The extinction of children: a blurring of ‘age’

by Patrycja Harnaszkiewicz

With the rise of technological advancements and societal progress, we as a generation have evolved alongside it in order to adapt and fast-track it’s swift development. In recent years social media and various online platforms have dominated our virtual experiences and therefore implemented various ideologies through the indoctrination of propaganda, arguably poisoning our maturing minds. Teenagers have started to go extinct as the boundaries of age appear to be gradually deteriorating over the past couple of decades. Suppose those corpe-like figures submerged in the UV rays emitting from their screens, infuriating in their slothfulness, conceal sharp young minds which are on the brink of maturity.

Our exposure and consumption of content is now more prominent than ever, providing children with an experience much more intense and intimate than before, however this has coincidently caused us to succumb to the glamorisation of adulthood and conform to stereotypical norms and expectations. Through the awareness and introduction of the internet to our generation at an alarmingly young age has socialised us into accepting such damaging ideas presented by creators such as instagram models and influencers. This as a result has led to detrimental damage regarding young women’s self image, causing a shift in the typical image and presentation of young adults - it is increasinlgy rare to encounter a pre-teen who has undergone an ‘awkward’ stage. Questionable fashion, bows and headbands and glitter lip gloss have been scarce amongst adolescence, and especially on shelves.

This has also majorly affected businesses and shops such as Claire’s, which personally holds a dear place in my childhood memories. Gradually decreasing in popularity and significance in young girls' lives, these accessory shops are no longer considered ‘trendy’, instead these have been replaced by the world of online shopping, unethical fast fashion and instagram advertisements. Social media has stripped us of our innocence, diminishing our childhood and limiting our years of freedom and self-discovery. Instead we’ve been brought up by false idols and fake supplements, moulding our existence into merely clones and naive participants of instagram culture.