Is this really what primary school kids are like?

YouTube - there’s a couple of younger (American) teen gymnasts that she likes to watch for tips, drills etc, and they also do fun challenges. They seem to have expanded their content into promoting of these things, I can only assume they’re being paid to advertise it.

Sadly yes it’s quite common. Too many kids starting school with a phone and it’s downhill from there.

I think it depends on the culture at that particular primary school. Also, an 8 year old with a 12 year old sister is more likely to be interested in all that stuff.

Likely the parents desperate to show off what they can afford.

I have a 9 year old. We went shopping today, the only make up related thing she was interested in was novelty lip glosses. She was most excited to go into primark and Claire’s and her purchases were two pairs of flared leggings, 3 friendship bracelets, a bff necklace, a book and a legami pencil. She also bought Legami stationery for her friends birthday. I would say she’s fairly typical of her year group. She has no social media access but does play Roblox and Minecraft. Most parties are something active eg climbing wall, swimming, trampolining or something like a sleepover or garden disco. She loves making bracelets, Taylor swift, choosing nice outfits (which are age appropriate) but that’s as far as it goes.

DS is in year 4 so age 8/9. None of the kids I know are like that. He plays with girls as well as boys, invites everyone to his parties, and the girls are all jumping about and running around with the boys. Maybe a couple are more into hair/nails etc but definitely not all of them!

DS is into Minecraft, dinosaurs, monster trucks and plushies/teddies. Watches cartoons like Teen Titans, Bluey, Octonauts, Wild Krats, Pokemon. Definitely still very much a child.

I'd hate to see that attention to appearance in such a young girl. I'd worry that as she grew she'd be dissatisfied with her weight/lips/nose/breasts......at a really young age. Nurture what they are and build their confidence in themselves as people. A lot of it comes from the mother and her attitude to a healthy mind and body. I'm so glad my granddaughter is a tomboy

My DD is 9. Some of her classmates are like this but thankfully she doesn’t seem interested yet. She loves to paint her nails but is happy with kids peel off nail polish for now and wants craft things and Jellycats for Christmas.

My daughter is 6, son is 8 next month. My son has a new console for his birthday (a handheld Xbox thing 😂) and a bunch of Legos and plushies. He's autistic and his interest is gaming, he doesn't have a iPad / tablet so console only gaming. My daughter is 7 in February, she just got a reborn baby and is asking for baby accessories (like a good pram, changing area etc). She gets a lip gloss occasionally from boots and asks me to do her makeup sometimes but she knows it's only allowed right before bath time. Id never let her leave the house in anything more than gloss. 8 is far too young for this stuff in my opinion, I would probably agree to this for a 16th birthday. My kids watch YouTube but don't really know about brands (other than my son obviously he's a nerd with consoles 😂)

Mine has just started Y3. They're definitely becoming aware of trends and self image (if I have to hear 6-7 one more time I might wollop my child's backside 6/7 times 🤣) They're almost all obsessed with labubu dolls and kpop demon hunters. However they really are still just kids at heart. They play like kids. They still make believe like kids. As far as I know none of them are that interested in skincare or stanley cups yet. I am aware though that some of the kids at her dance school for example are a bit more precocious and see where you're coming from.

I think I'm lucky that dd goes to a very small village primary and a lot of the kids are pretty sheltered. I'm more than with this and hope to fend off tiktok influence for as long as I can. On the few occasions she has watched tiktok under my supervision I've explained in an age appropriate way that these people are literally paid to make it seem like this shit they're pedalling is amazing. I've also explained that child influencers are not treated well and that there's no laws about how long they have to work etc. I ask her to think how annoying it is if I ask her to do a gymnastics trick, for example, so I can video it. Then I ask how she thinks it would feel if I constantly had a camera in her face asking her to do tricks. I explain that this is basically what's happening (and probably worse) to most of these kids.

I might eat my words when my dd heads into her tween years but I do think we have to remember that we as the parents have the ultimate responsibility here. If some obnoxious youtube videos are depriving our kids of their childhood then it's up to us to stop them engaging with it surely?

It's not a coincidence, everyone knows it's not a coincidence. Little girls aren't organically developing obsessions with Sephora, which isn't exactly a high street shop.

It's all too common, unfortunately. I don't think it's a good thing.
My daughter (now 13) was at a very small village primary school, and in her year-group there were only 4 girls. The other 3 girls were obsessed with looks, make-up and skincare (mainly skincare which I find odd) and they used to arrive for sleepovers with a whole huge case of skincare items (when they were aged 9-11). They watched a lot of youtube tutorials etc - I think they all had phones from approx age 9 (my daughter didn't). Oddly they weren't that interested in fashion...
Luckily my daughter doesn't care about that stuff and once she got to secondary she made some good friends who are similar to her (bookish, with no interest in make-up etc!) - but unfortunately I think that what you've described is a very common thing and it does make me worry about this generation🙁

My daughter is 10 and some of the girls in her class seem to be quite grown up. I think at this age, they’re still kids but think they’re older so it’s important to try and keep them kids and not teenagers too early. My daughter’s the only one without a phone (her friends have them because parents are separated so it’s helped me hold off by giving that reason and not that we’re mean parents 🤣). My daughter also likes makeup but not expensive and still “fun”, maybe mascara, lip gloss etc. nothing more.
It’s really hard to hold it off and not let in to the pressure of “so and so has this”.
I remember being 10 and still loving my teddies and Polly pockets!

No - my DD is 7.5 still likes toys, is getting toys for Christmas. Make up is still fancy dress / pretending . Friends similar.

My DD is at a small private school and the other parents are a very sensible bunch, massive movement amongst the parent community against mobile phones / kids wearing make up etc. This may be a factor

Maybe it's a coincidence, but the girls in DD's class with smartphones and access to TikTok and Snapchat etc were also the ones obsessed with appearance and make up (and the ones who got in trouble for bullying and inappropriate phone use).

DN’s are 11 & 9. The 11 year old has just got into make up starting high school but she is neurodiverse and it’s more about “fitting in”. Still loves to collect sticks walking in the woods!
the 9 year old is very much her own person & not remotely interested in trends! Plus in a v nice ‘ young’ class. She’s all about karate & manga drawing.
but children I see through work do seem to be OP described, got a few parents saying their 7 year old aren’t asking for toys for Xmas as they’re “too old” which is heartbreaking!

My daughter started on make up at 11 (year 6 of Primary). I never encouraged it, or allowed a phone till secondary. Similarly I never encouraged brands or fashion. At 13 she has Sephora make-up, branded trainers and converse. No uggs though.

It amazes me how many parents let their 12/13 year olds have gel nails and professionally coloured hair. Not permitted this.

Wow, that does feel quite grown-up for 8! Kids’ interests definitely seem to be shifting younger these days.

My 8 year old has an iPhone 17 and make up on her Christmas list. She can ask for it, but she’s not getting it! She has limited access to YouTube and none to TikTok or Instagram but she has older siblings and friends who talk. Saying that, she does have some make up which she might put on for a party.

I don’t think Stanley cups are in the same league as expensive makeup. I don’t get the appeal really but they have a use. It’s just another “must have” and the brand ones seem fairly robust.

I don’t see many girls in her year like this, so plenty of parents must say no! We’re in a fairly affluent area of a big city. Big school. By year 6, there seems to be a real range, some are “older” and some are still young children. Most are somewhere in the middle.

Does not surprise me, but 8 and make up brands that exoensive ????

It is sad :(
My daughter got like that at secondary but prior to that was still into child stuff

This is going to be unpopular but how about not buying expensive makeup and only give her pocket money. No way would I have beeb allowed this, even Xmas we didn't get much it teaches them to appreciate things and influencers no words but money making.

Some are like that. Some aren't. Some never become like that.

My daughter started getting into makeup etc towards the end of year 6, def yr 7 on secondary school in a much bigger way, so age 11/12. Id say this is about right for ‘tweens’ becoming more fashion conscious, but did also coincide with letting her watch tik tok and I think friends become more of an influence.

she likes her ‘brands’ but I would never dream of her friends giving her expensive products as gifts- I’m obviously in the wrong tax bracket if this is the norm for your friend and at that age surely there is a fair amount of parental encouragement.

my daughters 8th birthday was a trip to go ice skating and McDonald’s, and gifts were colouring pens, stickers and beeny boos!!

I see it through my work. Its not normal around that age. The group of girls who are like that tend to have been very over exposed to social media, phones etc from a very young age (think age 3 or 4). There mums also normally see there daughters as more mature than there peers when in reality they are very over exposed to inappropriate content and being pushed to grow up to soon. This can make friendships really tricky for them and cause issues long term because developmentally they miss key stages.

Its not common though at that age thankfully. These groups of girls tend to be in the minority as its not healthy for them.

Its down to individual parents. DD had a few friends who were a bit like this but they generally had mums who were either very young or were very image conscious themselves. DD and her other friends liked maybe a bit of nail varnish and dressing up but her parties were pony riding, high ropes, swimming, crafts and I wouldn't have wasted my money on expensive skincare or Stanley cups for a kid.