New York Public Radio WNYC has launched a new series, Being 12: The Year Everything Changes. The website features broadcasts and videos around the thesis that age 12 is our most difficult age–the last year of childhood, when peoples’ brains, bodies, circumstances, and relationship to language is changing at speeds as dramatic and tumultuous as when they were toddlers.
This video is a fascinating view of some very interesting and very typical 12-year-olds. It isn’t merely “kids say the darndest thing” clickbait, it’s a simple and honest glimpse into what’s going on these kids minds, reflecting what it’s like to be this age in this era. Their concerns are both unique to today, like cell phones, Instagram and selfies; and the timeless woes of boys struggling to talk to girls, and girls struggling to speak up at all. It’s touching to watch, relatable and hearbreaking.
The WNYC series include such juicy episodes as: This Is A 12-Year-Old’s Brain On Peer Pressure, and What A Brand Would Give To Be A Tween Girl’s Friend, and Now Saving The Music Industry–Your 12-Year-Old.
There is a very good article on the series, with more on the “second toddler” idea in NY Magazine’s section “Science of Us.”