Kids are too old.

Earlier today my 11yr old daughter and her “boyfriend” (and this is her only one. Her friends have had multiple..🙄) broke up. Text messages were sent out, girls were getting aggressive, these kids were getting out of control!

This isn’t the first time either. When another one of her friends got cheated on (yes, really! 11 YEARS OLD!), all her friends ganged up on their other friend and stopped talking to this girl for a couple weeks.

This. Is. Ridiculous. Not just that these 11yr olds have boyfriends or girlfriends, that can be justified as just young love, it’s the drama that came with it. This one broke up with her boyfriend because he talked to other girls that were friends, another because they only talk in facetime and texts, not in person (ok, I kind of get that one..🤷‍♀️). The point is when you’re 11, being jealous of other girls shouldn’t even be on your radar yet. You are ALL friends. The idea that these kids are depressed is crazy! It’s not that I dont believe they are depressed, it’s that i DO believe that they are! They have to act and think like adults when their tiny brains just aren’t capable of such things yet!

These kids have social media. The worst possible thing. And go ahead, try to limit their activity; take away their phones, tablets, Ect.. They will just use their friends phone. They will do so much damage in the 5 minutes that they are “allowed”, but no damage control afterwards because they are “limited”. Every parent is different, that’s not the point here. The point is technology is so far advanced that kids can bully another kid and the proof will be gone in seconds. These kids bully by having all their friends exclude someone out of their group chat or tik-tok account. They don’t think of the consequences either, those have to be spelled out for them. Why? Because they are still children. Explaining what a “slut” is to an 11yr old because they heard the word but have no idea what it is, is not an easy task. Explaining to them how it’s not okay for a friend to feel sad or depressed just because you are mad at them. You can still be their friend and be mad.

This frustrates me. My kid has to act like an adult, but be a kid. She has to be able to have a phone and be responsible, but also act like a kid whose 11. Society forces her to grow up but then treat her like she hasn’t. How are these kids supposed to know what to do, they are so confused! And it is NOT the parents fault. I have done everything from being supportive to outright yelling throughout the years. It doesn’t make it easier. And for the record, my daughter is on honor roll, she has many great friends, and she is nice to everyone. That is not to say she doesn’t get mad, and say things that she shouldn’t.

We need to find a balance for these kids. They are a technology generation, we need to find common ground to help these kids instead of shaming parents. We need to figure out a way that helps the parents and these kids because technology isn’t going anywhere. If we don’t figure it out it will just get worse.