Certain topics and trends have always found themselves extremely popular among high schoolers. How have these trends changed in the past twelve years?
Fashion
Fashion has always been a major part in self-expression for teenagers going to school. When you think of what high schoolers wear in the present day, you probably imagine teenagers wearing darker colors, and baggier clothing. Hoodies, loose jeans, pajama pants or sweatpants, and ugg slippers are all popular among teens. This is vastly different from fashion among teens in 2012, who often dressed up for school. According to stateuniversity.com, bright neon colors, tribal and southwestern patterned clothes, and tight jeans were all the rage. The hipster fashion movement had just become heavily popularized, and was taking over in the school setting.
Music
For years, students have gone to school with headphones or earbuds. They often listen to music during classes or while roaming the halls. Artists such as Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Frank Ocean, and Tyler, The Creator all find themselves popular among teenagers today. According to Unchained Music, hip hop is currently the most popular music genre worldwide, followed by pop second. This differs from popular genres in 2012 according to Statista, in which rock was the most popular genre. Popular artists for teenagers in 2012 included Justin Bieber, One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Katy Perry.
Pop Culture
Social media sites and apps such as TikTok and Snapchat are some of the most popular today, however, it was social media from the early 2010s that paved the way. Existing platforms such as Facebook were extremely popular at the time. Instagram became a widely used platform by teens in 2012. This was after its introduction of Hashtags in 2011, according to MIC. Gifs and memes became popular on sites such as Tumblr. The term ‘YOLO,’ meaning, ‘you only live once,’ began to infiltrate the internet and school buildings. Many schools now have begun to implement social media into the school setting. Districts and campuses make their own pages to keep students entertained and informed.
First-hand Experience
To better understand the differences of media among high schoolers in 2012 versus 2024, I interviewed Nicole Donoghue. Donoghue is a history teacher at Colonia High School, also acting as the marching band’s guard director, girl’s basketball coach, and girl’s softball coach. She graduated from CHS in the 2012-2013 school year.
‘Facebook and Twitter were pretty dominant at that point,’ said Donoghue. ‘We did also have Vine, which was short form video content.’ When asked about fashion, Donoghue stated, ‘2012 led toward the hipster aesthetic. You were typically either a hipster or a prep.”‘Donoghue also talked about TV and music, in which she stated, ‘By 2011, ‘Game of Thrones’ started. Shows like ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Pretty Little Liars’ were big. ‘Pitch Perfect’ came out. The ‘Cup Song’ was massive. Artists like Adele and One Direction were huge.’
