Middle school is a time of braces, body odor and ultimate awkwardness. Everyone is trying to find their true friends, a way to pass their (seemingly hard) classes and so on. What has come as a shock to me is that middle school is none of those things anymore. Today, middle schoolers know how to dress, interact with others and even manage high profile social media accounts.
First thing’s first: let’s talk about how middle schoolers today do not look like middle schoolers. What ever happened to rocking the Hollister graphic tee, boot cut jeans and Osiris’? It’s like the middle schoolers today skipped that god awful fashion trend and jumped straight to the actual cute stuff. Not only do they know how to dress, but middle schoolers are now getting braces before they even step into 6th grade. I had train tracks on my teeth all three years and now kids get them in grades as early as second, perfecting their teeth before middle school hits them. The last difference in appearance of middle schoolers today is the fact that the girls know how to put on makeup. I’m pretty sure I used makeup from Claire’s and only knew how to put on blush and mascara. Today I see young girls who practically know how to contour their whole bodies.
Aside from the fact that middle schoolers have upped their fashion game, they also aren’t nearly as socially awkward as I was in middle school. I’m not kidding when I say I tried so hard to make friends and a lot of the time I looked like a complete idiot trying doing so. Today making friends and handling social interactions is a piece of cake for most. These tweens also hangout much more than I did with my friends back then. Boy-girl party? Easy, happens every weekend. For me? Happened about once a month.
Arguably the biggest change in middle schoolers today is the use of social media. Holy cow do those kids abuse online sites. I barely had a Facebook back in middle school and now these young'ns are pretty much ruling the Internet. I have followers that are middle-school aged and they have twice, if not three times the amount of followers I have. I can easily say that I do not know everyone who follows me so I’m wondering how these middle schoolers know 1000+ people? That is insane.
Middle school has always been an awkward stage of my life. I was still losing baby fat, I had a metal mouth and it looked as though I dressed myself in the dark. Today, middle schoolers thrive, they have mastered the awkward transition into puberty and they pride themselves in their popularity online. I am in no way saying any of that is a bad thing, but I personally believe everyone needs to experience the uncomfortable and painfully awkward time that is middle school.
