Thanks to Milanote for sponsoring this video!!!! Sign up for free and start your next creative project: milanote.com/jordantheresa0124 time stamps: 00:00 - intro 08:20 - the origins of the tween 13:16 - the tween moral panic 20:08 - the death of tween fashion 27:24 - the death of tween magazines 35:12 - are the twelve year olds really storming sephora
i would love to hear a video on how toxic the older generation actually is, specially in the workplace (w gen Z,) they all have this toxic workplace culture mindset, ive had multiple 30/40 year something managers who were so enraged by us gen z for just existing and expressing ourselves like we do and not to lose ourselves into this culture and take care of ourselves, also they hate on younger women for not wanting houses or kids like them
i think a lot of people are forgetting that our tween ages weren't really that great either and they end up freaking out about basic stuff like kids wanting stuff that older teenagers have because they're the cool kids. kids have always wanted to be more adult. i think it's more concerning that their parents are actually BUYING them these ridiculously expensive and potentially harmful products. the only skincare a 10 year old needs is to wash their face and use sunscreen. when i was a kid and wanted makeup my parents got me drugstore lip gloss, not fucking charlotte tilbury??
and the sephora skincare smoothie thing with the drunk elephant displays, yes let absolutely them have fun with makeup (if i was 10 i’d want the same) but that shouldn’t be at the expense of employees how have to end up cleaning that up p.s. also i’m sure it’s not just them doing it adults started the trends so they are now following suit
yess!! why are they skipping the drugstore makeup?? anytime i wanted makeup, it was drugstore only. usually only mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss. my mom would have laughed in my face if i asked for high end makeup lol
Also the fact makeup literally pointless for Tweens. Woman use makeup to even the color of their face because color of your face begins to become uneven as you age, to remove wrinkles and to add blush to look cuter etc literally all things that Tweens don’t need to worry about.
@@holllaabiaatch but even the drug store makeup is so much better today, as well as the tutorials. My oldest niece is 14 now, stood in front of me with a full face, looking flawless and I thought "why don't you look like shit? I looked like shit when I tried that your age!" Well, of course I did, being caked up with that damned mousse foundation eight shades too dark. Learned the application from a book! It's so much easier when you actually see the movement. Edit: I also bought a Dior lipgloss at 14, Benefit skincare, we always did that. You want to be fancy and grownup
the fact that it's all about "twelve year old girls" is very telling because where is this level of outrage over young boys being radicalized spewing misogynistic hate towards girls? why are we getting so mad at something ultimately quite harmless... just because it mainly involves girls?
I’ve noticed that when boys go down like the alt right pipeline or watch content that promotes misogyny and racism no one dares to give them the same criticism but since it’s teenage girls who like makeup and such people spend more time giving them shit.
And when people do point out that tween boys have this issue, you immediately get dogpiled by people saying that you are demonising boys and that society hates masculinity.
Right in many comments there are so many teen boys saying very inappropriate things saying it’s a “joke” or dark humor, which I don’t think anything that has to do with children, SA etc is funny.
I notice that what is being taught to youngsters at school did not make Jordans sphere of influence, or would that result in her star ratings being reduced ?
Just watched a video by Aba and Preach of them reacting to this red pill guy named Sneako meeting his fans who were literally no older than 12 years old saying “fuck the women” ??? It even caught Sneako offguard and despite him trying to tell them to not say that, it was so indoctrinated in their brains that they just kept going- even tho the person they looked up to was telling them to stop. It was so gross
the thing that irks me the most abt this tweens in sephora thing is fully adult people FILMING KIDS MINDING THEIR BUSINESS WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION AND PUTTING IT ON THE INTERNET TO BULLY THEM!!? LIKE WTF!?!
EXACTLY!! I don’t understand why grown women are recording kids and getting thousands of views from it. It’s sad how it’s become normalized for people to be hypercritical and hateful towards children. People act as if they weren’t the same way when they were younger and wanting to act like their teen and adult counterparts.
I knew girls my age using skin care and makeup and telling me I was strange for not caring when I was 11-13... in the early 2000s. Absolutely agreed this isn't anything new. The expensive brands getting pushed/wanted by kids is a result of rich people on social media.
There’s a huge difference between face wash and a 8/9 year old using retinol on their face. We are going to see the results as they age and it’s not going to fair well for their skin
@@freethegays lmao i don’t wash my face either, it’s the only thing that keeps my skin clear and even! for thousands and thousands of years humans didn’t clean their bodies or faces except for a few times a year. we’re meant to keep these natural oils!
Well yeah there have always been teen skincare brands like neutrogena and clean & clear, but the difference now is young teens using harsh active ingredients like lactic acid, vitamin c & retinols. They’re going to ruin their skin and hopefully won’t have to learn the hard way. If only they were being pushed to religiously use sunscreen instead lol
You’re still young it’s weird how kids are using anti aging stuff when they don’t need to worry about that and why are their parents getting them unnecessary, overpriced things
As a 28 year old who worked at Sephora around that time you guys weren’t destroying the displays which would’ve actually hurt my heart to see as Sephora was my sacred space and I loved organizing the shelves too much
@@rx500androidwe weren't as insane as gen alpha but I definitely remembered getting a ton of compliments for being the "14 year old with brows on fleek" LMAOOO
It’s so funny to hear that American flags were trendy in the UK in the early 2010s, because the Union Jack was super trendy here in the USA around the same time.
I lived in Germany and both motives were trendy here lol I had shoes with the USA flag on the side at ten and a bracelet with the Union Jack and other British things
In Finland it's super common to see sweatshirts or t-shirts that say MIAMI, CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK etc and I find it super weird. Some have flags but the city/state names are very common. They are often a style I like (kinda sporty/varsity) but I cannot get behind it, especially when it's places I've never visited or don't like. Some non-American ones can be found, like PARIS or maybe BARCELONA but they are more rare. I just pulled up one of the most popular online shops here, and on the first page of sweatshirts I found HARVARD, NEW YORK, HARLEM, JAMAICA, PARIS and LOS ANGELES. Second page: MIAMI, LOS ANGELES, CÔTE D'AZUR, CLEVELAND, NEW YORK, PARIS, NEW YORK. 42 items/page and 6-7 have place names. Does this surprise you Emily? And is this common in the US too, and do people then have one based on where they are from/live or do people just buy whatever they like and the place is meaningless?
IDK if it's because it's behind over here but as a brit who currently lives in NZ- it's hilarious seeing the american flag trend appear over here ten years later haha
I think the problem is much more rooted in the society these kids are growing up in, not with the kids themselves, but older generations find more comfort in the idea that it must be a difference in the kids because the idea that to fix the problem means fixing so many far-reaching, systemic issues in society is very scary and overwhelming. If the kids are behaving in a way you find distasteful, take a moment to reflect on yourself and the other adults around you. That's who the kids are looking at, too.
I think the disagreement happening here isn't in thinking that the problem is societally rooted, I think everyone agrees with that. I think the disagreement about the problem lies more in what to do about it. And what to do about it certainly isn't just to declare the problems are too far reaching for individuals to do anything about it. I mean you don't need to solve society's problems to not put an iPad in your kids face and to not take their requests for luxury goods seriously.
I have been working with 4 - 15 year olds for a decade, I love it and I choose to do it as a job because it makes me happy. However, I can say with 100% confidence that children aged 4 - 10 (COVID babies and young kids) are 'worse' now. And when I say 'worse' I just mean that the way they navigate the world is so far removed from reality because they really do experience too much of their life through a screen or the lens of the internet, and it has made for some very impatient, ungrateful, and (I'll say it) unintelligent children. BUT, this isn't their fault! And the tragedy of it isn't "kids these days are monsters", but it's actually "kids these days have been given no option but to grow up this way". And of course like in all things there is nuance, and there are exceptions, and it will change from child to child, family to family, place to place. But since late 2021, man oh man have I taught some awful kids.
I understand where people are coming from when they say that but I feel like this kind of discourse has shifted towards adults acting so pessimistic about children and dehumanizing them and categorizing them as “crotch goblins” and they’re the same ones who mocked children for actually acting their age.
@@siennafreeman4087 I’d argue that the people talking about children in such negative and “quirky” (idk what the right word to use is lol) ways are part of the reason that this generation of children is so annoying. They got it from somewhere.
I work with children of similar ages and I absolutely agree with you. It's not the tweens that we should be worrying about, it's the younger children whose social development was absolutely stunted by COVID. The 5 year olds I look after now (who were born 2018-2019 so literally have no pre-covid memory) are SO much more difficult than the 5 year olds I had 3 or 4 years ago. And yes there are always going to be difficult children but it seems like such a higher percentage of them than before! The older kids, like 10+, have their own issues but for the most part I haven't seen much of a change in the general behaviour since I started working i n childcare over 5 years ago. And honestly, I was a tween 10 years ago and I ABSOLUTELY acted like tweens now (and I was a very mild-mannered, introverted child!), just in different ways -- like Jordan mentioned, it wasn't Drunk Elephant skincare and lululemon but Morphe eyeshadow pallets and tumblr fashion.
I get it, but that’s tbh coming from you only knowing your perspective. This is exactly what older generations always think about the younger, as Jordan said in the beginning. They are different, not worse. Just different as any generation is from the other. Their differences are also amplified through the times they are living in. With the tablets and all. If you would dig long enough, you’d find older people being mad at younger ones for using electricity in their houses. Like literally. I’m not saying you can’t feel like you feel. Just that it’s absolutely nothing new and in the end has actually nothing to do with the kids but with our mindset and ourselves alone
@@klarapopilkova5791 yes for sure, but what I’m saying is just in the last 5 years there’s been a massive shift. The kids I was teaching pre-COVID and the ones I am teaching now are less patient, less grateful, and less emotionally intelligent. And I believe it’s because they’ve had the lens of the internet social media forced onto them from way too young.
I once heard the statement that tween/teen girls can like NOTHING without people making fun of them and I think that’s fundamentally true. If they like Popstars they are too intense in their fandom, if they like makeup they’re too grown up and if they demonstrate for a better planet they don’t get taken seriously. Yes, I believe that all the media and social media usage from a young age (thought not their fault) has negatively impacted them but we are sooo quick to absolutely hate on them. I absolutely LOVE your take on this. You don’t just jump on the „let’s hate 12 year old girls“ bandwagon but actually look in to the topic. Got so excited when I saw your video xxx
@@AN-sm3vjthe whole is that this isn’t some breaking news. Tweens have always wanted to wear make up and grow up. They’re just recycling what older generations have been saying about us.
When Mean Girls originally came out, people were panicking about tweens being too "grown up". There's even a scene or two in the movie reflecting these anxieties. Now that I'm 30, I've gotta say it's pretty funny watching GenZ freak out about the same thing, with the same talking points like it's a new thing.
Weren't the Plastics in Mean Girls meant to be 16? The girls in Cuties were 11 but played by 12 and 13 year old actresses. They were much meaner than the Plastics.
@@lemsip207 I'm not talking about the Plastics. I'm talking about sporadic scenes in the movie, like Regina's kid sister dancing provocatively, or the freshman plastics (aged 13 or 14) at the end, being portrayed as an omen of bad things to come. I'm also referencing the time in which it was released to point out that this kind of anxiety around tweens dates back to at least the early 2000s.
as a Gen Z person who constantly rewatches Mean Girls, even I had the exact same thought and it made me confused to see other gen z and millenial people freak out over the same things, as if it didn't also happen in real life too (as someone who used to wear a full face of makeup as a young teen)
@yeahreally9185 The freshmen plastics would be either 14 or 15 as high school starts with the ninth grade. They could have been sophomores, though. They are not tweens but teens at that age..
young girls and tweens have always wanted to look and act older, dress up, wear makeup, etc. but i think the difference is that parents used to say NO or at least create rules and boundaries. i don’t understand the logic of parents who buy their little kids whatever expensive thing they ask for. growing up, my parents were plenty well off but i wasn’t just given stuff without second thought. if i wanted something special, i would ask for it and eventually get it as a gift at christmas or my birthday and that’s it. then i started working when i was 16 and used that money to buy myself fun things. little girls today demand expensive products to be bought for them and the parents give it to them without the kids working for it via doing chores, getting good grades in school, etc. bad behavior is being rewarded by materialism and i am so so so worried about what’s going to happen to these little girls when they grow up. not only will they have ZERO work ethic, they won’t be able to afford the consumerist lifestyle that they’re accustomed to and quite honestly ADDICTED to from a very early age. parents need to start teaching these kids the value of a dollar and financial responsibility. bc they are literally setting their kids up for failure.
How do you even know if this is true? How do you know the kids didn't work for it? How do know how much time elapsed between them asking and them getting? And why are we treating our kids like little workers? Being "spoiled" is not about whether you're given expensive things. It's about whether you are allowed to feel "entitled" to expensive things, which is all about how you give your kids things not what or if you them these things. And no, making kids "work for stuff" is not the only way to avoid spoiling them. Now we can criticise consumer capitalism all day long, but "materialism" as you're invoking it is just a red herring used to trick normal working class people into fighting each other while the rich people run out the back door with all our money. They're the ones winning while we fight over whose kids are spoilt or not.
I was born in 1990 and as a tween a lot of parents let their daughters dress like grown women. Very much the 'cool mom' thing from Mean Girls was happening. I wasn't allowed by my mom but she's from Asia and much more conservative with dressing. Wild materialism too. Doesn't seem very different from today sadly.
@@IshtarNike admittedly my opinion and viewpoint is based off anecdotal evidence from being involved with my family and friends’ kids lives and various stories i’ve heard from others. of course this could just be a small sample and not representative or indicative of the population as a whole. and when i say “work for it” i mean by doing what is expected of them, as i mentioned chores like picking up after themselves, helping with dishes etc., and keeping up their grades. all things kids have done for generations to set them up to handle responsibilities as adults. obviously i don’t believe ANY children should be subjected to labor! and i COMPLETELY agree. the CEOs and heads of these companies and corporations kids are buying from are laughing all the way to the bank. they don’t give a flying fuck about the well being of these kids or the implications this will have on the future. overconsumption and materialism is at an all time high and that’s why the PARENTS need to step in. but we ALL need to stop mindlessly giving our money and time to companies that feed off our insecurities in order to pad their pockets.
That was also the Case in my day. You have parents who indulge their Kids Like that. Except These days those families also have tiktok. But how people Leap from that to "all Kids today are spoilt" is ... A stretch
@@annabeinglazy5580 i totally agree. it’s in the same vain that the world is a much safer place than it’s ever been, we’re just constantly exposed to what’s going on for the first time. but that being said, a few of the girls i’ve seen with very expensive products are from working class families kinda breaking the bank to afford them
I hope that someone mentions Proactiv. For some reason people are forgetting that skincare has BEEN popular amongst the younger crowd. Now it’s about anti-aging but back then it was about terrible raging acne on everyone’s faces
I haven't finished the video but I think there's a real lack of sympathy for these so called "Sephora 12 yr olds". Why do they feel the need to buy makeup and expensive clothes? Skincare? It almost feel as if we're just making fun of young girls, it's so unproductive. If we're gonna talk about young girls being pressured into growing up too fast, let's have that conversation, what we're not gonna do is dog pile on young girls.
I feel like adults are taking this an opportunity to project and dehumanize kids which is why they probably over exaggerate the “Sephora kids” discourse. I also feel like people aren’t understanding why kids are acting this way and not realizing it’s the societal standards and bad parenting that contributes to this materialistic attitude.
@@siennafreeman4087 not to mention as a teen myselfthe Sephora kids thing is so funny especially coming from older gen z and millennials cus I know they had their own makeup trends too
Thank you for making this video! ive found it so weird seeing grown adults bashing teens and tweens for going into sephora and having full vanitys as if we didnt do the same thing, and even if you didnt its not like tweens are seeing other tweens doing other things. weve known for so long that children are on social media and yet people still act like only adults are online, of course theyre gonna act older or try to appear older
@@Reverse_Cowgirl-catas a teen imma say for the teacher thing too is they are making school worse cus we got all these grown folks saying we are dumb and now everyone kinda just annoyed and now don’t wanna try no more cus hey our history teacher said we were stupid
@srose1088 i don't think bashing kids is good, but tbf there is a serious problem of children being so behind in school. My mom has taught for decades and she really is a great teacher who loves and provides so much for her kids. She used to send her kinder kids to 1st grade READING. And now so many little ones aren't even meeting basic standards. They improve, but moving from not being able to really read to reading at a 1st grade level as a 3rd or 4th grader is so sad. Buts this isn't the fault of the kids necessarily, but rather the parents and the system.
They're not necessarily bashing them for going in there and having fun... they're bashing them for how they're acting, they act like they have no control and they're giving a lot of attitude in the early 2000 and10s never had this issue. Kids actually had manners and would buy things that they actually needed with their parents approval.
@@Reverse_Cowgirl-catEvery time I’ve seen videos of teachers talking about the kids falling behind and not reading on their grade level and stuff, some of those videos are just bashing kids and labeling them with such negativity and not realizing that kids are burnt out and parents aren’t doing their job at all. I also believe that late stage capitalism has led to this burnout and stress towards teens and has contributed to them just caring anymore.
The lack of third places is so incredibly true. Not just children but also adults lack safe places to hangout and spend time away from home , school or work. I feel this is a world wide issue. I myself live in New Zealand where it’s often tough to find free things to do or places to be. Yes there are public spaces such as parks and museums but we truly need more. I mean they actively deter young people from being in a lot of these free public spaces too. I feel the lack of third space attributes to a general sense of boredom or having nothing to do with all age groups. Maybe this is why there is such a relaxed view on devils lettuce and alcohol consumption. It’s easier and often times cheaper to drink in a friends garage with a shitty speaker blasting, then it is to go to the movies or play around of bowling. I truly could go on and on but that’s my thoughts on the subject for now.
Ok my theory is that store associates used to be able to tell us to knock it off and kick us out to stores bc we didn’t have cellphones / recording them. But we were just as terrible in stores !
Also, parents used to back the employees up. Nowadays parents have gone overboard on protecting their kids, which for some reason includes protecting them from the reasonable consequences of their actions. This means the parents will want to fight the shop assistant regardless of the kids behaviour. They go nuclear and people just don't want to deal with that. So the kids learn that they can do dumb shit and get away with it.
When it as like 13, a bunch of stores in my town made it where after a certain time people under 16 had to be escorted by an adult because kids were coming in a trashing the stores. This was over 10 years ago. It's definitely not a new thing.
I agree, I see a lot of older gen z and millennials talk disgusting towards the kids nowadays like haven’t we learnt from baby boomers and gen x bullying us ???
I teach high school students. I agree that kids are not inherently worse. But I am concerned with the way many of them are growing up. There seems to be a level of disconnect between many parents and their kids. 41% of my students are truant (as in chronically absent to the point of breaking the law) and many of their parents either don't care or don't have the capacity to care with how stressed they are. I cannot tell you the amount of parents who legitimately have the school number blocked, so I have to call them from a burner to talk about their child's progress and behavior. I understand there are many nuances and aspects to discuss in regard to this, but overall I just think there is a lot of hurt and I'm genuinely sad for the kids.
Oh my GOD calling from a burner phone???? So fkn sad, these poor ALONE kids getting their brains fried out from tiktok😪 capitalism and the brutal way so many are forced to live under it have GOT to go!!!!
My school contacted my dad after 3 days unexcused. The absentee system (in America at least) is ableist. I can agree that many students are disconnected from their parents though, and that behavior isn’t great.
@@DSQueenie a lot of schools refuse to believe students/their parents with regards to disability and illness, especially mental illness. Transphobic policies coming into place in many areas will also impact absence levels.
i was 13-14 in 2010 so i was technically a teen but EVERYTHING you mentioned brought me back so fast omg outfit layouts on polyvore with scarfs with the american flag, Twitter beef between 1D fans and The Wanted fans, overly saturated pictures of baby lips on tumblr taken with a semi professional camera, and zoella and the brit crew uploads like Zoe was the blue print for so many outfits man
Yeah it's so obnoxious how so many people hit their late 20s and suddenly start having a moral panic about the lives of teenagers. The 'twelve year olds storming sephora' thing is unfortunately just the latest iteration of it; and the people going on about it definitely used to spend money on full glam themselves. The 'puriteens' thing is another one you've just gotta roll your eyes at.
Yup - the hypocritical commentary is really weird. But at the end of the day it's not normal for tweens/teens to invenst hundreds of dollars on skincare, makeup, fast fashion and whatever else tiktok says they need to rn (stanley cups apparently...)
I agree with all you said, but my only add-on is that adults complaining about these kids probably didnt all grow up with lots of makeup. Some may have been in the trend of hating it to "be not like other girls". Generalizing groups of people makes things more hostal. Not actually big deal, I just wanted to add to the convo
@@danielsedani mean like i (my parents 💀) spent hundreds on barbies and american girl doll clothes and play sets for me so idk what’s the difference 🤷🏻♀️ that was the trend when i was a kid and nowadays is just makeup
In Latin America we had an equivalent of Shout magazine which is called "Tu" or "Revista Tu". I remember buying it every month and there were quizzes, fashion sections, articles on being a teen, love advice, and more. But most memorably, I remember this section called "Tragame Tierra" which translates into "Eat me up Earth", and it was about embarrassing stories that readers would submit for which they wished the Earth would "Eat them up" and dissappear on the spot because of embarrasment. It was hilarious.
I definitely agree that there’s always a moral panic from the older generations about the one that comes after it. One thing that gives me pause though is seeing teachers (generally in the US) leaving the profession in droves. While pay is an obvious issue, the main reason teachers give for leaving is student behavior and lack of support from admin re: student behavior. It’s not just young, inexperienced teachers with these complaints, but veteran teachers with decades of experience saying that student behavior has gotten dramatically worse. I haven’t interacted much with American kids/tweens much so I can’t weigh in myself, but hearing the same thing from so many people who have worked with young people for decades does lend some credence to the idea that things have gotten worse. Of course, even if it’s true that behavior has gotten worse, fault for this trend lies with the adults in their lives who enable problematic behavior rather than the kids themselves
Permissive and neglectful parents with badly behaved kids have always been an issue, so I don't know if we can solely blame today's parents for this either. Keep in mind that teachers have had a history of painting entire generations for being worse behaved than their own generation. There's no data to prove that kids are actually worse behaved than generations before. However, on an academic level, kids are actually falling more behind, and I think that given that's one of the only actual differences between gen alpha and other generations. The pandemic has left kids with a huge education gap, so that may be part of the issue. I remember trying to take online classes as a college student, and that was hell, so I can't imagine how hard it must've been for kids as young as kindergarten or first grade trying to concentrate on learning to read or write at home and through a screen, probably while their parents are in a different room or not at home at all to make sure they're paying attention, and that's not even considering technical difficulties, teachers being experienced with using Zoom to teach, and many families having slower wifi, especially if these kids have multiple siblings who are also trying to do their online classes at the same time or parents who are trying to work from home the same way. Some kids don't even have wifi at home. Even with perfect internet, a lot of kids don't have the luxury of a distraction free environment either. With all these factors, it's honestly no wonder kids are academically behind now. And if you're a teacher, and you're teaching a classroom full of fifth graders who are reading at a second grade level when they easily would've been caught up had they learned to read the proper way, I can't imagine how frustrating and also depressing that would be. Some teachers I'd imagine give up because they know they can't help these kids on their own and it all becomes very stressful, and some resent the kids or parents and think, "All these kids are dumb." or "All these parents don't care about their children's education." and quit for that reason too.
as a 16 year old, during my 'tween' years i definitely felt the kind of awkward tween phase was already fading out tbf. i noticed in year 7 i felt a little out of place seeing most girls in my classes already were wearing full faces of makeup to school. as i moved up through secondary school, ive deffo noticed its like each new year 7's are getting more mature every year
@@karavandebeek i mean not really we were tweens just before it. like 2016-2019 i remember turning 13 in lockdown tho nd my mum got me a 'quarenteen birthday' top💀
I was also a tween in the early 2010s and I remember at the time there were kids, myself included, who were super into monster high and still got their clothes from places like limited too and the kids section of department stores like Sears or JCPenny. But there was also a group of kids in my grade in middle school who would dress for school in the millennial -business-casual-club-wear trend to go to 7th grade science at 8am. I don’t think the phenomenon of tweens wanting to partake in things that aren’t exactly “age appropriate” is new. I think the difference now is that when I was a tween wearing a coral bandage skirt, wedge heels and a smokey eye to band class wasn’t going to hurt anyone, where as using retinol does have the potential to cause skin damage. I work in retail, I see kids come up to the register looking like deer in the headlights with their parents credit card in hand, so I don’t put any of the blame here on the kids themselves bc “where is your parent?” I was really into makeup when I was a tween and I would go makeup shopping with my mom who was in her 50s at the time and she would explain to me how my skin was younger than hers and why I didn’t need things like under eye creams that she was buying for herself. I feel like that’s what’s missing here, bc these kids aren’t just getting $100s of dollars to spend on drunk elephant from out of thin air. If they’re old enough to be left in Sephora alone they’re probably old enough to do some research with mom and learn why they don’t need to be putting retinol or other anti aging products on their skin and the potential harms of doing so at such a young age.
It's definitely also the parents not even knowing what retinol is, and not bothering to find out. They see cute packaging aimed towards kids and think it should be fine.
Watching Amandabb's video on the Sephora Kids tiktok drama really makes this video so interesting. I commented on Amandabb's video saying that ppl hating children is bad because kids are oppressed and abused as a whole demographic and hating them entirely is so gross. I see similar feelings in Hymowitz's article.
I don’t want kids but the ppl who hate kids with a passion are weirdos. Sure kids can be annoying in public when you’re busy and trying to do errands or traveling but I’ve never gotten mad or thought to call the kid a bitch. I mainly get annoyed at the parents for scrolling on their phone and ignoring their kids and letting them run wild! Kids misbehave bc their parents aren’t pay attention to them or sensory overload for the most part. It’s annoying at best. But you don’t have to hate kids violently with your words and actions
@@sawsawsuka I honestly can’t understand how far removed some ppl are from their childhood to at least not empathize with the common mindset a child has. It’s like ppl think they have to treat kids like adults to treat them as a human being.
one of the best looks at this topic that has come out!! Video essay youtube has been ON IT with the "Sephora Teens" and this is a really fun look at it! I will note that it is super interesting to think of how quickly we are to jump to criticize little girls when arguably the moral panic lies with how society treats young men... The effects are far more outwardly harmful as well as to the kids themselves than little girls making their tween culture the same as out consumer influencing cycles as adults
THANK YOU!! I think this literally every time I see someone on tiktok complaining about ‘kids these days’, we’re just aging out of youth culture and that’s FINE, more people need to accept kids are not worse….they’re just kids!!! Great video❤
I was a Sephora tween myself many years ago and I just think the difference is that no one was filming 24/7 like they are now. My parents and my friends' parents bought me and my friends whatever expensive things we wanted, no one but us knew because it wasn't getting blasted on social media. It was still happening, but without social media it was more private so a lot of people who didn’t grow up rich could say it wasn’t happening. I also think there's this big romanticization of childhood that every generation has because they're burnt out on adult responsibilities but they're too removed from childhood to realize that most kids don't want to be kids. Kids want to grow up because we've been glamorizing adulthood for millennia. This pink princess Mary Jane look that the 1998 article described wasn't what kids at that age wanted to wear, it's what their parents wanted them to wear. Kids have always wanted to grow up and rich kids have always been there, we're just filming ourselves and everyone around us allowing the whole world to pick us apart. Also, dear commentary RUclipsrs, not every single one of you needs to make a video about the "Sephora kids!!!!!!" it's become the new Tide Pods.
sums up everything I was thinking ngl… being a tween fucking SUCKED ASS for me and an unsurprisingly huge amount of my friends too. From when I was 10 years old, and every year onwards, I’ve been chemically depressed… and being a tween only added situational depression to that!! It’s like the age of adults who can’t remember actually being a child is decreasing SO FAST. How do people in their **mid** 20’s not at least remember being a 12 year old!? It was barely half their life ago!!! Like???? Being a kid was, is, and probably always will be SO difficult!!!! I’m glad I don’t surround myself with, or consume content made by (and, let’s be real here, made *for* ) genuine **bullies** !!! Especially bullies who target LITERAL CHILDREN!?!? Like??? That’s EXCEEDINGLY yucky!!!!!!!!
It honestly makes me sad that teens now will never know the true magic of magazines. The articles, the colors, tthe submissions, the perfume samples, and the best part... the embarrassing stories and horoscopes at the end.
@@---Melody--- obviously they do..but the experience is not the same as when we used to get them monthly instead of constant social media updates. Nice try but chill.
Life was hard enough already as a Zillennial tween/teen with how prominent fat phobia was and being subjected to predominantly Euro-centric beauty standards as a brown/multiracial kid. Considering that kids now have to deal with the exploitation and toxicity issues within social media, hyper-consumerism, and decline of group hangout spots for youth, I’m really concerned for the well being and mental health of Gen Z/Gen Alpha and for the future generations. They are not being properly taught about internet and media literacy and are also not given the chance to go through adolescence without public criticism/ridicule and we as a society are letting it happen.
thank you for voicing my thoughts exactly jordan!! super good week for video essay girlies dropping videos about third spaces (tiffanyferg and mina le🤞) another thing is definitely that the viral "sephora teens" are definitely upper middle class and being enabled by their parents; it's not a new epidemic it's something that wealthier kids have always been able to do but now they're the forefront of an online trend instead of just being the popular rich girls in their middle school
I was born in 1990. Being a tween during Y2K was a trip! I had super conservative parents so it was a huge panic that was going on during that time. I wasn’t allowed to show my stomach, wear any shorts or pants with writing on the butt, and I had to sneak to listen to Britney Spears and The Spice Girls at my cousin’s house because they thought every entertainer at the time was “evil”. It was insane! Plus 9/11 on top of that. Nothing like satanic panic on top of blind absolute patriotism.
I have two nieces that are 10 and 11 and what worries me is that they feel like they need to spend hundreds of dollars at sephora/ulta wherever to look "pretty". Like baby you don't need full conceal foundation! Your skin is perfect! And just the acidic face cleansers and drops can ruin their skin and they literally don't need any of that. Idk man im just worried about their self esteem and feeling like they have to keep up with all the tiktok trends.
maybe i just see way too many of these kinds of people online, but i don't like how many seem to not care that much about young girls getting into makeup. like, yeah, it can be and is fun to do interesting looks, but be fucking for real. most are doing it because they want to feel prettier. they feel like it's just what you to do to feel pretty. idk. from what i saw of my peers, and from my own memories, it wasn't as much about having artistic fun as we liked to say
you put into words exactly what I was thinking about this whole 'sephora' kids thing, why is it a trend to bully 12 year olds! Let 12 year olds be annoying!
One thing I want to say about the "moral panics" of the past is that they were over stuff that is fundamentally different drom socoal media. Novels and TV are passive consumption modes. And even more importantly, they are ONE WAY. The reader reads the book. Social media reads you back! It reads your actions, your engagement, what you clicked on, your screen time, what you clicked away from. It is specifically designed to tailor itself to you and your personal desires and biases, and then it feeds you more of them. It really is a whole different ball game to any of the so called moral panics before and I think there's far more reason to be worried about social media than there ever was about television. Even during the height of the television generation kids went outside to have fun and they played games with their friends. They could also bomd over shared experiences. With social media people are increasingly isolated in their filter bubbles. Parents need to actively make sure their kids are getting out and about and getting real socialisation.
I’m 23 so I was a ‘tween’ 10 years ago, and I wholeheartedly agree with this. I was obsessed with beauty youtubers so I would always spend any extra pocket money at sephora (literally thinking i needed $70 chanel powder because Elle fowler or someone recommended them 😅) however i was definitely an exception, as most of my 12 year old friends didn’t wear makeup until a few years later and there definitely weren’t a lot of other girls my age at the sephora or mac’s that i went to. I also remember when I was 10 or 11 a program on the CBC here in Canada did a segment on “sext up kids” and their claim was that girls were going from toddlers to teenagers and the tween phase was dying out, so this has literally been a moral panic for 10+ years at this point, there are some valid points to make sure, but it really isn’t anything new
Omg YES. Haven't watched yet but, yeah the young girl hate is the same as it ever was. As for the sephora thing specifically, blaming kids for their lack of proper guidance and appropriate places to play is just unempathetic and illogical. (And come on, yes, they are playing. They're just trying stuff out and learning how the world works via having fun together!) Loved Elliot Sang's video about Gen Alpha, it explains these cycles well.
Finally a video that isn't shitting on kids. I was sometimes getting videos recommended of people complaining about gen alpha. gen alpha is not necessarily worse, they are just growing up in a different environment that is not kind to them.
I work in media, and your analyses are always so spot on and well-researched. I (somehow) also have hope that print media will return. NYLON announcing they're coming back in print + indie pubs like Polyester Zine really give me hope!!
This was such a good video. The topic of “Sephora kids” has been so overdone recently and this is the first video I’ve seen in the while that actually added something new to the conversation. Love ur vids!
this is such a breath of fresh air, I had been so wrapped up in the moral panic about them not getting to be kids that I completely forgot we were the same at their age. Obviously we didn’t have social media to the extent they do and that’s definitely having an impact, but it’s true that it really is that amalgamation of the age brackets being targeted by marketers that’s meaning they’re not just mimicking teens anymore because the teens are mimicking adults now instead of trying to rebel Another brilliant video, absolute 12 out of 10 from me Ps the new background is giving light jail vibes but I reckon once you’ve got some posters up it’ll slay xx
3 minutes in but gotta say people really be like "Ew look at the preteen expressing themselves and being a preteen so cringy" *adds to their cringe compilation vid for thousands to see* and then have the balls to say "Why are nobody preteens anymore?" Like damn I sure do wonder 🙄
Thank you for this! There has never been a pre-teen who hasn’t wanted to be like teenagers. That’s entirely normal. There’s no 10 year old that’s like, “I’m totally happy being 10. You know, I don’t want to grow up too quickly.” Social media has made kids know about ridiculously expensive beauty products, while my generation was bombarded with Delia’s, Claire’s, etc. Also, do you notice this argument is always about girls? We’re never morally panicking about tween boys. Influencers filming and mocking children is not the win they think it is. The ultimate punching down.
totally agree with all of this! pre teens have been desperate to grow up fast for a long time, specifically girls because of our narrow beauty standards and constant media pressure. also thank you for sharing your thoughts on peoples negative opinions towards children! as someone who works with children I'm shocked with the amount of people who make casual comments about how much they hate them, we need more people like you challenging this(!)
YESSSS JORDAN!!! I absolutely LOVE this video and your perspective on tweenagedom! I was 9 when Y2K happened and my tween years in the early 00’s were full of so many things you describe here - Limited Too, Pac Sun, Claire’s (I got my ears pierced SPECIFICALLY so I could wear spiky ball earrings!), boy bands, cartoon monkey print *everything*, Mean Girls! All things that were so formative for me and my peers! It’s hilarious to think we were causing as much of a moral uproar then as the Seophora girls are now 😂
39:44 - 39:49 “when spaces are so anti children they are in turn anti Women” Beautifully said Jordan, you’ve convinced me to have more patience when children are being children in public spaces.
When i was that age, i was poor, but also most of the girls in my school were on that "im not like other girls" stuff, so no one around me really wore makeup or acted like they cared about that stuff. I'm so far removed from this conversation that it barely makes sense.
I feel the same. I’m also Polish and when I was a tween in the early 2010s it was not really acceptable to wear makeup in class in middle school. I remember I only had mascara and my mom used to confiscate it multiple times lmao. My only skin care was one cream and whatever my dermatologist prescribed me for acne. I feel like nowadays young girls are pressured by rich influencers and their rich peers on social media to buy all these expensive products.
As a tween now, I honestly wish we still had this 😭 I watch tween shows, shop at Claire’s, use eos, make Daisy chains, read teen magazines, and listen to one direction and while a lot of the people in my class and stuff do that, I definitely know a lot of ppl using heavy makeup, expensive makeup and being clean girls 💀
Jordan, I think this might be your best video yet. So well researched and so well said. You finding that article honestly gave me so much more peace about this chaos, the moral panic is a tale as old as time. While I'm worried about the skin on these kids faces, thats exactly that, I'm WORRIED about them, not attacking them. Thank you for this take, hopefully it inspires others to reflect on the way we as a society are reacting
Great video as always! I also think that perceptions of public safety and the "Stranger Danger" crisis (at least here in North America?) has contributed hugely to the lack of leisure areas. There's a belief that children (and even grown women!) are in danger if they are out in public. Some children aren't even permitted to go Trick or Treating alone in here Canada anymore. I know a girl who refuses to go to the movies by herself because she doesn't want to be in the parking lot after the movie at night. For context, we live in a safe area and the parking lot is always busy, lit up with lights. I don't blame her - I think this is an effect of both conservative and liberal fearmongering. Those true crime TikToks, podcasts, streaming shows, etc., have really warped people's view of public areas, especially urban / metro areas (and racism and classism definitely factors into these fears as well).
This is from the perspective of myself, a 12 year old girl. I feel like, yes, children shouldn't be too focused on beauty since that can lead into body image issues and tons of insecurities, but i feel like this panic over girls growing up too fast could also be driven a bit by misogyny, since there seems to be no panic over tween boys, though their behaviour is alarming. Many tween and early teen boys are homophobic, sexist, mysogynistic, ableist and racist all at the same time along with having an interest in violence and drugs, atleast in my experience. It feels as if tween and teen girls can't like anything without being made fun of, regardless of what it is. Every girl i've ever met has interests i've seen people make fun of, including myself, no matter how harmless the interest actually is.
A big part of it is also parents. I’m 18 and my tween years were the during the quintessential YA wave. I spent a lot of my time reading, playing minecraft anf if i was lucky, browsing Instagram, RUclips or Tumblr. I have a younger sister who is currently in her tween stage, and her time is looking very similar to mine. Our mum is Gen X so she’s put off by all the young girls doing skin care etc. However, the majority of the girls my sister’s age have millennial parents. They are all doing skincare, wearing the latest trends etc. It’s a stark contrast to how our mum, who is far from being granola, raised us. it’s definitely something important to note in my experience. A lot of millennial girl mums want to have teenage daughters so they push social media, makeup etc onto them
I’ve noticed this a lot on Reddit (I know yuck). People will read stories about teenagers being bratty or making stupid decisions and immediately go “ oh this 14 year old should know better”. Like bro what part of hormones and immaturity is so hard to grasp? If a child doesn’t know how to invest in stocks from the age of 3 then they are a spoilt brat apparently. Also, about the teens at Sephora, it annoys me how many people say that they are using anti ageing skincare cause it’s trendy and think that’s enough. Why not try developing that thought? Why would anti ageing skincare be trendy among twins and teens? And who do you think they’re influenced by?
it's the system of marketing that collects data and refines itself over decades then centuries. it's just getting better at preying on children as it outlives them. this is why i don't think marketing vs consumer is ever really a fair fight
I couldn't afford Sephora even now. I used to look longingly at the Charlotte Tilbury counter in John Lewis and then wait for the Body Shop to come out with something similar but cheaper. Even the Body Shop is expensive compared with NYX, Barry M, and W7, and those aren't poor quality brands. Rimmel is what I call cheap.
@@banquetoftheleviathan1404 Do you think that it's only internet and database problem? People have been shaming women for having any signs of aging for decades. By the double standards, men always age like fine wine, while women become undesirable and disposable after 30. The current young generation was growing up with this misogyny and anti-aging propaganda everywhere. Now you're surprised why they're using anti-age skincare at the age of 10. Maybe, because they're afraid to be bullied? We need to tell girls that their value as a human doesn't stop after they have wrinkles, and only after that they won't use anti-age skincare.
my mom, who raised a gen z tween and is now raising a gen alpha tween, would say with total confidence that there is no noticeable difference between the two generations. tweens are all the same, it's just the culture around us that's different. we think tweens these days are little monsters because we can see them online, and because it's been just long enough for us to have forgotten that we were little monsters too
i work with children for a living and it genuinely hurts to see people shit on them so much as if it’s their fault this is what they’re being exposed to
Wow I literally have the similar thoughts about the situation. As a young adult with quite a lot of time in my hands, I am a part of online communities here and there for fun and when the topic even slightly goes about children, some of the people there talking so poorly about children just being themselves makes me so infuriated and disgusted. Some are quite insidious about it and so condescending like.. they've got nothing better to do fr. Anyways, great video as always Ms. Jordan! I'm a really big fan of you and your videos since last year
thank you jordan for being a normal and considerate and releasing that if the kids aren't alright and if anybody is really at fault it's not the kids themselves but the adults around them.
I genuinely thank you for these. All of this moral panic around this stuff reminds me of when in middle school teachers would say “oh this is the worst class I’ve ever taught in my thirty years of teaching”. Things are just different, and I don’t think it’s necessarily worse or better. Sure, I think there are a lot of unique struggles that come along in this era as a result of technology, but everyone dog piling on tween girls does nothing. Not everything’s some sort of “deep crisis” or issue, and as we all know, social media just makes everything 10x more dramatic. Tween culture isn’t dying, its just changing. It’s the natural cycle of trends. 🤷♀️
jordan u r soooo articulate and such a good speaker. i genuinely enjoy watching your content so much. you keep me so incredibly engaged the entire time and your arguments are so thorough but also concise. you clearly put so much effort and research into your content and it shows.
For all this and surrounding conversations like "teens/little girls dress to maturely/scandalous" I think it all comes back to the increased pressure from society and corporations to refuse to let young girls be young. Like its nothing new that once girls are old enough to sexualize, they often are, but I feel like in the decade it's gotten really bad. Corporations straight up don't make clothes for tween/teen girls that aren't sexualized (see through, ill-fitting, short shorts only, etc), and taking a look at young stars today (like Millie Bobbie Brown) on the red carpet and stuff versus previous kid celebrities is kind of horrifying because previous celebrities were allowed to look like kids and now they're dressed to look 24. Corporations know that sex sells, and the hyper-glamourization of being in your very early adult life (18-20) is pushed heavily because it's the most marketable and profitable because identity isn't fully formed yet, so they can sell them more. This trickles down to tweens because the second they're not children, they can be profited off of, and added with beauty standards being an incredibly powerful social tool of enforcing classist and racist beliefs, of course tweens don't "act their age." It's the only way they're capable of having any social power or legitimacy. I don't understand people who blame the kids, because it's literally systematic. Like Jordan said, with the loss of third places, piss poor public transportation and ways/places to hang out AND the rise of social media (and the death of specific websites where tweens could hang out with other tweens which has now been replaced with social media), no way yall are surprised. Yeah, 12 year old girls wanting to look like Kim Kardashian is horrifying, but it's not horrifying because of the kid, it's horrifying because it's a reflection of how little respect, space, and protection tweens have. TDLR: like all things, it's systematic, don't get mad at kids (especially when you're a fully grown adult like grow up lmao)
I love your videos so much. You are so articulate and thoughtful, and I appreciate how you always support your claims and opinions with reasons, examples, and references, which helps when a topic isn’t familiar to me. And you do it all with a bubbly attitude that makes me feel invested, too! Good work all around 😊❤
I was literally thinking about this today. The anti children behaviour is so odd. If you don’t want kids that’s totally valid but saying you just hate kids In general is so weird. Kids are still learning emotional regulation, boundaries, communication and patience. And if grown adults can’t understand that and extend that to kids then that makes me think they probably don’t extend much kindness compassion and patience to other adults as well. People legitimately thinking that pets should be allowed on airplanes, but not kids is insane. Idk why they think it’s okay to not treat them as human beings who are still developing. It’s the whole kids should be seen but not heard mentality that’s so hurtful to kids emotional development.
Yes exactly! Children are literally the most vulnerable segment of our population and people somehow don’t see an issue with treating them as less than human. It’s scary!!
The Sephora thing is so funny to me considering that i got my first eye shadow palette when i was 9. It was a crappy palette, some cheap stuff my aunt got my for my bday, and i didnt even care for makeup at the time. 1 or 2 years later i was buying drugstore makeup because thats what my allowance could buy and the harschest clerasil in tje universe even tho my skin wasnt bad (yet). And i wasnt the only one These people just conveniently wiped the memories of their own cringey childhood. Kind of how our parents always complained how much worse WE were, as if they didnt sneak out or smoked in the car park thinking they wouldnt get caught 😂
I love this take, and when you said that anti-child spaces are in turn anti-women I FELT that. My issue with the "Sephora kid" phenomenon is only about two things: 1. When children are not taught social etiquette in public spaces, and 2. Kids using products that may be dangerous for their skin (a ten year old doesn't need a retinol or an AHA product, for instance). Both of those problems are not the kids' fault. It's the parent's. So hating children for their parents not caring to teach them does nothing to address the real issues at all. I really think the issue isn't as widespread as it seems to be, either. But when a small group of entitled parents don't take the time to teach their kids how to behave in a public space, it can feel like they're everywhere because they're the loudest and most obnoxious. And that only gets amplified through the lens of social media.
finally someone talking about this! It's not just the new generation, the way some people talk about children as if they're a different species who cause nothing but trouble have always bothered me. The dehumanization of children, specifically girls, gets brushed off so easily as if these people have never been that young. It's sad that people think of the most vulnerable population in this way just because they can be a handful to deal with. The parents should be the first thing on your mind when seeing kids acting "abnormally".
Does anyone else find it mental how quickly we as a society have ‘forgotten’ about the pandemic and lockdowns? On top of all the extremely valid points in the video, this generation had to isolate for months on end, during literally the most important years for their social and emotional development. These kids are essentially a non-consenting, accidental research project. They went from being surrounded by hundreds of friends/peers everyday, to being stuck in a house, with most likely not much to do except scroll on TikTok and social media. During the most critical time for their brains development! Idk if it’s because of the idea that ‘kids bounce back quick’ or whatever, but I think that every generation seems to more focused on how they were affected by the lockdowns. Obviously it massively impacted every generation, but complete social isolation and extreme social media addiction, all while confined to one space, is now a core part of what has shaped their personalities. I think everyone needs to show a bit more compassion
your last segment really hit the home run for me, just because I didn't care about makeup at 12 does not mean that other girls such as yourself did not. Its bringing me back to the NLOG energy i had at the time
This - I really appreciate how you showed that, even though things are very different now, the tween moral panic was so real in early 2000s. I was a tween in late 90s and was a teen in 2000s, but we sure got a lot of crap about following magazines like ppl fear now with social media. Our musics, movies, tv, etc were mocked and parents ridiculed for letting us watch tv for hours. I played outside a lot and I watched a lot of tv. As a college age adult, it was clear no one took us seriously or the next gen either. Did everyone forget the articles about gen z not being literate?! Is it hard now? Absolutely. Are kids growing too fast? Yes. They kind of always have. But I do think it’s harder to navigate with the world at your fingertips as a parent - I don’t hide it from my kids but keep an open dialogue instead because I don’t see it going away. I personally feel a lot of this uproar is more about adults disliking kids in their spaces while the kids literally have no spaces left to go to 😓.
Did anyone have those teenager "night clubs" in their town? It was basically a dance club, but you had to be under 18. I remember these throughout the 00s. I was grinding up in their at like 13. 😂
I think you made a lot of great points in the videos that we should be more accepting of these kids and them trying to find their place in society. However my biggest issue is when you go into these spaces like Sephora and these tweens are unbelievably rude. I have friends who work at Sephora and places like it and the stories they tell of these kids who come in and are rude to the employees and other customers is appalling, that’s where I draw a boundary of tweens in these spaces. I think it ultimately reflects on the parents and the fact that they’re not taking responsibility for their child’s actions, not only teaching them how to behave in these spaces, but also the parents lacking the education on the products their children want to buy or are buying.
So I’m a 1987 baby so became a teen in the very early 2000s. The same issues existed then as now; the lack of a third space, the desire to grow up quickly and wear makeup, etc. The makeup was just dream matte mousse and blue eyeshadow because that’s what our magazines advertised to us. We didnt have internet in our houses until I was maybe 14 and luckily nothing exists from then, I was able to delete my early internet footprint. But I was dyeing my hair (with box dye, but never mind) from age 12. My mother put henna on my hair at like 10. It’s always been like this, there’s just internet to discuss it now. Edited to add: I remember hair mascara, what a mess. When it rained (and it did, in central Scotland), it would run down your face. I also find it really funny talking about accidentally running up your phone bill because so 2010s, because I had that exact problem in 2004. In 2010, I had my own phone contract that I paid for. It’s fascinating how we’re all basically just the same.
Wow, Jordan, thank you! This is the first of so many videos I've watched on the subject that don't just rehash the same third place argument and that is objective. I love how objective and thorough this video was!
I know you said it’s a few years before your time but your description of being a tween in 2007 was almost my exact experience! I even had the spiky earrings from Claire’s!😄
omg shout magazine yess. there was a confessions section and me and my friend made up a story and it ended up getting published, we were so gassed when we read it. I really hope at least that issue is still hanging around my parents house
I was a tween in the late 90's early 2000's and we were definitely acting the same way. Does anyone else remember the trend of super low rise jeans and the top of your thong showing? We were all trying to wear that I specifically remember buying thongs at like 12, without my parents knowing, and then pulling up the string over my pants. Also if i remember correctly we were wearing the super heavy eyeliner and thick mascara, and lip liner lol I would spend like 10 mins on each eye at least.
This was such a well balanced take on this phenomena. I have found myself down the rabbit hole of 10 y/o tik tok Sephora content and sometimes with more of the "get these kids off my lawn" mindset, rather than the "are the kids ok - and if not why?" mindset, and a video essay like this really helped me rebalance my mindset. Also to be reminded that the moral panic is a thing with historical precedence and now I'm just at the age of the panicker vs. the panicked upon was a crucially good reminder. Thanks fren
I was 10 years old in 1997 and one of the differences was that the marketing was for things like Maybelline, cover girl, Rimmel … drug store brands. The fanciest my friends ever got was Clinique. This kind of high end stuff didn’t exist in the same way it does now, it’s so normalized to have all this high end stuff.
I'm a few years younger and I totally agree. I think folks in their 20s right now definitely had tween years similar to the current tweens in that Anastasia Beverly hills etc was popular but anyone our age or older had different experiences. Social media was much different, we could "turn off"/"walk away" from pro consumerist content, etc. Everyone is different but I surely didn't know about all the skincare options out there, nor was I allowed access to them. It's just different now, and I think it's okay to say that. Being a tween/teen seems rougher now, I can't imagine what it's like seeing full faces of makeup and filters so often and people promoting anti wrinkle straws.
First of all, your background is really cool!!! Congrats on your new studio space :) I think you're absolutely correct in how all of this is just moral panic. At the end of the day, when kids enter their Tween Era™, they become slightly more conscious and are curious about the world around them. Their brains are evolving and they're learning from the world around them and that's natural. We shouldn't blame them for learning from adults or from content (made by adults) that they see online especially since a lot of this type of content has migrated to social media platforms, mainly TikTok (even though, TikTok was created for kids). They want to learn from adults who are not their parents because they're looking for a more "unbiased" view of the world while also forming their own opinions etc... essentially becoming more independent and autonomous individuals. And then that's also how teenage rebellion starts. It's part and parcel of life. I'm also glad that you nailed the point saying how there is a decline in third spaces for tweens. I'd like to chime in and say that capitalism and the rising cost of living has absolutely destroyed spaces. Not only is it expensive for these spaces to cover operational costs, working class adults barely have any time to go to these third spaces because of how companies have normalised the 44 hour work week. Unlike the times before the 2010s (early 2000's, 90's, 80's, etc), people do not have the energy or luxury of time to visit a bowling alley after work for example. Furthermore, now that the majority of households operate on dual income households, kids don't really have chaperones to take them to these third spaces like before. So of course, now, all they have is TikTok and other social media platforms. I also would like to point out and add on to the point about shops like Sephora. I would imagine children only being able to go there because their family's taking them to the mall on a Saturday and the agenda for the parents is to top-up some essentials and buy new clothes or make-up. So now kids are added into this equation because there's also not much to do because their parents no longer have the time or energy to maybe plan a day at the bowling alley. And again, I completely agree! It's moral panic indeed. Just that the way capitalism and overworking is now added into the equation that makes handling a tween a lot more complex in ways than we're familiar with. In my opinion, "tween behaviour" is a reflection of the effects of capitalism and the changes to the economy and socialisation. [btw idk if any of what i'm saying makes sense. this is just a verbal diarrhoea of what i concluded *sob* i'm just a girl!! TT.TT]
This video was so refreshing to see. I love the research and calm you bring to these topics and talking about the constant moral panic surrounding children.The want to "grow up" is something that will always happen. If trends keep continuing, fashion will continue to push boundaries further and we will continue to be scandalized with what the younger generations are interested in. I think the main issue right now is that with social media and rises in technology, companies are realizing that the market value of teens also applies to their attention, and they are monopolizing every second of mental space possible.
The article really put this entire thing into perspective. I had binge watched a lot of commentary on the topic and it was fascinating how identical the rhetoric was. This is my fave video on the Sephora kid situation so far, thanks for adding to the convo!
I remember wanting to grow up and look older at 10 years old (this was in 2002) but my mom and her friend shut me down real quick 😂😅 looking glad I’m so glad they stepped in cause then I had a fairly normal preteen/teen years.
Same! Also in early 2000s make up obsession wasn’t the same so most of us really did just wear makeup and if we did it was drugstore makeup unless you were rich. There wasn’t an obsession with brands bc you had to go to makeup counters for the fancy stuff and that felt way too adult by yourself. And that’s where a lot of our moms shopped and had drug store makeup so we wanted those brands. And makeup trends were way simpler back then so we didn’t have cut creases and more adult makeup. Even if you had heavier makeup it was usually bc you were a punk or goth. We had subcultures that influenced your choices as well. Plus we were included by what our friends or kids in school had the most. I remember I would sometimes wear mascara in middle school and some of my friends thought I was “grown” and that was the only make up I wore plus lip gloss. The trends have just gotten more adult with the time as well
Omg, the accidentally clicking on the internet button anxiety was real with me. I love your videos, you always remember the strange little things about life that I had forgotten about and it’s kinda fun!
The lost of tween culture makes me sad. I honestly think the lack of monoculture is a big reason! We all watched MTV, read the same magazines, listened to the same music on the radio and watched the same tv shows. I remember going to school in 7th grade to talk about one tree hill with my friends because every girl in the school watched it religiously. I think tweens feel more isolated bc with social media they are siloed into their own echo chambers of interests and friend IRL might not even know the show they love exists and so forth bc of streaming for example and the only monoculture left revolves around adults! The tweens aren’t united and connected so that they have to find a connection point somewhere. I think about the downfall of monoculture and it affects way too much.
this is a great point, and it’s so interesting how the lack of monoculture has now kind of created a lack of belonging which has led tweens and teen girls to all dressing EXACTLY alike and hoarding the same EXACT stanley cups and specific skin care products (drunk elephant, sol de jainero)
@@bambiisbonkersplus the fact she said the new marketing demo is 10-30 is insane! I’m in my 30s. Why is a 10 yr being marketed the same stuff? We need a teen monoculture. And marketing needs to be trimmed down. Why can’t Zara have a tween section online or in store at least. There has to be an in between. I don’t need 10 year olds watching Euphoria because there isn’t a a show on Disney or CW that they’re obsessed with. Plus the idea of tween influencers is kind of sad and too many creeps online for a 12 year old old to be an influencer
@@indiefairy09 EXACTLY!! im 29 and feel the same way. as a tween i used to LOVE abercrombie kids, and the thought of going into the “adult version”, abercrombie and fitch was intimidating and not something i was interested in! unfortunately as long as tiktok is around and parents aren’t monitoring their kids access to it, idk how it can change. the tween influencer seems like a good idea to capture that demographic and pull them in the right direction, but there is so much inherently wrong with both tweens and teenagers being influencers 😅 like you said, too many creeps and just generally unsafe for their physical and mental health. ultimately i think the only way this can shift back is that im hoping parents eventually will collectively come to the conclusion that things need to change and they will start monitoring screen time and create strict boundaries around what type of content and media their kids are consuming 💔
I think it should be entirely for parents to set age limits on their kids phones and for all popular apps to have age limited versions that parents can download and then lock into their kids phones. Children need to be allowed to be kids and having them "socialising" with all ages and demographics of the entire world via social media, totally unfiltered (I know I see the irony of using this word), is not a good idea.
As someone who works with young people, thank you, this is so well put together. (Also i think I like the home aesthetic more but the office gives you more chance for creativity with backdrop)
There have been a lot of videos on this topic recently and I really like how much more empathic this video is towards tweens. We definitely need more of that online.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks to Milanote for sponsoring this video!!!! Sign up for free and start your next creative project: milanote.com/jordantheresa0124
time stamps:
00:00 - intro
08:20 - the origins of the tween
13:16 - the tween moral panic
20:08 - the death of tween fashion
27:24 - the death of tween magazines
35:12 - are the twelve year olds really storming sephora
"Old age does not love youth" or "old age envyes youth"
"Old age does not love youth" or "old age envyes youth"
i would love to hear a video on how toxic the older generation actually is, specially in the workplace (w gen Z,) they all have this toxic workplace culture mindset, ive had multiple 30/40 year something managers who were so enraged by us gen z for just existing and expressing ourselves like we do and not to lose ourselves into this culture and take care of ourselves, also they hate on younger women for not wanting houses or kids like them
I like your hair Jordan ps my name is also Jordan but I’m a boy❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
i think a lot of people are forgetting that our tween ages weren't really that great either and they end up freaking out about basic stuff like kids wanting stuff that older teenagers have because they're the cool kids. kids have always wanted to be more adult. i think it's more concerning that their parents are actually BUYING them these ridiculously expensive and potentially harmful products. the only skincare a 10 year old needs is to wash their face and use sunscreen. when i was a kid and wanted makeup my parents got me drugstore lip gloss, not fucking charlotte tilbury??
and the sephora skincare smoothie thing with the drunk elephant displays, yes let absolutely them have fun with makeup (if i was 10 i’d want the same) but that shouldn’t be at the expense of employees how have to end up cleaning that up
p.s. also i’m sure it’s not just them doing it adults started the trends so they are now following suit
yess!! why are they skipping the drugstore makeup?? anytime i wanted makeup, it was drugstore only. usually only mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss. my mom would have laughed in my face if i asked for high end makeup lol
Also the fact makeup literally pointless for Tweens. Woman use makeup to even the color of their face because color of your face begins to become uneven as you age, to remove wrinkles and to add blush to look cuter etc literally all things that Tweens don’t need to worry about.
@@holllaabiaatch but even the drug store makeup is so much better today, as well as the tutorials. My oldest niece is 14 now, stood in front of me with a full face, looking flawless and I thought "why don't you look like shit? I looked like shit when I tried that your age!" Well, of course I did, being caked up with that damned mousse foundation eight shades too dark. Learned the application from a book! It's so much easier when you actually see the movement.
Edit: I also bought a Dior lipgloss at 14, Benefit skincare, we always did that. You want to be fancy and grownup
Tbh the only skincare anyone needs is clean water and spf. But overall i agree with you. Its the parents, not the kids
the fact that it's all about "twelve year old girls" is very telling because where is this level of outrage over young boys being radicalized spewing misogynistic hate towards girls? why are we getting so mad at something ultimately quite harmless... just because it mainly involves girls?
I’ve noticed that when boys go down like the alt right pipeline or watch content that promotes misogyny and racism no one dares to give them the same criticism but since it’s teenage girls who like makeup and such people spend more time giving them shit.
And when people do point out that tween boys have this issue, you immediately get dogpiled by people saying that you are demonising boys and that society hates masculinity.
Right in many comments there are so many teen boys saying very inappropriate things saying it’s a “joke” or dark humor, which I don’t think anything that has to do with children, SA etc is funny.
I notice that what is being taught to youngsters at school did not make Jordans sphere of influence, or would that result in her star ratings being reduced ?
Just watched a video by Aba and Preach of them reacting to this red pill guy named Sneako meeting his fans who were literally no older than 12 years old saying “fuck the women” ??? It even caught Sneako offguard and despite him trying to tell them to not say that, it was so indoctrinated in their brains that they just kept going- even tho the person they looked up to was telling them to stop. It was so gross
the thing that irks me the most abt this tweens in sephora thing is fully adult people FILMING KIDS MINDING THEIR BUSINESS WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION AND PUTTING IT ON THE INTERNET TO BULLY THEM!!? LIKE WTF!?!
EXACTLY!! I don’t understand why grown women are recording kids and getting thousands of views from it. It’s sad how it’s become normalized for people to be hypercritical and hateful towards children. People act as if they weren’t the same way when they were younger and wanting to act like their teen and adult counterparts.
just goes back to kids can't exist outside anymore cuz adults always got somethin to say in one way or another, at least they didnt call police
@@banquetoftheleviathan1404 And these same adults will say kids don't act like kids anymore.
We ALL know by now that ANY TIME you are in public it is a possibility that you can be filmed....🙄
@@TomikaKellyYes. But that doesn't make it okay. Especially when it comes to children.
I knew girls my age using skin care and makeup and telling me I was strange for not caring when I was 11-13... in the early 2000s. Absolutely agreed this isn't anything new. The expensive brands getting pushed/wanted by kids is a result of rich people on social media.
Yes I said I didn't wash my face and a girl literally scowled and said "thats disgusting" 😂
There’s a huge difference between face wash and a 8/9 year old using retinol on their face. We are going to see the results as they age and it’s not going to fair well for their skin
@@freethegays lmao i don’t wash my face either, it’s the only thing that keeps my skin clear and even! for thousands and thousands of years humans didn’t clean their bodies or faces except for a few times a year. we’re meant to keep these natural oils!
@@Punkypurplechaos exactly. This is not normal. It's definitely something new...
Well yeah there have always been teen skincare brands like neutrogena and clean & clear, but the difference now is young teens using harsh active ingredients like lactic acid, vitamin c & retinols. They’re going to ruin their skin and hopefully won’t have to learn the hard way. If only they were being pushed to religiously use sunscreen instead lol
You know you're getting old, when people your age are complaining about the youth.
You’re still young it’s weird how kids are using anti aging stuff when they don’t need to worry about that and why are their parents getting them unnecessary, overpriced things
as a 20 year old how did we forget about the anastasia craze ?? i was a teenager then 😭 we obsessed over sephora too.
Oh my god yes, it was horrible. 13 year olds with “brows on fleek”
Thiss!! Also the Kylie lip kits
If you didn’t have an urban decay naked pallet you were a nobody
As a 28 year old who worked at Sephora around that time you guys weren’t destroying the displays which would’ve actually hurt my heart to see as Sephora was my sacred space and I loved organizing the shelves too much
@@rx500androidwe weren't as insane as gen alpha but I definitely remembered getting a ton of compliments for being the "14 year old with brows on fleek" LMAOOO
It’s so funny to hear that American flags were trendy in the UK in the early 2010s, because the Union Jack was super trendy here in the USA around the same time.
I lived in Germany and both motives were trendy here lol I had shoes with the USA flag on the side at ten and a bracelet with the Union Jack and other British things
In Finland it's super common to see sweatshirts or t-shirts that say MIAMI, CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK etc and I find it super weird. Some have flags but the city/state names are very common. They are often a style I like (kinda sporty/varsity) but I cannot get behind it, especially when it's places I've never visited or don't like. Some non-American ones can be found, like PARIS or maybe BARCELONA but they are more rare.
I just pulled up one of the most popular online shops here, and on the first page of sweatshirts I found HARVARD, NEW YORK, HARLEM, JAMAICA, PARIS and LOS ANGELES.
Second page: MIAMI, LOS ANGELES, CÔTE D'AZUR, CLEVELAND, NEW YORK, PARIS, NEW YORK.
42 items/page and 6-7 have place names. Does this surprise you Emily? And is this common in the US too, and do people then have one based on where they are from/live or do people just buy whatever they like and the place is meaningless?
@@RebeccaEdSame here In ireland!
@@RebeccaEdI see it here in the US a lot, specifically like New York, Los Angeles, and Harvard
IDK if it's because it's behind over here but as a brit who currently lives in NZ- it's hilarious seeing the american flag trend appear over here ten years later haha
I think the problem is much more rooted in the society these kids are growing up in, not with the kids themselves, but older generations find more comfort in the idea that it must be a difference in the kids because the idea that to fix the problem means fixing so many far-reaching, systemic issues in society is very scary and overwhelming. If the kids are behaving in a way you find distasteful, take a moment to reflect on yourself and the other adults around you. That's who the kids are looking at, too.
yess exactly. It's not the tweens that are "worse," it's the influence.
THIS!!!!!!
This is so right on and so beautifully stated.
i actually 100% agree with this and i wish this is what the conversation is centred around, rather than demonizing a bunch of 8 year old girls
I think the disagreement happening here isn't in thinking that the problem is societally rooted, I think everyone agrees with that. I think the disagreement about the problem lies more in what to do about it. And what to do about it certainly isn't just to declare the problems are too far reaching for individuals to do anything about it. I mean you don't need to solve society's problems to not put an iPad in your kids face and to not take their requests for luxury goods seriously.
I have been working with 4 - 15 year olds for a decade, I love it and I choose to do it as a job because it makes me happy. However, I can say with 100% confidence that children aged 4 - 10 (COVID babies and young kids) are 'worse' now. And when I say 'worse' I just mean that the way they navigate the world is so far removed from reality because they really do experience too much of their life through a screen or the lens of the internet, and it has made for some very impatient, ungrateful, and (I'll say it) unintelligent children. BUT, this isn't their fault! And the tragedy of it isn't "kids these days are monsters", but it's actually "kids these days have been given no option but to grow up this way". And of course like in all things there is nuance, and there are exceptions, and it will change from child to child, family to family, place to place. But since late 2021, man oh man have I taught some awful kids.
I understand where people are coming from when they say that but I feel like this kind of discourse has shifted towards adults acting so pessimistic about children and dehumanizing them and categorizing them as “crotch goblins” and they’re the same ones who mocked children for actually acting their age.
@@siennafreeman4087 I’d argue that the people talking about children in such negative and “quirky” (idk what the right word to use is lol) ways are part of the reason that this generation of children is so annoying. They got it from somewhere.
I work with children of similar ages and I absolutely agree with you. It's not the tweens that we should be worrying about, it's the younger children whose social development was absolutely stunted by COVID. The 5 year olds I look after now (who were born 2018-2019 so literally have no pre-covid memory) are SO much more difficult than the 5 year olds I had 3 or 4 years ago. And yes there are always going to be difficult children but it seems like such a higher percentage of them than before! The older kids, like 10+, have their own issues but for the most part I haven't seen much of a change in the general behaviour since I started working i n childcare over 5 years ago. And honestly, I was a tween 10 years ago and I ABSOLUTELY acted like tweens now (and I was a very mild-mannered, introverted child!), just in different ways -- like Jordan mentioned, it wasn't Drunk Elephant skincare and lululemon but Morphe eyeshadow pallets and tumblr fashion.
I get it, but that’s tbh coming from you only knowing your perspective. This is exactly what older generations always think about the younger, as Jordan said in the beginning. They are different, not worse. Just different as any generation is from the other. Their differences are also amplified through the times they are living in. With the tablets and all. If you would dig long enough, you’d find older people being mad at younger ones for using electricity in their houses. Like literally. I’m not saying you can’t feel like you feel. Just that it’s absolutely nothing new and in the end has actually nothing to do with the kids but with our mindset and ourselves alone
@@klarapopilkova5791 yes for sure, but what I’m saying is just in the last 5 years there’s been a massive shift. The kids I was teaching pre-COVID and the ones I am teaching now are less patient, less grateful, and less emotionally intelligent. And I believe it’s because they’ve had the lens of the internet social media forced onto them from way too young.
I once heard the statement that tween/teen girls can like NOTHING without people making fun of them and I think that’s fundamentally true. If they like Popstars they are too intense in their fandom, if they like makeup they’re too grown up and if they demonstrate for a better planet they don’t get taken seriously.
Yes, I believe that all the media and social media usage from a young age (thought not their fault) has negatively impacted them but we are sooo quick to absolutely hate on them.
I absolutely LOVE your take on this. You don’t just jump on the „let’s hate 12 year old girls“ bandwagon but actually look in to the topic. Got so excited when I saw your video xxx
”when spaces are so anti-children, they are in turn anti-women.” 👏🏼👏🏼
ur really bad at rage baiting@ville__
@@AN-sm3vjthe whole is that this isn’t some breaking news. Tweens have always wanted to wear make up and grow up. They’re just recycling what older generations have been saying about us.
@@nars5332true, but to be fair, that's a bot
🤔
Amen, looking at planned parenthood. #ProLife
When Mean Girls originally came out, people were panicking about tweens being too "grown up". There's even a scene or two in the movie reflecting these anxieties.
Now that I'm 30, I've gotta say it's pretty funny watching GenZ freak out about the same thing, with the same talking points like it's a new thing.
Like that one scene with Regina’s little sister
Weren't the Plastics in Mean Girls meant to be 16? The girls in Cuties were 11 but played by 12 and 13 year old actresses. They were much meaner than the Plastics.
@@lemsip207
I'm not talking about the Plastics.
I'm talking about sporadic scenes in the movie, like Regina's kid sister dancing provocatively, or the freshman plastics (aged 13 or 14) at the end, being portrayed as an omen of bad things to come.
I'm also referencing the time in which it was released to point out that this kind of anxiety around tweens dates back to at least the early 2000s.
as a Gen Z person who constantly rewatches Mean Girls, even I had the exact same thought and it made me confused to see other gen z and millenial people freak out over the same things, as if it didn't also happen in real life too (as someone who used to wear a full face of makeup as a young teen)
@yeahreally9185 The freshmen plastics would be either 14 or 15 as high school starts with the ninth grade. They could have been sophomores, though. They are not tweens but teens at that age..
young girls and tweens have always wanted to look and act older, dress up, wear makeup, etc. but i think the difference is that parents used to say NO or at least create rules and boundaries. i don’t understand the logic of parents who buy their little kids whatever expensive thing they ask for. growing up, my parents were plenty well off but i wasn’t just given stuff without second thought. if i wanted something special, i would ask for it and eventually get it as a gift at christmas or my birthday and that’s it. then i started working when i was 16 and used that money to buy myself fun things.
little girls today demand expensive products to be bought for them and the parents give it to them without the kids working for it via doing chores, getting good grades in school, etc. bad behavior is being rewarded by materialism and i am so so so worried about what’s going to happen to these little girls when they grow up. not only will they have ZERO work ethic, they won’t be able to afford the consumerist lifestyle that they’re accustomed to and quite honestly ADDICTED to from a very early age. parents need to start teaching these kids the value of a dollar and financial responsibility. bc they are literally setting their kids up for failure.
How do you even know if this is true? How do you know the kids didn't work for it? How do know how much time elapsed between them asking and them getting? And why are we treating our kids like little workers? Being "spoiled" is not about whether you're given expensive things. It's about whether you are allowed to feel "entitled" to expensive things, which is all about how you give your kids things not what or if you them these things. And no, making kids "work for stuff" is not the only way to avoid spoiling them.
Now we can criticise consumer capitalism all day long, but "materialism" as you're invoking it is just a red herring used to trick normal working class people into fighting each other while the rich people run out the back door with all our money. They're the ones winning while we fight over whose kids are spoilt or not.
I was born in 1990 and as a tween a lot of parents let their daughters dress like grown women. Very much the 'cool mom' thing from Mean Girls was happening. I wasn't allowed by my mom but she's from Asia and much more conservative with dressing. Wild materialism too. Doesn't seem very different from today sadly.
@@IshtarNike admittedly my opinion and viewpoint is based off anecdotal evidence from being involved with my family and friends’ kids lives and various stories i’ve heard from others. of course this could just be a small sample and not representative or indicative of the population as a whole. and when i say “work for it” i mean by doing what is expected of them, as i mentioned chores like picking up after themselves, helping with dishes etc., and keeping up their grades. all things kids have done for generations to set them up to handle responsibilities as adults. obviously i don’t believe ANY children should be subjected to labor!
and i COMPLETELY agree. the CEOs and heads of these companies and corporations kids are buying from are laughing all the way to the bank. they don’t give a flying fuck about the well being of these kids or the implications this will have on the future. overconsumption and materialism is at an all time high and that’s why the PARENTS need to step in. but we ALL need to stop mindlessly giving our money and time to companies that feed off our insecurities in order to pad their pockets.
That was also the Case in my day. You have parents who indulge their Kids Like that. Except These days those families also have tiktok. But how people Leap from that to "all Kids today are spoilt" is ... A stretch
@@annabeinglazy5580 i totally agree. it’s in the same vain that the world is a much safer place than it’s ever been, we’re just constantly exposed to what’s going on for the first time. but that being said, a few of the girls i’ve seen with very expensive products are from working class families kinda breaking the bank to afford them
me when i open youtube and see that u posted a video 32 seconds ago 👁️🫦👁️
LITERALLY
me but an hour ago
@@jaxj968 real
I hope that someone mentions Proactiv. For some reason people are forgetting that skincare has BEEN popular amongst the younger crowd. Now it’s about anti-aging but back then it was about terrible raging acne on everyone’s faces
OH MY GOD proactiv ads were everywhere in the 2010s when i was a tween, this just unlocked a memory
@@caitlinwall895 lol I remember we would try it In middle/high school & after 2-3 days it would make our acne worse
@@heysilly1341 i'm so glad my mom never let me use it😭😭 i was a st ives girl which is not much better honestly
!!!
Teenage acne and aging are two different things.
I haven't finished the video but I think there's a real lack of sympathy for these so called "Sephora 12 yr olds". Why do they feel the need to buy makeup and expensive clothes? Skincare? It almost feel as if we're just making fun of young girls, it's so unproductive. If we're gonna talk about young girls being pressured into growing up too fast, let's have that conversation, what we're not gonna do is dog pile on young girls.
Thank you. I’m a teen and I was talking about since the year started I feel like teens are getting attacked more than help
I feel like adults are taking this an opportunity to project and dehumanize kids which is why they probably over exaggerate the “Sephora kids” discourse. I also feel like people aren’t understanding why kids are acting this way and not realizing it’s the societal standards and bad parenting that contributes to this materialistic attitude.
@@siennafreeman4087 not to mention as a teen myselfthe Sephora kids thing is so funny especially coming from older gen z and millennials cus I know they had their own makeup trends too
@@AUGHHHHHBBG We had oily lip gloss from the beauty supply store and, if you were lucky, Lip Smackers from Target, NOT Sephora at 12.
Exactly. These people are so quick to insult young girls without having sympathy on them. No consideration of what cause them to wanting to be older
Thank you for making this video! ive found it so weird seeing grown adults bashing teens and tweens for going into sephora and having full vanitys as if we didnt do the same thing, and even if you didnt its not like tweens are seeing other tweens doing other things. weve known for so long that children are on social media and yet people still act like only adults are online, of course theyre gonna act older or try to appear older
That's kind of how I felt about teachers bashing their students online, like wtf.... what if those kids see this?
@@Reverse_Cowgirl-catas a teen imma say for the teacher thing too is they are making school worse cus we got all these grown folks saying we are dumb and now everyone kinda just annoyed and now don’t wanna try no more cus hey our history teacher said we were stupid
@srose1088 i don't think bashing kids is good, but tbf there is a serious problem of children being so behind in school. My mom has taught for decades and she really is a great teacher who loves and provides so much for her kids. She used to send her kinder kids to 1st grade READING. And now so many little ones aren't even meeting basic standards. They improve, but moving from not being able to really read to reading at a 1st grade level as a 3rd or 4th grader is so sad. Buts this isn't the fault of the kids necessarily, but rather the parents and the system.
They're not necessarily bashing them for going in there and having fun... they're bashing them for how they're acting, they act like they have no control and they're giving a lot of attitude in the early 2000 and10s never had this issue. Kids actually had manners and would buy things that they actually needed with their parents approval.
@@Reverse_Cowgirl-catEvery time I’ve seen videos of teachers talking about the kids falling behind and not reading on their grade level and stuff, some of those videos are just bashing kids and labeling them with such negativity and not realizing that kids are burnt out and parents aren’t doing their job at all. I also believe that late stage capitalism has led to this burnout and stress towards teens and has contributed to them just caring anymore.
The lack of third places is so incredibly true. Not just children but also adults lack safe places to hangout and spend time away from home , school or work. I feel this is a world wide issue. I myself live in New Zealand where it’s often tough to find free things to do or places to be. Yes there are public spaces such as parks and museums but we truly need more. I mean they actively deter young people from being in a lot of these free public spaces too. I feel the lack of third space attributes to a general sense of boredom or having nothing to do with all age groups. Maybe this is why there is such a relaxed view on devils lettuce and alcohol consumption. It’s easier and often times cheaper to drink in a friends garage with a shitty speaker blasting, then it is to go to the movies or play around of bowling. I truly could go on and on but that’s my thoughts on the subject for now.
Ok my theory is that store associates used to be able to tell us to knock it off and kick us out to stores bc we didn’t have cellphones / recording them. But we were just as terrible in stores !
Also, parents used to back the employees up. Nowadays parents have gone overboard on protecting their kids, which for some reason includes protecting them from the reasonable consequences of their actions. This means the parents will want to fight the shop assistant regardless of the kids behaviour. They go nuclear and people just don't want to deal with that. So the kids learn that they can do dumb shit and get away with it.
When it as like 13, a bunch of stores in my town made it where after a certain time people under 16 had to be escorted by an adult because kids were coming in a trashing the stores. This was over 10 years ago. It's definitely not a new thing.
That's always been an issue. Why do you think those parents think it's okay to "go nuclear" and "protect" their kids? They grew up the same way.
I agree, I see a lot of older gen z and millennials talk disgusting towards the kids nowadays like haven’t we learnt from baby boomers and gen x bullying us ???
I teach high school students. I agree that kids are not inherently worse. But I am concerned with the way many of them are growing up. There seems to be a level of disconnect between many parents and their kids. 41% of my students are truant (as in chronically absent to the point of breaking the law) and many of their parents either don't care or don't have the capacity to care with how stressed they are. I cannot tell you the amount of parents who legitimately have the school number blocked, so I have to call them from a burner to talk about their child's progress and behavior. I understand there are many nuances and aspects to discuss in regard to this, but overall I just think there is a lot of hurt and I'm genuinely sad for the kids.
Oh my GOD calling from a burner phone???? So fkn sad, these poor ALONE kids getting their brains fried out from tiktok😪 capitalism and the brutal way so many are forced to live under it have GOT to go!!!!
My school contacted my dad after 3 days unexcused. The absentee system (in America at least) is ableist. I can agree that many students are disconnected from their parents though, and that behavior isn’t great.
@@gray9606ableist in what way? If the parents contact the school with a legitimate reason to be absent then there isn’t any issue.
@@DSQueenie a lot of schools refuse to believe students/their parents with regards to disability and illness, especially mental illness. Transphobic policies coming into place in many areas will also impact absence levels.
I can’t even imagine being a parent and caring so little that I block the school’s number. What 😭😭 Poor kids
i was 13-14 in 2010 so i was technically a teen but EVERYTHING you mentioned brought me back so fast omg outfit layouts on polyvore with scarfs with the american flag, Twitter beef between 1D fans and The Wanted fans, overly saturated pictures of baby lips on tumblr taken with a semi professional camera, and zoella and the brit crew uploads like Zoe was the blue print for so many outfits man
...im 13-14 and was BORN in 2010
RIP polyvore!
I still miss polyvore to this day
Yeah it's so obnoxious how so many people hit their late 20s and suddenly start having a moral panic about the lives of teenagers. The 'twelve year olds storming sephora' thing is unfortunately just the latest iteration of it; and the people going on about it definitely used to spend money on full glam themselves. The 'puriteens' thing is another one you've just gotta roll your eyes at.
Yup - the hypocritical commentary is really weird. But at the end of the day it's not normal for tweens/teens to invenst hundreds of dollars on skincare, makeup, fast fashion and whatever else tiktok says they need to rn (stanley cups apparently...)
I agree with all you said, but my only add-on is that adults complaining about these kids probably didnt all grow up with lots of makeup. Some may have been in the trend of hating it to "be not like other girls". Generalizing groups of people makes things more hostal. Not actually big deal, I just wanted to add to the convo
@@danielsedani mean like i (my parents 💀) spent hundreds on barbies and american girl doll clothes and play sets for me so idk what’s the difference 🤷🏻♀️ that was the trend when i was a kid and nowadays is just makeup
genuine question, what does “puriteens” mean? what does it mean in the context of your comment? i’m not entirely sure and i’m so curious haha
@@Frankie-wc6tgit means that they aren’t as sex focused, which some take to mean as them being sex-negative
In Latin America we had an equivalent of Shout magazine which is called "Tu" or "Revista Tu". I remember buying it every month and there were quizzes, fashion sections, articles on being a teen, love advice, and more. But most memorably, I remember this section called "Tragame Tierra" which translates into "Eat me up Earth", and it was about embarrassing stories that readers would submit for which they wished the Earth would "Eat them up" and dissappear on the spot because of embarrasment. It was hilarious.
Thanks for your support I really appreciate you for being an active fan. 𝑳𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 ❤
I definitely agree that there’s always a moral panic from the older generations about the one that comes after it. One thing that gives me pause though is seeing teachers (generally in the US) leaving the profession in droves. While pay is an obvious issue, the main reason teachers give for leaving is student behavior and lack of support from admin re: student behavior. It’s not just young, inexperienced teachers with these complaints, but veteran teachers with decades of experience saying that student behavior has gotten dramatically worse.
I haven’t interacted much with American kids/tweens much so I can’t weigh in myself, but hearing the same thing from so many people who have worked with young people for decades does lend some credence to the idea that things have gotten worse. Of course, even if it’s true that behavior has gotten worse, fault for this trend lies with the adults in their lives who enable problematic behavior rather than the kids themselves
Yeah hearing similar complaints from seasoned teachers hits a bit different.
Permissive and neglectful parents with badly behaved kids have always been an issue, so I don't know if we can solely blame today's parents for this either. Keep in mind that teachers have had a history of painting entire generations for being worse behaved than their own generation. There's no data to prove that kids are actually worse behaved than generations before.
However, on an academic level, kids are actually falling more behind, and I think that given that's one of the only actual differences between gen alpha and other generations. The pandemic has left kids with a huge education gap, so that may be part of the issue. I remember trying to take online classes as a college student, and that was hell, so I can't imagine how hard it must've been for kids as young as kindergarten or first grade trying to concentrate on learning to read or write at home and through a screen, probably while their parents are in a different room or not at home at all to make sure they're paying attention, and that's not even considering technical difficulties, teachers being experienced with using Zoom to teach, and many families having slower wifi, especially if these kids have multiple siblings who are also trying to do their online classes at the same time or parents who are trying to work from home the same way. Some kids don't even have wifi at home. Even with perfect internet, a lot of kids don't have the luxury of a distraction free environment either. With all these factors, it's honestly no wonder kids are academically behind now.
And if you're a teacher, and you're teaching a classroom full of fifth graders who are reading at a second grade level when they easily would've been caught up had they learned to read the proper way, I can't imagine how frustrating and also depressing that would be. Some teachers I'd imagine give up because they know they can't help these kids on their own and it all becomes very stressful, and some resent the kids or parents and think, "All these kids are dumb." or "All these parents don't care about their children's education." and quit for that reason too.
as a 16 year old, during my 'tween' years i definitely felt the kind of awkward tween phase was already fading out tbf. i noticed in year 7 i felt a little out of place seeing most girls in my classes already were wearing full faces of makeup to school. as i moved up through secondary school, ive deffo noticed its like each new year 7's are getting more mature every year
Oh my God! I totally relate, I think it's because social media really ruined people
Yeah but tbf we were tweens during covid, I don’t think we really know what being a tween is like either
@@karavandebeek i mean not really we were tweens just before it. like 2016-2019 i remember turning 13 in lockdown tho nd my mum got me a 'quarenteen birthday' top💀
I was also a tween in the early 2010s and I remember at the time there were kids, myself included, who were super into monster high and still got their clothes from places like limited too and the kids section of department stores like Sears or JCPenny. But there was also a group of kids in my grade in middle school who would dress for school in the millennial
-business-casual-club-wear trend to go to 7th grade science at 8am. I don’t think the phenomenon of tweens wanting to partake in things that aren’t exactly “age appropriate” is new. I think the difference now is that when I was a tween wearing a coral bandage skirt, wedge heels and a smokey eye to band class wasn’t going to hurt anyone, where as using retinol does have the potential to cause skin damage. I work in retail, I see kids come up to the register looking like deer in the headlights with their parents credit card in hand, so I don’t put any of the blame here on the kids themselves bc “where is your parent?” I was really into makeup when I was a tween and I would go makeup shopping with my mom who was in her 50s at the time and she would explain to me how my skin was younger than hers and why I didn’t need things like under eye creams that she was buying for herself. I feel like that’s what’s missing here, bc these kids aren’t just getting $100s of dollars to spend on drunk elephant from out of thin air. If they’re old enough to be left in Sephora alone they’re probably old enough to do some research with mom and learn why they don’t need to be putting retinol or other anti aging products on their skin and the potential harms of doing so at such a young age.
It's definitely also the parents not even knowing what retinol is, and not bothering to find out. They see cute packaging aimed towards kids and think it should be fine.
Honestly the home background is just so cozy I can’t let go of it
Watching Amandabb's video on the Sephora Kids tiktok drama really makes this video so interesting. I commented on Amandabb's video saying that ppl hating children is bad because kids are oppressed and abused as a whole demographic and hating them entirely is so gross. I see similar feelings in Hymowitz's article.
I don’t want kids but the ppl who hate kids with a passion are weirdos. Sure kids can be annoying in public when you’re busy and trying to do errands or traveling but I’ve never gotten mad or thought to call the kid a bitch. I mainly get annoyed at the parents for scrolling on their phone and ignoring their kids and letting them run wild! Kids misbehave bc their parents aren’t pay attention to them or sensory overload for the most part. It’s annoying at best. But you don’t have to hate kids violently with your words and actions
@@sawsawsuka I honestly can’t understand how far removed some ppl are from their childhood to at least not empathize with the common mindset a child has. It’s like ppl think they have to treat kids like adults to treat them as a human being.
Congrats on 500k queen! I’m seated and ready to watch this video. LETS GO
one of the best looks at this topic that has come out!! Video essay youtube has been ON IT with the "Sephora Teens" and this is a really fun look at it! I will note that it is super interesting to think of how quickly we are to jump to criticize little girls when arguably the moral panic lies with how society treats young men... The effects are far more outwardly harmful as well as to the kids themselves than little girls making their tween culture the same as out consumer influencing cycles as adults
THANK YOU!! I think this literally every time I see someone on tiktok complaining about ‘kids these days’, we’re just aging out of youth culture and that’s FINE, more people need to accept kids are not worse….they’re just kids!!! Great video❤
I was a Sephora tween myself many years ago and I just think the difference is that no one was filming 24/7 like they are now. My parents and my friends' parents bought me and my friends whatever expensive things we wanted, no one but us knew because it wasn't getting blasted on social media. It was still happening, but without social media it was more private so a lot of people who didn’t grow up rich could say it wasn’t happening. I also think there's this big romanticization of childhood that every generation has because they're burnt out on adult responsibilities but they're too removed from childhood to realize that most kids don't want to be kids. Kids want to grow up because we've been glamorizing adulthood for millennia. This pink princess Mary Jane look that the 1998 article described wasn't what kids at that age wanted to wear, it's what their parents wanted them to wear. Kids have always wanted to grow up and rich kids have always been there, we're just filming ourselves and everyone around us allowing the whole world to pick us apart. Also, dear commentary RUclipsrs, not every single one of you needs to make a video about the "Sephora kids!!!!!!" it's become the new Tide Pods.
really makes me appreciate CRT, couldn't see make-up or cgi on those things
I like sephora videos
sums up everything I was thinking ngl… being a tween fucking SUCKED ASS for me and an unsurprisingly huge amount of my friends too. From when I was 10 years old, and every year onwards, I’ve been chemically depressed… and being a tween only added situational depression to that!!
It’s like the age of adults who can’t remember actually being a child is decreasing SO FAST. How do people in their **mid** 20’s not at least remember being a 12 year old!? It was barely half their life ago!!! Like???? Being a kid was, is, and probably always will be SO difficult!!!!
I’m glad I don’t surround myself with, or consume content made by (and, let’s be real here, made *for* ) genuine **bullies** !!! Especially bullies who target LITERAL CHILDREN!?!? Like??? That’s EXCEEDINGLY yucky!!!!!!!!
It honestly makes me sad that teens now will never know the true magic of magazines. The articles, the colors, tthe submissions, the perfume samples, and the best part... the embarrassing stories and horoscopes at the end.
@@---Melody--- obviously they do..but the experience is not the same as when we used to get them monthly instead of constant social media updates. Nice try but chill.
Also, I'm not sure of the difference between the prices of magazines now and then, but magazines nowadays are, like, $15- $20.
Life was hard enough already as a Zillennial tween/teen with how prominent fat phobia was and being subjected to predominantly Euro-centric beauty standards as a brown/multiracial kid. Considering that kids now have to deal with the exploitation and toxicity issues within social media, hyper-consumerism, and decline of group hangout spots for youth, I’m really concerned for the well being and mental health of Gen Z/Gen Alpha and for the future generations. They are not being properly taught about internet and media literacy and are also not given the chance to go through adolescence without public criticism/ridicule and we as a society are letting it happen.
I remember Paris Hilton setting the standard for how you were supposed to look then which was super thin. She had a friend who was anorexic.
!!!!!!!!
@meghansullivan6812 The fat phobia was real and then Beyonce and Kim Kardashian brought hips and butts into fashion.
thank you for voicing my thoughts exactly jordan!! super good week for video essay girlies dropping videos about third spaces (tiffanyferg and mina le🤞) another thing is definitely that the viral "sephora teens" are definitely upper middle class and being enabled by their parents; it's not a new epidemic it's something that wealthier kids have always been able to do but now they're the forefront of an online trend instead of just being the popular rich girls in their middle school
I was born in 1990. Being a tween during Y2K was a trip! I had super conservative parents so it was a huge panic that was going on during that time. I wasn’t allowed to show my stomach, wear any shorts or pants with writing on the butt, and I had to sneak to listen to Britney Spears and The Spice Girls at my cousin’s house because they thought every entertainer at the time was “evil”. It was insane! Plus 9/11 on top of that.
Nothing like satanic panic on top of blind absolute patriotism.
I have two nieces that are 10 and 11 and what worries me is that they feel like they need to spend hundreds of dollars at sephora/ulta wherever to look "pretty". Like baby you don't need full conceal foundation! Your skin is perfect! And just the acidic face cleansers and drops can ruin their skin and they literally don't need any of that. Idk man im just worried about their self esteem and feeling like they have to keep up with all the tiktok trends.
maybe i just see way too many of these kinds of people online, but i don't like how many seem to not care that much about young girls getting into makeup. like, yeah, it can be and is fun to do interesting looks, but be fucking for real. most are doing it because they want to feel prettier. they feel like it's just what you to do to feel pretty. idk. from what i saw of my peers, and from my own memories, it wasn't as much about having artistic fun as we liked to say
you put into words exactly what I was thinking about this whole 'sephora' kids thing, why is it a trend to bully 12 year olds! Let 12 year olds be annoying!
12 year olds can be annoying to their parents at their houses.
One thing I want to say about the "moral panics" of the past is that they were over stuff that is fundamentally different drom socoal media. Novels and TV are passive consumption modes. And even more importantly, they are ONE WAY. The reader reads the book. Social media reads you back! It reads your actions, your engagement, what you clicked on, your screen time, what you clicked away from. It is specifically designed to tailor itself to you and your personal desires and biases, and then it feeds you more of them. It really is a whole different ball game to any of the so called moral panics before and I think there's far more reason to be worried about social media than there ever was about television. Even during the height of the television generation kids went outside to have fun and they played games with their friends. They could also bomd over shared experiences. With social media people are increasingly isolated in their filter bubbles. Parents need to actively make sure their kids are getting out and about and getting real socialisation.
I’m 23 so I was a ‘tween’ 10 years ago, and I wholeheartedly agree with this. I was obsessed with beauty youtubers so I would always spend any extra pocket money at sephora (literally thinking i needed $70 chanel powder because Elle fowler or someone recommended them 😅) however i was definitely an exception, as most of my 12 year old friends didn’t wear makeup until a few years later and there definitely weren’t a lot of other girls my age at the sephora or mac’s that i went to. I also remember when I was 10 or 11 a program on the CBC here in Canada did a segment on “sext up kids” and their claim was that girls were going from toddlers to teenagers and the tween phase was dying out, so this has literally been a moral panic for 10+ years at this point, there are some valid points to make sure, but it really isn’t anything new
Omg YES. Haven't watched yet but, yeah the young girl hate is the same as it ever was. As for the sephora thing specifically, blaming kids for their lack of proper guidance and appropriate places to play is just unempathetic and illogical. (And come on, yes, they are playing. They're just trying stuff out and learning how the world works via having fun together!) Loved Elliot Sang's video about Gen Alpha, it explains these cycles well.
Finally a video that isn't shitting on kids. I was sometimes getting videos recommended of people complaining about gen alpha. gen alpha is not necessarily worse, they are just growing up in a different environment that is not kind to them.
I work in media, and your analyses are always so spot on and well-researched. I (somehow) also have hope that print media will return. NYLON announcing they're coming back in print + indie pubs like Polyester Zine really give me hope!!
thank god 😭I can always rely on Jordan for an actual nuanced take on social media trends, every video is a breath of fresh air
This was such a good video. The topic of “Sephora kids” has been so overdone recently and this is the first video I’ve seen in the while that actually added something new to the conversation. Love ur vids!
this is such a breath of fresh air, I had been so wrapped up in the moral panic about them not getting to be kids that I completely forgot we were the same at their age. Obviously we didn’t have social media to the extent they do and that’s definitely having an impact, but it’s true that it really is that amalgamation of the age brackets being targeted by marketers that’s meaning they’re not just mimicking teens anymore because the teens are mimicking adults now instead of trying to rebel
Another brilliant video, absolute 12 out of 10 from me
Ps the new background is giving light jail vibes but I reckon once you’ve got some posters up it’ll slay xx
3 minutes in but gotta say people really be like
"Ew look at the preteen expressing themselves and being a preteen so cringy" *adds to their cringe compilation vid for thousands to see*
and then have the balls to say
"Why are nobody preteens anymore?"
Like damn I sure do wonder 🙄
Thank you for this! There has never been a pre-teen who hasn’t wanted to be like teenagers. That’s entirely normal. There’s no 10 year old that’s like, “I’m totally happy being 10. You know, I don’t want to grow up too quickly.” Social media has made kids know about ridiculously expensive beauty products, while my generation was bombarded with Delia’s, Claire’s, etc.
Also, do you notice this argument is always about girls? We’re never morally panicking about tween boys.
Influencers filming and mocking children is not the win they think it is. The ultimate punching down.
HAPPY 500K GORGE
totally agree with all of this! pre teens have been desperate to grow up fast for a long time, specifically girls because of our narrow beauty standards and constant media pressure.
also thank you for sharing your thoughts on peoples negative opinions towards children! as someone who works with children I'm shocked with the amount of people who make casual comments about how much they hate them, we need more people like you challenging this(!)
YESSSS JORDAN!!! I absolutely LOVE this video and your perspective on tweenagedom! I was 9 when Y2K happened and my tween years in the early 00’s were full of so many things you describe here - Limited Too, Pac Sun, Claire’s (I got my ears pierced SPECIFICALLY so I could wear spiky ball earrings!), boy bands, cartoon monkey print *everything*, Mean Girls! All things that were so formative for me and my peers! It’s hilarious to think we were causing as much of a moral uproar then as the Seophora girls are now 😂
39:44 - 39:49 “when spaces are so anti children they are in turn anti Women”
Beautifully said Jordan, you’ve convinced me to have more patience when children are being children in public spaces.
When i was that age, i was poor, but also most of the girls in my school were on that "im not like other girls" stuff, so no one around me really wore makeup or acted like they cared about that stuff. I'm so far removed from this conversation that it barely makes sense.
Honestly same
I feel the same. I’m also Polish and when I was a tween in the early 2010s it was not really acceptable to wear makeup in class in middle school. I remember I only had mascara and my mom used to confiscate it multiple times lmao. My only skin care was one cream and whatever my dermatologist prescribed me for acne. I feel like nowadays young girls are pressured by rich influencers and their rich peers on social media to buy all these expensive products.
@@Arwena111hahahaha fellow polish pewnie tylko krem bb i jazda bo więcej ciężko było 😅
congrats on 500k queen 👸🏼
As a tween now, I honestly wish we still had this 😭 I watch tween shows, shop at Claire’s, use eos, make Daisy chains, read teen magazines, and listen to one direction and while a lot of the people in my class and stuff do that, I definitely know a lot of ppl using heavy makeup, expensive makeup and being clean girls 💀
Oh and I can’t forget cds and Disney channel, but not new Disney channel, shows like Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverley place are what I watch
I’d love to hear your commentary about all the teachers talking about how kids can’t read now, and the different they’re seeing in schools.
Jordan, I think this might be your best video yet. So well researched and so well said. You finding that article honestly gave me so much more peace about this chaos, the moral panic is a tale as old as time. While I'm worried about the skin on these kids faces, thats exactly that, I'm WORRIED about them, not attacking them. Thank you for this take, hopefully it inspires others to reflect on the way we as a society are reacting
Great video as always! I also think that perceptions of public safety and the "Stranger Danger" crisis (at least here in North America?) has contributed hugely to the lack of leisure areas. There's a belief that children (and even grown women!) are in danger if they are out in public. Some children aren't even permitted to go Trick or Treating alone in here Canada anymore. I know a girl who refuses to go to the movies by herself because she doesn't want to be in the parking lot after the movie at night. For context, we live in a safe area and the parking lot is always busy, lit up with lights. I don't blame her - I think this is an effect of both conservative and liberal fearmongering. Those true crime TikToks, podcasts, streaming shows, etc., have really warped people's view of public areas, especially urban / metro areas (and racism and classism definitely factors into these fears as well).
In America you can even get the police called on you in you let you kids play outside alone
This is from the perspective of myself, a 12 year old girl. I feel like, yes, children shouldn't be too focused on beauty since that can lead into body image issues and tons of insecurities, but i feel like this panic over girls growing up too fast could also be driven a bit by misogyny, since there seems to be no panic over tween boys, though their behaviour is alarming. Many tween and early teen boys are homophobic, sexist, mysogynistic, ableist and racist all at the same time along with having an interest in violence and drugs, atleast in my experience. It feels as if tween and teen girls can't like anything without being made fun of, regardless of what it is. Every girl i've ever met has interests i've seen people make fun of, including myself, no matter how harmless the interest actually is.
so true
A day when Jordan Teresa posts is a good day
A big part of it is also parents. I’m 18 and my tween years were the during the quintessential YA wave. I spent a lot of my time reading, playing minecraft anf if i was lucky, browsing Instagram, RUclips or Tumblr. I have a younger sister who is currently in her tween stage, and her time is looking very similar to mine. Our mum is Gen X so she’s put off by all the young girls doing skin care etc. However, the majority of the girls my sister’s age have millennial parents. They are all doing skincare, wearing the latest trends etc. It’s a stark contrast to how our mum, who is far from being granola, raised us. it’s definitely something important to note in my experience. A lot of millennial girl mums want to have teenage daughters so they push social media, makeup etc onto them
I’ve noticed this a lot on Reddit (I know yuck). People will read stories about teenagers being bratty or making stupid decisions and immediately go “ oh this 14 year old should know better”. Like bro what part of hormones and immaturity is so hard to grasp? If a child doesn’t know how to invest in stocks from the age of 3 then they are a spoilt brat apparently. Also, about the teens at Sephora, it annoys me how many people say that they are using anti ageing skincare cause it’s trendy and think that’s enough. Why not try developing that thought? Why would anti ageing skincare be trendy among twins and teens? And who do you think they’re influenced by?
it's the system of marketing that collects data and refines itself over decades then centuries. it's just getting better at preying on children as it outlives them. this is why i don't think marketing vs consumer is ever really a fair fight
I couldn't afford Sephora even now. I used to look longingly at the Charlotte Tilbury counter in John Lewis and then wait for the Body Shop to come out with something similar but cheaper. Even the Body Shop is expensive compared with NYX, Barry M, and W7, and those aren't poor quality brands. Rimmel is what I call cheap.
@@banquetoftheleviathan1404 Do you think that it's only internet and database problem? People have been shaming women for having any signs of aging for decades. By the double standards, men always age like fine wine, while women become undesirable and disposable after 30. The current young generation was growing up with this misogyny and anti-aging propaganda everywhere. Now you're surprised why they're using anti-age skincare at the age of 10. Maybe, because they're afraid to be bullied? We need to tell girls that their value as a human doesn't stop after they have wrinkles, and only after that they won't use anti-age skincare.
Girl I absolutely love your analysis here. 10/10
my mom, who raised a gen z tween and is now raising a gen alpha tween, would say with total confidence that there is no noticeable difference between the two generations. tweens are all the same, it's just the culture around us that's different. we think tweens these days are little monsters because we can see them online, and because it's been just long enough for us to have forgotten that we were little monsters too
i work with children for a living and it genuinely hurts to see people shit on them so much as if it’s their fault this is what they’re being exposed to
Wow I literally have the similar thoughts about the situation. As a young adult with quite a lot of time in my hands, I am a part of online communities here and there for fun and when the topic even slightly goes about children, some of the people there talking so poorly about children just being themselves makes me so infuriated and disgusted. Some are quite insidious about it and so condescending like.. they've got nothing better to do fr.
Anyways, great video as always Ms. Jordan! I'm a really big fan of you and your videos since last year
thank you jordan for being a normal and considerate and releasing that if the kids aren't alright and if anybody is really at fault it's not the kids themselves but the adults around them.
I genuinely thank you for these. All of this moral panic around this stuff reminds me of when in middle school teachers would say “oh this is the worst class I’ve ever taught in my thirty years of teaching”. Things are just different, and I don’t think it’s necessarily worse or better. Sure, I think there are a lot of unique struggles that come along in this era as a result of technology, but everyone dog piling on tween girls does nothing. Not everything’s some sort of “deep crisis” or issue, and as we all know, social media just makes everything 10x more dramatic. Tween culture isn’t dying, its just changing. It’s the natural cycle of trends. 🤷♀️
jordan u r soooo articulate and such a good speaker. i genuinely enjoy watching your content so much. you keep me so incredibly engaged the entire time and your arguments are so thorough but also concise. you clearly put so much effort and research into your content and it shows.
For all this and surrounding conversations like "teens/little girls dress to maturely/scandalous" I think it all comes back to the increased pressure from society and corporations to refuse to let young girls be young. Like its nothing new that once girls are old enough to sexualize, they often are, but I feel like in the decade it's gotten really bad. Corporations straight up don't make clothes for tween/teen girls that aren't sexualized (see through, ill-fitting, short shorts only, etc), and taking a look at young stars today (like Millie Bobbie Brown) on the red carpet and stuff versus previous kid celebrities is kind of horrifying because previous celebrities were allowed to look like kids and now they're dressed to look 24. Corporations know that sex sells, and the hyper-glamourization of being in your very early adult life (18-20) is pushed heavily because it's the most marketable and profitable because identity isn't fully formed yet, so they can sell them more. This trickles down to tweens because the second they're not children, they can be profited off of, and added with beauty standards being an incredibly powerful social tool of enforcing classist and racist beliefs, of course tweens don't "act their age." It's the only way they're capable of having any social power or legitimacy. I don't understand people who blame the kids, because it's literally systematic. Like Jordan said, with the loss of third places, piss poor public transportation and ways/places to hang out AND the rise of social media (and the death of specific websites where tweens could hang out with other tweens which has now been replaced with social media), no way yall are surprised. Yeah, 12 year old girls wanting to look like Kim Kardashian is horrifying, but it's not horrifying because of the kid, it's horrifying because it's a reflection of how little respect, space, and protection tweens have.
TDLR: like all things, it's systematic, don't get mad at kids (especially when you're a fully grown adult like grow up lmao)
I love your videos so much. You are so articulate and thoughtful, and I appreciate how you always support your claims and opinions with reasons, examples, and references, which helps when a topic isn’t familiar to me. And you do it all with a bubbly attitude that makes me feel invested, too! Good work all around 😊❤
I was literally thinking about this today. The anti children behaviour is so odd. If you don’t want kids that’s totally valid but saying you just hate kids In general is so weird. Kids are still learning emotional regulation, boundaries, communication and patience. And if grown adults can’t understand that and extend that to kids then that makes me think they probably don’t extend much kindness compassion and patience to other adults as well. People legitimately thinking that pets should be allowed on airplanes, but not kids is insane. Idk why they think it’s okay to not treat them as human beings who are still developing. It’s the whole kids should be seen but not heard mentality that’s so hurtful to kids emotional development.
Yes exactly! Children are literally the most vulnerable segment of our population and people somehow don’t see an issue with treating them as less than human. It’s scary!!
@@sisterfrancesexactly
❤❤
The Sephora thing is so funny to me considering that i got my first eye shadow palette when i was 9. It was a crappy palette, some cheap stuff my aunt got my for my bday, and i didnt even care for makeup at the time.
1 or 2 years later i was buying drugstore makeup because thats what my allowance could buy and the harschest clerasil in tje universe even tho my skin wasnt bad (yet). And i wasnt the only one
These people just conveniently wiped the memories of their own cringey childhood. Kind of how our parents always complained how much worse WE were, as if they didnt sneak out or smoked in the car park thinking they wouldnt get caught 😂
I love this take, and when you said that anti-child spaces are in turn anti-women I FELT that. My issue with the "Sephora kid" phenomenon is only about two things: 1. When children are not taught social etiquette in public spaces, and 2. Kids using products that may be dangerous for their skin (a ten year old doesn't need a retinol or an AHA product, for instance).
Both of those problems are not the kids' fault. It's the parent's. So hating children for their parents not caring to teach them does nothing to address the real issues at all.
I really think the issue isn't as widespread as it seems to be, either. But when a small group of entitled parents don't take the time to teach their kids how to behave in a public space, it can feel like they're everywhere because they're the loudest and most obnoxious. And that only gets amplified through the lens of social media.
finally someone talking about this! It's not just the new generation, the way some people talk about children as if they're a different species who cause nothing but trouble have always bothered me. The dehumanization of children, specifically girls, gets brushed off so easily as if these people have never been that young. It's sad that people think of the most vulnerable population in this way just because they can be a handful to deal with. The parents should be the first thing on your mind when seeing kids acting "abnormally".
Does anyone else find it mental how quickly we as a society have ‘forgotten’ about the pandemic and lockdowns? On top of all the extremely valid points in the video, this generation had to isolate for months on end, during literally the most important years for their social and emotional development.
These kids are essentially a non-consenting, accidental research project. They went from being surrounded by hundreds of friends/peers everyday, to being stuck in a house, with most likely not much to do except scroll on TikTok and social media. During the most critical time for their brains development!
Idk if it’s because of the idea that ‘kids bounce back quick’ or whatever, but I think that every generation seems to more focused on how they were affected by the lockdowns. Obviously it massively impacted every generation, but complete social isolation and extreme social media addiction, all while confined to one space, is now a core part of what has shaped their personalities. I think everyone needs to show a bit more compassion
your last segment really hit the home run for me, just because I didn't care about makeup at 12 does not mean that other girls such as yourself did not. Its bringing me back to the NLOG energy i had at the time
Love the look of the new space! I feel like one of those rug tapestries would look amazing and warm up the background too
This - I really appreciate how you showed that, even though things are very different now, the tween moral panic was so real in early 2000s. I was a tween in late 90s and was a teen in 2000s, but we sure got a lot of crap about following magazines like ppl fear now with social media. Our musics, movies, tv, etc were mocked and parents ridiculed for letting us watch tv for hours. I played outside a lot and I watched a lot of tv. As a college age adult, it was clear no one took us seriously or the next gen either. Did everyone forget the articles about gen z not being literate?! Is it hard now? Absolutely. Are kids growing too fast? Yes. They kind of always have. But I do think it’s harder to navigate with the world at your fingertips as a parent - I don’t hide it from my kids but keep an open dialogue instead because I don’t see it going away. I personally feel a lot of this uproar is more about adults disliking kids in their spaces while the kids literally have no spaces left to go to 😓.
Thanks for your support I really appreciate you for being an active fan. 𝑳𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 🛐🛐
Did anyone have those teenager "night clubs" in their town? It was basically a dance club, but you had to be under 18. I remember these throughout the 00s. I was grinding up in their at like 13. 😂
YES THEY WERE THE SHIT!!!!!! DRINKING A SHIRLEY TEMPLE GETTING CRAZY!!!
I wanted to go so bad omg my mom was like absolutely not 😂
I think you made a lot of great points in the videos that we should be more accepting of these kids and them trying to find their place in society. However my biggest issue is when you go into these spaces like Sephora and these tweens are unbelievably rude. I have friends who work at Sephora and places like it and the stories they tell of these kids who come in and are rude to the employees and other customers is appalling, that’s where I draw a boundary of tweens in these spaces. I think it ultimately reflects on the parents and the fact that they’re not taking responsibility for their child’s actions, not only teaching them how to behave in these spaces, but also the parents lacking the education on the products their children want to buy or are buying.
So I’m a 1987 baby so became a teen in the very early 2000s. The same issues existed then as now; the lack of a third space, the desire to grow up quickly and wear makeup, etc. The makeup was just dream matte mousse and blue eyeshadow because that’s what our magazines advertised to us. We didnt have internet in our houses until I was maybe 14 and luckily nothing exists from then, I was able to delete my early internet footprint. But I was dyeing my hair (with box dye, but never mind) from age 12. My mother put henna on my hair at like 10. It’s always been like this, there’s just internet to discuss it now.
Edited to add: I remember hair mascara, what a mess. When it rained (and it did, in central Scotland), it would run down your face. I also find it really funny talking about accidentally running up your phone bill because so 2010s, because I had that exact problem in 2004. In 2010, I had my own phone contract that I paid for. It’s fascinating how we’re all basically just the same.
Thanks for your support I really appreciate you for being an active fan. 𝑳𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 ❤
Wow, Jordan, thank you! This is the first of so many videos I've watched on the subject that don't just rehash the same third place argument and that is objective. I love how objective and thorough this video was!
I know you said it’s a few years before your time but your description of being a tween in 2007 was almost my exact experience! I even had the spiky earrings from Claire’s!😄
omg shout magazine yess. there was a confessions section and me and my friend made up a story and it ended up getting published, we were so gassed when we read it. I really hope at least that issue is still hanging around my parents house
I was a tween in the late 90's early 2000's and we were definitely acting the same way. Does anyone else remember the trend of super low rise jeans and the top of your thong showing? We were all trying to wear that I specifically remember buying thongs at like 12, without my parents knowing, and then pulling up the string over my pants. Also if i remember correctly we were wearing the super heavy eyeliner and thick mascara, and lip liner lol I would spend like 10 mins on each eye at least.
This was such a well balanced take on this phenomena. I have found myself down the rabbit hole of 10 y/o tik tok Sephora content and sometimes with more of the "get these kids off my lawn" mindset, rather than the "are the kids ok - and if not why?" mindset, and a video essay like this really helped me rebalance my mindset. Also to be reminded that the moral panic is a thing with historical precedence and now I'm just at the age of the panicker vs. the panicked upon was a crucially good reminder. Thanks fren
I was 10 years old in 1997 and one of the differences was that the marketing was for things like Maybelline, cover girl, Rimmel … drug store brands. The fanciest my friends ever got was Clinique. This kind of high end stuff didn’t exist in the same way it does now, it’s so normalized to have all this high end stuff.
I'm a few years younger and I totally agree. I think folks in their 20s right now definitely had tween years similar to the current tweens in that Anastasia Beverly hills etc was popular but anyone our age or older had different experiences. Social media was much different, we could "turn off"/"walk away" from pro consumerist content, etc. Everyone is different but I surely didn't know about all the skincare options out there, nor was I allowed access to them. It's just different now, and I think it's okay to say that. Being a tween/teen seems rougher now, I can't imagine what it's like seeing full faces of makeup and filters so often and people promoting anti wrinkle straws.
First of all, your background is really cool!!! Congrats on your new studio space :) I think you're absolutely correct in how all of this is just moral panic. At the end of the day, when kids enter their Tween Era™, they become slightly more conscious and are curious about the world around them. Their brains are evolving and they're learning from the world around them and that's natural. We shouldn't blame them for learning from adults or from content (made by adults) that they see online especially since a lot of this type of content has migrated to social media platforms, mainly TikTok (even though, TikTok was created for kids). They want to learn from adults who are not their parents because they're looking for a more "unbiased" view of the world while also forming their own opinions etc... essentially becoming more independent and autonomous individuals. And then that's also how teenage rebellion starts. It's part and parcel of life. I'm also glad that you nailed the point saying how there is a decline in third spaces for tweens. I'd like to chime in and say that capitalism and the rising cost of living has absolutely destroyed spaces. Not only is it expensive for these spaces to cover operational costs, working class adults barely have any time to go to these third spaces because of how companies have normalised the 44 hour work week. Unlike the times before the 2010s (early 2000's, 90's, 80's, etc), people do not have the energy or luxury of time to visit a bowling alley after work for example. Furthermore, now that the majority of households operate on dual income households, kids don't really have chaperones to take them to these third spaces like before. So of course, now, all they have is TikTok and other social media platforms. I also would like to point out and add on to the point about shops like Sephora. I would imagine children only being able to go there because their family's taking them to the mall on a Saturday and the agenda for the parents is to top-up some essentials and buy new clothes or make-up. So now kids are added into this equation because there's also not much to do because their parents no longer have the time or energy to maybe plan a day at the bowling alley. And again, I completely agree! It's moral panic indeed. Just that the way capitalism and overworking is now added into the equation that makes handling a tween a lot more complex in ways than we're familiar with. In my opinion, "tween behaviour" is a reflection of the effects of capitalism and the changes to the economy and socialisation. [btw idk if any of what i'm saying makes sense. this is just a verbal diarrhoea of what i concluded *sob* i'm just a girl!! TT.TT]
Ive been waiting for someone to say this, its been driving me nuts
This video was so refreshing to see. I love the research and calm you bring to these topics and talking about the constant moral panic surrounding children.The want to "grow up" is something that will always happen. If trends keep continuing, fashion will continue to push boundaries further and we will continue to be scandalized with what the younger generations are interested in. I think the main issue right now is that with social media and rises in technology, companies are realizing that the market value of teens also applies to their attention, and they are monopolizing every second of mental space possible.
The article really put this entire thing into perspective. I had binge watched a lot of commentary on the topic and it was fascinating how identical the rhetoric was. This is my fave video on the Sephora kid situation so far, thanks for adding to the convo!
I remember wanting to grow up and look older at 10 years old (this was in 2002) but my mom and her friend shut me down real quick 😂😅 looking glad I’m so glad they stepped in cause then I had a fairly normal preteen/teen years.
Same! Also in early 2000s make up obsession wasn’t the same so most of us really did just wear makeup and if we did it was drugstore makeup unless you were rich. There wasn’t an obsession with brands bc you had to go to makeup counters for the fancy stuff and that felt way too adult by yourself. And that’s where a lot of our moms shopped and had drug store makeup so we wanted those brands. And makeup trends were way simpler back then so we didn’t have cut creases and more adult makeup. Even if you had heavier makeup it was usually bc you were a punk or goth. We had subcultures that influenced your choices as well. Plus we were included by what our friends or kids in school had the most. I remember I would sometimes wear mascara in middle school and some of my friends thought I was “grown” and that was the only make up I wore plus lip gloss. The trends have just gotten more adult with the time as well
Omg, the accidentally clicking on the internet button anxiety was real with me. I love your videos, you always remember the strange little things about life that I had forgotten about and it’s kinda fun!
The lost of tween culture makes me sad. I honestly think the lack of monoculture is a big reason! We all watched MTV, read the same magazines, listened to the same music on the radio and watched the same tv shows. I remember going to school in 7th grade to talk about one tree hill with my friends because every girl in the school watched it religiously. I think tweens feel more isolated bc with social media they are siloed into their own echo chambers of interests and friend IRL might not even know the show they love exists and so forth bc of streaming for example and the only monoculture left revolves around adults! The tweens aren’t united and connected so that they have to find a connection point somewhere. I think about the downfall of monoculture and it affects way too much.
this is a great point, and it’s so interesting how the lack of monoculture has now kind of created a lack of belonging which has led tweens and teen girls to all dressing EXACTLY alike and hoarding the same EXACT stanley cups and specific skin care products (drunk elephant, sol de jainero)
brutal
@@bambiisbonkersplus the fact she said the new marketing demo is 10-30 is insane! I’m in my 30s. Why is a 10 yr being marketed the same stuff? We need a teen monoculture. And marketing needs to be trimmed down. Why can’t Zara have a tween section online or in store at least. There has to be an in between. I don’t need 10 year olds watching Euphoria because there isn’t a a show on Disney or CW that they’re obsessed with. Plus the idea of tween influencers is kind of sad and too many creeps online for a 12 year old old to be an influencer
@@indiefairy09 EXACTLY!! im 29 and feel the same way. as a tween i used to LOVE abercrombie kids, and the thought of going into the “adult version”, abercrombie and fitch was intimidating and not something i was interested in! unfortunately as long as tiktok is around and parents aren’t monitoring their kids access to it, idk how it can change. the tween influencer seems like a good idea to capture that demographic and pull them in the right direction, but there is so much inherently wrong with both tweens and teenagers being influencers 😅 like you said, too many creeps and just generally unsafe for their physical and mental health. ultimately i think the only way this can shift back is that im hoping parents eventually will collectively come to the conclusion that things need to change and they will start monitoring screen time and create strict boundaries around what type of content and media their kids are consuming 💔
I think it should be entirely for parents to set age limits on their kids phones and for all popular apps to have age limited versions that parents can download and then lock into their kids phones. Children need to be allowed to be kids and having them "socialising" with all ages and demographics of the entire world via social media, totally unfiltered (I know I see the irony of using this word), is not a good idea.
As someone who works with young people, thank you, this is so well put together. (Also i think I like the home aesthetic more but the office gives you more chance for creativity with backdrop)
Receiving my copy of Delia's catalog was an event in the 90s.
💘💘💘
There have been a lot of videos on this topic recently and I really like how much more empathic this video is towards tweens. We definitely need more of that online.