The Youngest Generation

If there is one period of my life I don't care about reliving, it's middle school.  Oh the horrors!  Middle school was, for everyone I know, fraught with awkwardness, way too much social drama, and ambiguity over whether boys had cooties or not.  I spent more time worrying about what to wear and who to talk to than I spent on school work (thank goodness the work wasn't hard).  By the time I got to high school, I was ready to be done with all that.  FOREVER. 

And yet, every week I find myself in west Providence, chillaxin' with the youngest generation -- the super cool middle school crowd.  I have to admit, from the outside perspective, middle school is fun.  Middle schoolers are young enough to make slime and dangle it precariously over their crush's head (yup, one boy did exactly that).  Middle schoolers are young enough to throw spontaneous dance parties and to paste photos of the Jonas Brothers all over their journals.  At the same time, middle schoolers are fully capable of having real conversations.  They dream about going to college, living away from their parents, and getting a jobs as hair stylists or accountants.  They haven't been jaded by the crumbling economy, institutional red tape, or whatever lemons life has thrown their way:  Daneishly, who moved from Massachusetts to Puerto Rico to Rhode Island.  Doris, who emigrated from Liberia nine years ago.  Jasmine, who has transferred schools twice in the past year.  They all have stories to tell, and yet they are also... just kids.

They are certainly kids of a new generation, though.  Two weeks ago, as Jasmine was building a bridge of toothpicks and gummy candies, she jumped out of her chair.  

"Do you have a phone?" she called anxiously.  "Who has a phone?"

"Whyyyy?" we asked cautiously, knowing (from personal experience perhaps) how mischievous middle schoolers can be. 

"Can I see your phone please?" Jasmine begged.  "I want to know what time it is."

Well.  We (Brown students) all laughed at that.  The younger generation just looked confused. 

"No, you can't see my phone, but I have a watch.  See--"

They didn't get it.  Why wear a watch when you already have a phone, especially one with a 3G network connection?  Why wear a watch when the world is only a swipe of your fingertips away?