“I want to be famous” … those were the words this 12-year-old girl I used to mentor said to me when I asked her what do you want to be when you grow up. These are also the words of a song by the Pussycat Dolls.
What I have noticed as of late is that our teens and tweens have no common sense.
I mean when it comes to being tech savvy I am sure these kids could knock me off my rocker. But when it comes to the everyday basic knowledge… they got nothing.
And it bothers me.
These kids today are so busy trying to be grown that they are literally missing out on the best years of their lives. What I wouldn’t give to be 13 again– free of debt and stress.
When I was 12, I was still secretly playing with my Barbies and reading The Baby-Sitters Club books and trying to convince my mom that I was old enough to read the Sweet Valley High series. So forgive me for being thrown by the fact that kids to day are preparing to or are having sex by the age of 12.
I was sitting in my car yesterday outside of a beauty salon waiting for one of my friends to show up so we could get our eyebrows threaded (that’s a whole nother blog), when this little girl – she had to be like 11 -- walked out of the salon with her mother in the shortest shorts I have ever see on a child. She had make-up on and it appeared as if her eyebrows had been freshly arched. I sat in the car with my mouth wide open – thinking-- am I the only person that sees an issue here.
And she’s not the only one. You can’t go to the movies or the mall without running into these children obsessed with trying to look and act older.
Which brings me to Jamie Lynn Spears… omg, I was really upset to hear that Britney Spears’ little sister was expecting a child. You would think having witnessed your sister suffer a mental breakdown from living such an accelerated pace of life --- you would do all that you could not to go down that road. But, I digress… so here she is 16 and pregnant on the covers of magazines and a role model to millions.
ABC Family just launched a series “The Secret Life of an American Teenager” about a 16-year-old girl who gets pregnant and tries to hide it from her friends and family.
Okay, so I get that the big wigs in programming are trying to find topics that relate to teens – but since when did teenage pregnancy become cool?
I can’t help but wonder what happened? Its been 15 years since I was in the 5th grade, but I can tell you that I was not thinking about boyfriends and sex when I was 10. I was trying to convince my mom to let me paint my nails and busy doing my summer reading.
I am not a parent yet, but I have a niece -6 and a nephew -8 and I am so scared for them because if the generation after me is already hell bent on “living la vida loca “ – what is it going to be like for my niece and nephew when they are 15.
I went to this mom and pop store the other day to get some stuff for my mother and the store owner's 13 year old son was behind the register – struggling to add each of the items correctly. He had to re-ring the person in front of me because he added all the items incorrectly. When he got to me I had some items that were 4 for 18 dollars. I gave him a 20-dollar bill. He proceeded to add up each item on the calculator. I wanted to scream back at him – $2 -- you owe me two freaking dollars! You don’t need a calculator for that.
I think its time we stepped up and snatched our children back from the world of reality TV and video games.
So the next time we ask them what do you want to be when you grow up – we just might get a real profession like a doctor or a journalist… not Ali Lohan’s best friend.

These are just the thoughts of a 20-somethinger ...
please feel free to leave a comment
Afua (Uh-fee-yah) News Producer