right to the hard stuff. Coming from someone with a fourteen year-old sister, I’m witnessing this monstrosity first hand.
Dating
First, let’s take a look at the biggest exciting change when it comes to adolescence: first crushes and puppy love. Relationships when I was in middle school consisted of walking to classes together, having matching Instagram bios, and, if you were really serious, a kiss on the cheek. Nowadays, kids are making out with each other at parties when they’re thirteen. My sister is in eighth grade and already has peers losing their virginity! I still get uncomfortable receiving unsolicited dick pics.
Tattoos and Piercings
The fact that tattoos are even subject matter should scream “save this generation.” Honestly — WHAT HAPPENED TO STICKERS!? This is not an exaggeration my friends; I can name two humans under the age of fifteen that have tattoos on their body. Don’t get me started on piercings — I don’t know anyone my age who had more than a cartilage piercing before high school, but my sister has friends with nose rings, belly button piercings, and even tongue rings! Believe me, I’ve had my current tattoos and piercings picked out since age twelve, but I wouldn’t have dreamed of actually getting them on my body at the time.
Fashion and Beauty
This is a big one that I think we’ve all noticed. Make-up in middle school for me consisted of pink sparkly lip gloss, green eyeliner, and drug store mascara. My little sister has a steady routine of Too Faced palettes, Kylie lip kits, and Stilla foundation. This girl has better eyebrows than me and more hair products than I could list off the top of my head. Not to mention what middle schoolers wear. Our wardrobes consisted of Aeropostale tees, skinny jeans, and Converse, but these days kids look like frickin’ instagram models.
Technology and Social Media
I’d say the vast majority of us got our first phones in middle school, or maybe the year before. We had really crappy little Pantech’s, typically accompanied by an iPod touch or maybe Kindle Fire. We messaged each other on Kik and reposted “#relatablemoments” and “justgirlythings” on Twitter and Instagram. We were all in our little “RAWR XD” phase, but now we have kids posting candids of them at parties and posed photos of them with their friends at restaurants. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but they’re becoming superficial, worrying about likes and followers, whereas all we wanted to do was show our classmates pictures of our pets and slumber parties.
The kids are simply growing up too fast. If you’re still a young teen, take it from a now legal adult: I’d kill to go back to the days where my biggest concern was which 1D song was going to be leaked next, and my cat was the only boy I loved. Kids should be kids.