An unfortunate curse has been bestowed upon us: preteens no longer exist. And, yes, I understand that everyone still goes through their preteen years. But there just aren’t hundreds of girls still dying to get the same sparkly Justice shirts or posting quirky, watermark-coated collages with comment sections filled with remarks such as “TBH: you’re so pretty but we don’t really talk to each other.” You see, there are no more tweens because for some reason all the kids become teenagers the second they leave elementary school. And I blame this tragedy on social media.
I remember going through the ages of 11 to 12 being quite possibly the cringiest individual alive. This meant showing off every single one of my Claire’s purchases, posting any minor thought I had all over Instagram and, of course, finding a new celebrity to crush on every single week. Times have changed, and I can attest to this. When my 10-year-old sister chose a baby pink backpack over the fun patterns at the store, all I could think about was how at her age I had begged my mom to get me a brown fuzzy teddy bear backpack even though we both knew it was completely impractical. In recent years, there’s been a rush to grow up. Kids want to ditch their cartoon lunch pails and colorful outfits for something more aesthetic and trendy to fit in with what social media shows them.
With the ever-growing presence of social media, it’s no surprise that children today have grown up faster than they need to, especially considering the easy access they have at such young ages. It is undeniably common for children to have iPads, most of them having skipped out on Nintendos and television. Their role models are no longer funny cartoon characters or quirky Disney channel actresses; they now turn to multi-millionaire celebrities who they are dying to look like.
This shift pushes tweens’ attention to apps beyond silly cooking games and mainly to social media. Now, you may think I’m being hypocritical because I did say I posted a variety of collages to social media myself. But the trajectory of social media has changed onto a much bigger scale, as apps have grown beyond Instagram and Facebook, with new ones becoming available at the snap of a finger. Preteens pick up on these trends, and they wish to fit in with the new content, in the process giving up their childhood long before they should have to. Their posts become about getting the most likes not updating their friends on the outrageous activities they’ve participated in after school.
Rather than being who they are and exploring what they like during their preteen years, kids have gone to change themselves to fit in with the norm the second they can. This is an effect of social media being too constant and too accessible. All the preteens have disappeared, shifting from kids directly to teenagers, carrying the burden of social influence much earlier than they should have to. It’s a shame that our tweens are no longer out there embarrassing themselves in every way possible without knowing it. But most importantly, it’s devastating to know they are no longer allowing themselves to just be who they are.