When I was younger, I grew up coloring on the kid’s menu when I went out for dinner and shopped at stores such as Justice or Claire’s that had brightly colored clothes and cheap makeup and accessories. 

Nowadays, 11-year-olds shop at Sephora and Lululemon, purchasing $70 moisturizer and $38 bronzing drops. On social media platforms such as TikTok, I see young kids posting their “Get Ready With Me (GRWM)” videos and showing off their “10-step” skincare routines or everyday makeup tutorials. 

While teenagers such as myself try to hold onto their youth and teenage years, the younger generation is in a rush to grow up. I believe that because kids are exposed to social media and its contents from such a young age, they are growing up too fast and not enjoying their childhood to the fullest.

Preteens are a growing user population on apps such as TikTok. According to a New York Times article, TikTok classifies more than a third of its 49 million daily users in the United States as being 14-years-old or younger. Because of younger kids’ presence on social media, they are exposed to the latest trends and in turn try to imitate popular influencers by purchasing the same products or items seen in their videos.  

Social media puts pressure on a lot of teens and preteens to fit in and stay up to date with the latest trends. These trends can cause kids in the younger generation to want to partake in activities that make them act older than they are. This can be seen in occurrences such as the “the Sephora kid pandemic” which has been a trending topic on TikTok and shows kids’ latest obsession with trending brands such as Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe and Rare Beauty. Not only are many of these products very expensive but they are also not intended for the young age group that continuously purchases them.

While preteens seem to be in a rush to grow up, older teenagers are in no hurry to enter adulthood. Growing societal pressures put on teens can force them to grow up and take on more responsibility than they may be ready for. There is constant pressure to do well in school and fit in socially among teenagers. Nowadays, everything seems so highly competitive, especially with overall college acceptance rates dropping and growing costs of living. 

I feel scared of the future and what getting older means. I feel a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the future and how things will turn out. I regularly question whether I will get into a good college or what I want to do with the rest of my life. I also feel pressure from social media to enjoy my teenage years since it is something you only experience once. Social media plays a role in some of the pressure many teens put on themselves. People often compare themselves to others’ lives and accomplishments they see through social media, which may not always be the full truth. 

Exposure to social media at such an early age results in many young users growing up too fast and not enjoying their childhood to the fullest. Acknowledging that the lives seen on social media are not always true, it should be urged that younger users not be overwhelmed by what they encounter online and appreciate their childhoods while they’re still young.