The media that we consume at a young age tends to really stick with us. We often feel a strong sense of nostalgia for old movies and shows. This happens for several reasons. Everything from having an appreciation for its message, enjoying the general aesthetic, liking the characters or even just associating it with a simpler time.
This is something that affects our generation heavily. It’s not uncommon to see a person wearing something like a “SpongeBob” hoodie or seeing excitement over the announcement of a sequel show. I am extremely guilty of this as I still obsess over series I grew up with such as “The Legend of Zelda” and “Godzilla.” Those two franchises alone have had a huge impact on me and greatly influenced my current taste in media.
The other day I was talking to one of my peers about how I attribute my love of writing to the many stories I experienced at a young age. Soon after that conversation I found myself thinking about something I hadn’t given much thought to before. How will what kids enjoy now shape their future?
This isn’t really a question we can just answer. Every child is different and therefore enjoys different things. However, we can look at what is currently popular and make a sort of hypothesis. To get a proper idea of what kids enjoy today I asked my nine-year-old brother Nicky the following three questions.
- “What do the kids in your class enjoy watching?”
- “What toys do they like to play with?”
- “What games do they like to play?”
I received a variety of answers. Some I expected, but many of them came as a surprise. I also learned about a lot of series I wasn’t previously familiar with. I decided I would sit down and experience some of the latter myself. I would come to regret this.
First off, let’s go over the obvious. Kids still enjoy superhero franchises, mainly “Marvel.” Not really a surprise considering the popularity of the “MCU.” However, the choices of heroes are very different.
Heroes like the “X-men,” “Fantastic Four” and most cosmic level characters seem to be wildly unknown among current kids. They gravitate more towards heroes like “Iron-man,” “Hulk” and strangely enough “Daredevil.”
What I find interesting about this is how “Spider-man” is treated. “Peter Parker,” the first and original spidey, seems to no longer be the most popular version of the character. That honor now goes to “Miles Morales,” which I think is great. Miles is such an interesting and fun character to watch/read. More importantly however, he’s an icon to so many young kids.
Games like “Minecraft” and “Roblox” are also still enjoyed. More specifically “Roblox.” Kids spend hours every day playing the popular MMO, my brother included. While I was never into it, I understand the appeal. The app offers a seemingly endless amount of different games and activities for kids to enjoy.
Additionally the game also contains a chat and friend system. I really don’t like this. I find it strange that a game with a mainly young player base has something like this in the first place. I’m sure we all know that the internet can be a dangerous place for kids and to be this is a disaster waiting to happen.
Now, there is the option to turn all chatting off, which is something I have done on my brother’s account. However, I don’t believe that this is a widely known feature. The game’s description barely says anything about online interactions so it’s something most parents wouldn’t even know about.
The ill-informed parent will be a constant theme throughout the rest of this paper. One of the conclusions I came to while researching this is that parents either need to do background checks on what their kids like or simply just talk to them more. This can best be seen with the next topic.
Kids love anime, which isn’t really a surprise. There’s a lot to like about the media such as the huge battles, larger than life characters, epic transformations and grand adventures. Within the last few years, the medium has become extremely mainstream, so it makes perfect sense that kids have learned about it and become fans of a few shows. The shows in question, however, are certainly a choice.
There is a child in Nicky’s second grade class who is a fan of “Chainsaw Man.” Now, let me continue by saying that I consider myself to be a huge fan of the show. It’s absolutely not something a kid should be watching.
For those unfamiliar with the series, “Chainsaw Man” is about a highschool-aged delinquent named Denji trying to live a normal life. To maintain his way of living he must turn into his alter ego, Chainsaw man and battle monsters known as devils. It’s a complex series with themes of body horror, dismemberment, sexual content, an extreme amount of blood, and much more. Once again the child who watches this show is in second grade.
Seeing stuff like that at a young age can be extremely traumatic and I’m sure that if their parents knew that they were watching the show like that they would take it away from them. That is the thing however, parents don’t know. “Chainsaw man? That sounds like one of those superheroes you like!”
The last few things I went over are enjoyed by a variety of different kids in his class. One thing they all share a love for is video sharing platforms, with Youtube, Twitch and Tiktok being the most popular. The old days of watching “Cartoon Network” and “Disney Channel” are over as it’s not about watching people live stream their day.
People like Kai Cenat, Adin Ross and xQc are the Internet personalities kids are currently obsessing over. To get an idea of what they’re like, I went to Tiktok and watched a few dozen clips from their live streams.
I sat down for two hours and watched these men say the most hateful and heinous things. Adin Ross is by far the worst of the three. His content is mainly just him making sexist, homophobic, racist and transphobic comments. I would also like to add that he is seemingly a fan of Andrew Tate, who was famously charged with rape and human trafficking
Kai Cenat and xQc seem to be in the same ballpark as Adin but with slightly less of a focus on being a completely terrible person. They seem to care more about obnoxious flexing and constant shouting. They do tend to interact and collaborate with Adien on a somewhat frequent basis.
There is still much more I would like to talk about, such as the reliance on shorter form content such as Youtube Shorts and their unexplainable love for horror video games. While those are certainly topics that could be discussed, I believe them to be less relevant in the grand scheme of things.
I came to the conclusion that kids like the idea of feeling older than they actually are. They enjoy experiencing media that makes them feel like a teenager or young adult. The edgy jokes, blood and ability to talk to anyone is what they believe to be a part of that.
I would like to believe that in the future they will look back and laugh at their behavior, but I don’t think that’s entirely true. There are countless videos of kids saying openly horrible things so casually. Even my brother isn’t safe as I had to correct him a few times.
I don’t think all is lost however, seeing how kids look up to characters like Spider-man and even Tanjiro makes me feel good. I hope some of what those characters stand for rubs off on them and hopefully improve their outlook.