What are 11-13 year olds into these days?

[sunnysummergray]

Hello!

I am a secondary teacher who has just moved to the UK from the US to be with my husband. I am planning a lesson and am trying to tailor it to the interests of my students, who I haven't met yet! What TV shows/ Books / Movies are your kids into at this age? From the short discussion I had with my new coworkers it seems quite different from my US students, so I am looking for ideas.

Thank you so much for any feedback!

Summer

Pitch Perfect
Netflix

Books? My dd loves Nicola Yoon's Everything Everything and The Sun is Also a Star

Well, my DD is 13, but 'young for her age'. She likes

David Walliams books
Harry Potter

Great British Bake Off
Peabody & Mr Sherman (cartoon), Pokémon cartoons
NCIS
Wildlife programmes

Just seen The Greatest Showman and loved that

The 13yos in my family (female) are obsessed with make up/ snapchat 🙄

They seem to be glued to their phones.

Top Gear, Harry Potter, Star Wars.

My DD is 11 (September born) so in year 6 but her and her year 7 friends like unicorns, Harry Potter and star wars.
A friend's DD of a similar age is obsessed with Mac and benefit makeup and Ted baker clothes.

Y7-9 are quite 'young' where I work.
We have silent reading twice a week and I mainly see them reading David Walliams, Jacqueline Wilson, Dork Diaries, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates.
Many of the boys are into Pokemon, Lego, superheroes, Star Wars and football.
They like youtubers who vlog about gaming and skateboarding.
Girls like Great British Bake off, and animals. Some like Korean stuff and manga.

My 13 yo DS is into Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Star Trek, Stranger Things, Stephen King.

my 11 year old:

phones
snapchat
pitch perfect
the charts
animals
football
youtubers doing stupid stunts

ah books sorry

she has just read The Explorer which she liked, and Holes for school, also enjoyed
She's bored of David Walliams

DS1 is nearly 13.

He's just reading the Giver series and also the Divergent series, the Time Riders series and the new Philip Pullman Book. At school they spent a lot of time last year (year 7) on The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (which he found upsetting and disliked for that reason) and did Holes and Noughts and Crosses. He's also happy reading things like Skulduggery Pleasant and Artemis Fowl.

He also likes the old 1980s dungeons and dragons type books (Ian Livingstone).

So I'd say lots of young adult dystopian fiction. You have to be careful with it though since some of the violence is quite graphic. DS1 is very mature and I've made sure I've read the books we've given him first and have made the decision to hold back a few.

Movie wise we watched Super8 at the weekend. He loved it (as did DS2 (nearly 11). Retro stuff (particularly 1980s settings) go down well.

Then the usual Marvel movies and Star wars etc.

Oh and Anime/Manga stuff is becoming very popular in his year group (Year 8)

Y7/8 are quite young where i work:
Dork Diaries
David walliams
Diary of a wimpy kid
Star wars
Sports hobbies
Drama clubs
Pitch perfect
Divergent
Percy Jackson
Pokemon
Tom Gates
Cathy Cassidy

Y9 - Suddenly the girls seem to be all social media, phones, socialising, make up, gossip
Boys - more heavily into sports and cars and gaming but a certain group are quite obsessed with social media and getting likes.

There is a certain group in y7-9 who are exceptionally (worryingly in my opinion) obsessed with having the right phone, right bag, designer labels or status items, not appearing 'pov' (as in they wouldn't have things from the high street because that is poverty), showing off their shopping and labels, adding random people on Snapchat/Instagram and getting as many likes as they can, wandering the streets being cool. They 'wouldn't dare' be involved in hobbies or clubs. With that group any attempt to engage or be relevant will get you a total eyeroll like you are the saddest person in the universe.

Slime
YouTube vloggers
Musically
GBBO
Makeup
Starbucks

I think possibly you need to say whereabouts in the UK you will be teaching. It can be different for tweens to teens wherever you live.

For example in the area we live, almost every 11 - 13 year old does drama, dance or sports/martial arts clubs or some kind of Cadets/Scouts/Guides or Riding etc. (some do lots of clubs), we live in a rural area, there is not a lot to do except clubs . No street corners to hang out on. They seem quite young compared to my friends DC in the towns. I can't think of one of my DD's friends who doesn't do at least one club. My DD also reads a lot and likes meeting with friends at each others houses.

Most of the DC in the towns are big into social media and hanging about with their friends, a lot less of them are into clubs. They also seem a lot more streetwise than my DD, my friends DD's were definitely into make up and brands much earlier.

My young teen is into Alex Wheatle, Big Shaq, Overwatch, Fifa, the Gone Series of books, Nike trainers, YouTube, any sort of fried chicken.

This may be a very Sauf London list though.

Oh and zombies. Always with the zombies.

Dd is 13 and likes Minecraft and Mario Odyssey on the Switch. She's liked Minecraft for years. She liked The Wonder series of books (Someone Palacio?) Has liked books by Rick Riordan for a few years and buys new ones that come out. I sometimes add samples of books that i hear of to her kindle to encourage her to try new stuff, but i don't think it really works! She has some makeup but doesn't tend to bother with it but she does her nails in the holidays sometimes. She goes to a swimming club, plays an instrument and goes to school orchestra. Watches youtube videos. She recently got snapchat and has instagram. She's never been one of the cool ones but she seems happy and her friends seem nice. I don't hear of any fallings out or meanness.

I forgot Guides. We live in South London.

I have 12 year old twins

DS loves football, music, films (Fast and Furious and anything with Dwayne Johnson are favourites).

DD loves reading (Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Wolf Brother and Divergent some of her favourites, animals, Great British Bake Off, Catchphrase

They both LOVE reality shows like I'm a Celebrity and X Factor and theme parks (Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc),

Neither of them interested in social media or You Tubers yet ( thank God!!)

They're all quite different in their likes/dislikes at this age I think.

DS1 is 12 and loves Minecraft, gaming on his laptop/PS4, sci fi films, science and political documentaries, Youtube (Minecraft and gaming channels, funny fails videos) reading adult sci fi novels, ranting about Donald Trump and loves Terry Pratchett.

Some of his classmates are more into playing and watching sports, TV comedy and reality shows and going round the shops on a Saturday afternoon.

His best mate is into ballet (the next Billy Elliot I tell you!), sewing his own clothes, gardening and Harry Potter.

Roomba Your DS's mate sounds great!

I love how diverse their interests are at this age. I love teaching teens, they endlessly fascinate me!

I love how diverse their interests are at this age. I love teaching teens, they endlessly fascinate me!
Same.
Over the holiday I've been reading a book of mine let me borrow & I lend out some of mine to them (the ones I know I'll get them back from).
I have no doubt my y11s will be wanting to fill me in on all their updated political viewd and opinions when we get back. There's a group of lads who are really getting into current affairs which is fabulous.

Dss and all his friends are massively into the flash tv series. Also the walking dead. And anime on youtube

My almost 13 year old son likes reading (always been a Potter fan, also likes Percy Jackson/Magnus Chase, Philip Pullman, Terry Pratchett, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books, plus general new YA novels), Minecraft (although not as obsessed as his 9 y/o brother), cars and car related gaming, scouts and their activities, camping etc, still enjoys lego. He's got a new phone and fiddles about on that, but not social media, games mainly I think. He's not remotely into clothes or shopping or anything yet. Oh, he likes junior parkrun too.