Is this really what primary school kids are like?

[HopelesslyNaive98]

Colleague’s child recently had their 8th birthday. Photos they posted showed child receiving make up from fairly pricy brands (ie. Sephora, Benefit etc.), beauty blenders snd similar, Uggs, and a Stanley cup. Birthday outing appeared to involve having make up done in store, more make up shopping, and clothes shopping in teen/adult focused shops.

Don’t get me wrong, I was desperate to put on a bit of make up as a little girl but it was a bit of body glitter and some lip gloss that came free with a Top of the Pops magazine. Equally clothes were Gap Kids and H&M, not River Island and Lipsy.

My kids are 7 and 6 so maybe I’m just totally naive about what’s to come. I just thought there was a few more years of childhood left!

I completely agree with you.

I absolutely despise tiktok. I don’t have it, and my 7 yo DD has never watched it. I can’t protect her from it forever (and she could easily come across it on a play date), but in our house, it’s a firm NO.

I was one of the first in my school year to get my ears pierced at 12. I wasn't keen. My friends were desperate to get theirs done but parents said no. It wouldn't have crossed our minds in year 5.

The vast majority of girls have their ears pierced in Year 5 and a few of the boys too.

My daughter is year 5 and I let her have hers done this summer. She was one of only a few girls without pierced ears and had been asking for a long time. Quite a few had theirs done as babies/toddlers.

I know lots of people saying YouTube/social media is the influence but I think this again comes back for what the child watches. My daughter has spent a lot of half term watching YouTube drawing videos and has then been replicating the drawings. This has kept her busy for hours and she has lots of lovely pictures to show from it.
Don't get me wrong I bet there are other videos that slip in when she is supposedly doing her drawing, but on the whole she (at the moment) is quite sensible in what she watches (and I don't have Tiktok myself so she certainly isn't on that).

I teach Year 4 and more than half the class are like this. Influenced by social media, talking about newest Tiktok dances, etc. Only a small portion of kids in the class are actually taking part in "childish" activies. I heard one of the kids in the class I teach say that for their coming-up birthday, they wanted a Sephora gift card and a new phone because "my one is really old".

No, not here.

10/ 11 year old parties here are climbing / sleepovers with film etc. Several girls dance / gymnastics and may wear lip balm but the only time they are in full make up is for dance shows which is then quickly removed! Others lots of netball, music, guides etc.

The primary school here is very anti phone, often sends out notes about age restrictions on WhatsApp and SM. The majority of year 6 do not have phones.

The local secondary school does not allow make up, nail polish etc so I hope that girls will be able to enjoy young tween years without expectation of adult facial care / make up.

My year 3 DD wanted a unicorn for Christmas. I asked her if she wanted a cuddly one and she said no, she wanted a real one!

My DD is in Y7 and there was none of that at her primary school. She’s got some make up now but it’s just normal stuff from Superdrug. It really depends on the other kids around her. I’ve got a friend who’s very glamorous, always looks really beautifully put-together, and her similar-aged daughter knows way more about this stuff because it’s a normal part of life in their house.

No, it's not a coincidence. Tiktok and snap is the reason why they're like this. It's so fucking sad.

I have two 8yr olds and no, not see anything like this. Parties are bowling, swimming, ice skating, arcade, bouncy castles still. Presents are Lego, craft sets, books, kites …

DD is at a little village school so I thought we'd get away with it for longer but its been creeping in now she's in Y3. She came home the other day telling me her "uggs are fake" and I was like "you mean those fluffy boots I got you from Sainsbury's??". There's definitely no self care routines, none of them have phones, DD doesn't even have access to a tablet so has no idea what Roblox is and birthday parties tend to be trampoline parks/ high ropes courses/ice skating, stuff like that, but they all want Stanleys and labubus. To my shame she has both, because she knows when me and DH say no she just asks her uncle (my brother) and he'll buy her things I deem to be a waste of money. She doesn't even use the bloody Stanley, the spout is too stiff for her so now I take it to the gym. 😂