I started tutoring Alana when she was eleven, and by the time she was twelve, she had a boyfriend. She obsessively checked Lululemon’s website for deals on yoga pants, and she prided herself on having a whopping six hundred followers on Instagram. She desperately wanted an iPhone 6, because her iPhone 4S simply would not do. She was sweet, spunky, and I often had to remind myself that she was indeed a tween and not a sixteen-year-old.
Kids like Alana seem to be growing up at an accelerated rate, as if seventh grade is the new high school. When I was Alana’s age, boys still had cooties. I begged my parents to buy clothes from The Limited Too and had never been inside Lululemon. I had about ten people on my AOL Instant Messenger Buddy List, but I only ever spoke to, like, two of them, and I definitely didn’t own a cell phone.
But when I talk to Alana, it’s like speaking to a companion, not a child. She uses the same slang as my college-aged friends–words like “squad,” “slay,” and “on fleek” come out of her mouth as if on cue. Her style is impeccable, and her collection of makeup and beauty products is enough to make any girl jealous. She holds herself like an adult; she’s confident, composed, and her sense of humor matches my own. If she didn’t have braces, she could easily pass for a junior in high school. It’s like she’s bypassed the awkward, unsure, how-do-I-talk-to-people stage that I thought everyone went through at age twelve.
Our Kids Are Growing Up Too Fast!
by Emma Levine