Media apps have slowly matured younger generations

Question

The claim chosen is about how media apps that are accessible to younger generations, and have slowly matured children or young adults. If you open any social media app, you will most likely come across a twelve year old dancing to a tiktok trend. The way they present themselves, they look a couple years older than their actual age because they were influenced by others on social media. Many factors come to blame, including parents for allowing their children to have these apps that are directed towards older teens. Also getting their kids phones at such a young age, when they have too much to learn before the responsibility of a phone. People also argue that kids are getting the “correct” childhood experience because it's vastly different from what other generations had. “It appears that TikTok is now seen as a platform for tweens, partly because parents are becoming less concerned about their children using it,” (Medium). Considering all of this, the concern is tweens are growing up too fast, ignoring what it means to be a kid. 

“Each time a post receives positive reactions such as shares and likes, a bit of dopamine is released. Dopamine is like chocolate, having just a little feels unsatisfactory, making the brain yearn for more, which can result in addiction,”(Los Angeles Times). “Tweens” are slowly getting addicted to the internet, resulting in them following trends that are directed towards older teens, or adults. For example, there is this tween named Evelyn who is a fourteen year old girl currently making content on Tiktok, but started posting in 2023, when she was twelve. In these videos, she is wearing cropped clothing, using expensive products, and acting in an inappropriate way for her age. Comments on these videos include young adults putting “hate comments,” about how she is ruining her childhood experience. Not just her, but almost every twelve year old using the app has this attitude, mindset, and overall acting more mature for their age. “Social media can indeed disrupt and expedite the maturation process of tweens by exposing them to self-presentation online,”(Medium). The media is almost an escape pocket for children to feel as if they are the same age as everyone around them. Kids are constantly looking up to older people, craving being just like them, and social media apps are allowing them to act like the “older people.” Overall, the social media apps today are slowly maturing younger generations.

Answer 1

The claim that social media apps like TikTok are causing tweens to mature too quickly is partly true but overstated. Research shows that many children under 13 use social media despite age restrictions, and younger users are more vulnerable to its dopamine-driven reward system, which can encourage addictive behaviors. Studies also support concerns that constant exposure to older content and influencer culture can affect how tweens present themselves and think about maturity. However, there’s not strong specific evidence proving that social media directly causes children to “grow up faster” or act older across the board. Much of this claim relies on anecdotal examples and opinion-based sources rather than large-scale, peer-reviewed research. Experts agree that while social media can influence behavior and self-image, its effects are complex and depend on factors like parenting, screen time, and individual resilience, not simply the apps themselves.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1070130?

https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/blogs/how-tiktok-affects-childrens-mental-health

Answer 2

This claim is true. Many kids have begun getting social media accounts at very young ages. Many trends on these social media apps encourage "glow-ups" which cause kids to want to look older than their age. Recently children have started to infiltrate stores usually ment for teens or adults such as Sephora. They buy makeup and skincare products meant for adults that cost a lot of money. As children watch videos of older people using these products, they believe they need to use them true. This makes them seem older than they actually are. Children also get criticized online for only being children which demonizes being a child. Influencers fail to realize the impact they have these children and how they make them want to grow up faster. 

source:

https://thesciencesurvey.com/editorial/2024/04/16/from-playground-to-profile-social-media-is-fast-tracking-our-youths-childhood/

Answer 3

The claim that media apps have slowly matured younger generations is partially true, but it is mostly based on opinion. In the sources provided, one of them directly states that this claim is an opinion and the other shares personal experiences from a teacher who spends their day around children. These are good insights, but I looked into other sources as well to prove the validity of this statement.

With the rise of technology, it has become an integral part in most people's lives, especially the younger generation. It is now normalized for them to have their own devices, making it difficult to shelter them from mature content on social media. An article from the television station WKYC states, "We see young girls doing makeup tutorials on TikTok, doing dances that are a little too provocative and boys talking about topics that are extremely mature" (https://www.wkyc.com/article/life/family/mom-squad/mom-squad-kids-growing-up-fast-social-media-maturity/95-931db2fb-679b-4c5a-80a6-9d6c28fb6ff5). As trends constantly change, kids are vulnerable to following them because fitting in with their peers is very important to their self-concept. This is the reason we see so many kids on social media doing such mature dances or challenges.

Furthermore, another article reveals, "Having to grapple with the world’s grave injustices and perhaps even feel the need to resolve them all at once is a lot to put on young generations, forcing them to grow up faster" (https://uclpimedia.com/online/a-loss-of-youth-how-social-media-is-aging-young-people-by-mattea-carberry). Although it is important for children to learn new things and begin engaging with the real world, it can be incredibly overwhelming if it is happening too fast. Social media and the internet makes hearing about the latest news as easy as a click of a button.

Overall, this claim has aspects of it that are true, such as kids dominating newer social media platforms and that they are exposed to and follow trends way too mature for them. It is hard to determine the validity of this claim because everyone has a different opinion on this matter.

Answer 4

The student presented the claim that “Media apps have slowly matured younger generations”. In an article on Medium, a gymnastics teacher named Mattie Elkin shares her experience working with the younger generation and how parents have adapted to their technology use post COVID. What I took away from her findings is how TikTok has transitioned the youth faster in between childhood and adolescence. 

I then crossed checked this information with a second student written article by PI Media. Mattea Carberry takes a wider look at social media's impact on their maturity. She argues that social media apps have left the youth unimaginative by flooding them with adult level expectations. This obviously supports the claim, making the youth feel the need to grow up at a faster rate. Both sources did a great job at showing the positive sides to this as well and is mainly at the fault of parents in how it influences their child.

Mattie Elkin: https://medium.com/@matilyn.elkin/scrolling-through-childhood-how-social-media-shapes-child-development-and-maturity-35ffe43eef2b

Maddie shares a firsthand experience as a gymnastics counselor and teacher which helped shape her stance on her findings. She regularly spoke with children 15 and under and noticed how they interact with technology.

Verbal dialogue: https://medium.com/@matilyn.elkin/scrolling-through-childhood-how-social-media-shapes-child-development-and-maturity-35ffe43eef2b

Maddie quoted dialogue between her and the students which reflects how parents control their media use.

Secondary source, Pew Research: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/09/01/parents-their-children-and-school-during-the-pandemic/pi_2021-09-01_covid-and-tech_2-05/

An organization that conducts studies on social trends and technology. Maddie referenced one of their studies on post-pandemic behavior with parents and their child's use of technology.

4. What potential biases or interests might each of your sources have?

• Because Maddie Elkin is writing from personal experiences, she really doesn’t have a controlled research outlook on what she’s gathered. She also compares her generation to the younger generation which could lead to some bias during what she experienced when she was younger.

• PI Media could be writing from a perspective that favors the traditional ways of the youth and over exaggerates the negativity of social media. 

5. What evidence supports the claim you are fact-checking?

“By mirroring older individuals, they end up maturing faster than a typical tween would without the influence of social media.” (Medium)

“In such a way, young teens may begin to age prematurely if they bypass this phase of life full of endless possibilities.”

https://uclpimedia.com/online/a-loss-of-youth-how-social-media-is-aging-young-people-by-mattea-carberry

6. What evidence undermines the claim you are fact-checking?

“One can argue that the influx of information from social media and the internet gives us the tools to decide how we want to live.” (PI Media)

“TikTok is all about sharing videos, often featuring lip-syncing, dancing, and content that’s inspired by or resembles meme culture.” (Medium)

Answer 5

With the growth of social media, children are being exposed to a huge amount of information and trends at much younger ages. When kids watch videos or see content meant for older audiences, it can make them seem like they’re maturing faster than they really are. Compared to earlier generations, today’s children are far more connected and have instant access to unlimited information. In the past, information came from limited sources like encyclopedias, TV shows that aired at certain times, or conversations at home and school. Back then, kids learned about the world slowly and naturally, at a pace that matched their surroundings. The idea of pseudo-maturity describes how children can act or talk like adults and use adult cultural references without actually having the emotional or psychological readiness to understand them. Social media plays a big role in creating this illusion of maturity and greatly affects how kids see themselves and the world around them. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat have become important ways for young people to socialize and interact, which is a normal and necessary part of growing up—especially after the isolation caused by the pandemic. However, these same platforms have also been increasingly linked to mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, and negative body image.

Sources:

Are children growing up too fast in the digital age? - Ecole Galilée

Why young brains are especially vulnerable to social media

Social media impact on children: Why kids are growing up so fast | wkyc.com

Answer 6

I think this claim can be true.

An article, written by Jill Christensen, a nurse practitioner in Family Medicine in Waseca, Minnesota, claims that excessive screen use can cause physical and behavioral problems such as social development alongside obesity, impaired academic performance, diminished sleep quality, and eye strain, regardless of whether the content children view is intended for mature audiences. From this perspective, the usage of screens itself can potentially affect children’s social behaviors, making them appear mature even though their actual social development remains inadequate.

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/children-and-screen-time

Another article addressing children' s health problems argues that exposure to risky behaviors, violence, and excessive advertising in media may harm children. Behaviors such as drinking alcohol, using drugs, and smoking cigarettes are often portrayed as “cool”, which may expose children to the risk of substance abuse or premature sexual activity. Moreover, young children may struggle to distinguish truth from advertisements or explicit violence shown in the media. Without experiencing the real world, they are pressured to seem more mature than they actually are due to the impact of social media.

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/tv-affects-child.html