In today’s day of life, we are constantly seeing an increase in students looking and acting older than they are. I believe that this is because there are so many outlets available for younger kids including social media, violent video games, and violent movies. Due to all of these accessible sources, I believe that children are maturing too fast.

Social media is available to most of the population. Because of this, younger kids are exposed to social media’s standard of beauty. This includes being unrealistically skinny, having zero acne, and having symmetrical features. This might even cause some kids to resent their race and eye color. A lot of what we see on social media are filters and editing, but someone younger may not see this as clearly and start to fall for these false standards. 

One specific app that has become popular over the years is TikTok. TikTok contains videos ranging from eating food and having fun to a much darker side of comparing yourself to filters and other people who pop up on your feed. I started scrolling through TikTok when people were just getting used to it. There were no filters and nothing to compare yourself to, it was just full of people having fun.

With recent updates, there has been an increase in negative comments, filters that completely distort your face, and even people reporting they want nose jobs and other forms of plastic surgery just to fit the standard social media has started. This standard is available to kids of all ages which is why kids who are as young as 11 years old can be found wearing makeup, using filters, and over-sexualizing themselves if it means they’ll be seen as someone who fits the standard. Another reason kids have been maturing too fast is because of the violence found in video games and movies.

In a research study, VeryWellFamily.com found after tracking more than 3,000 children in 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 8th grades for 3 years that children exposed to violence in video games and movies cause kids to think more aggressively and behave more aggressively. Because children at younger ages are exposed to all of this, it matures their brains into believing that the violence and stuff they witness in these games and movies are normal. 

After these children were exposed to this type of violence, they acted out violently and thought violently. Instead of asking nicely for something they want, they would throw a tantrum and use violent wording. By viewing this type of material, they lost their childhood innocence much faster which caused them to mature much faster. Another reason children are said to mature faster is because of exposure to stress and treatment as an adult. 

Being treated as an adult causes a lot of stress on a kid which can lead to their brain developing faster and some girls may get their period at a much faster rate. Not only are these children who are maturing faster losing their childhood innocence, but according to newyorker.com, these kids are at a greater risk for obesity, eating disorders, depression, breast cancer, and many more behavioral issues. 

There are many ways to prevent this from becoming an ongoing problem. A couple of them are keeping kids off of social media for longer than we are now, preventing kids from viewing violent movies or playing violent video games, and preserving child innocence. 

By keeping children off of social media, they are less likely to care about people’s thoughts and compare themselves to unrealistic standards that social media sets for them. There can also be a lot of disturbing things and creeps found all over social media that children may not be cautious of. In most cases, it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

Most movies have a rating that tells you whether or not they should be viewed by younger audiences. There are a lot of parents who ignore this and let their children sit through it anyway which can cause the child emotional distress and make them act out. It’s better to listen to the movie rating than regret it after when your kid starts acting out violent scenes. Finally, as adults and young adults, it’s our job to preserve child innocence. 

Everyone wants to give their children the best childhood possible but, it becomes increasingly difficult when nowadays everything is based on new technological advances and new trends coming up. While it’s easy to get lost in social media and good movies or video games, it’s still very important to not rush kids into this system as well. They deserve more than a trendy filter, they deserve a healthy childhood without comparing themselves to others.