Anonymous Interviews: A 12-Year Old

In a new series, I conduct a completely real, completely anonymous interview with a person I find interesting. Identities are protected to emphasize the truth. This time, I chatted with a 12-year old.

When was a time that you remember that you laughed really hard? 

Probably last week. I was in Spanish class and me and my friends were talking, and someone made a really funny joke about one of our friends. And everyone started laughing. 

What was the joke? 

We were talking about this one person: if they were to have a kid, what would they want? And so someone said they want a kid with one streak of purple dye in their hair. And then one of my other friends has a streak of purple dye. So someone at my table said, “Literally this person?” And we all started laughing. 

When was a time that you cried a lot? 

Probably during winter break. My friend groups had all split apart because everyone was mad at each other. I was put in all the middle of that. 

What happened?

One of my friend groups was mad at the other friend group because someone in that friend group wasn't a very nice person to another person. I was put in the middle of that because I'm in both of the friend groups.

So what did you do? 

I just tried my best to get the point across that I was trying to be both of their friends. And even though it was a more difficult thing, I can't be exclusive to one friend group because I have friends in two groups. And they don't have to like each other, but they have to respect my decision to like people in different friend groups.

That must have been hard. How did it all turn out?

It's not serious drama anymore, but no one's really happy with each other. But we just stopped talking about it. 

You’re 12 now. What has been your favorite year of your life so far?

Probably third grade, so eight and nine most likely.

Why was that your favorite? 

Because it was a point where you weren't thought of to be this tiny, immature child, but you also weren't hit with the responsibilities of being the head of the elementary school or being in middle school.

What kind of responsibilities?

We've all had a lot of homework and have to balance our time on our own without help from other people. 

And what age are you most looking forward to? 

Probably 13. Because you're becoming a teenager and then a lot of social media platforms are only accessible to people of the age of 13.

Oh really? I didn't know that. 

Yeah, so the accessibility of that becomes more usable. I can use TikTok without having Restrict Mode on. I can play Roblox without having Safe Chat. And then being able to use Discord and Twitter and Instagram - all of those platforms are all 13.

And you think you will like using all of those? 

I already use them all, so I guess having the relief of not having to worry about not having the accessibility. It's the ability to not have to worry about getting banned on them because I'm too young or like losing a bunch of progress and stuff on them because I'm too young.

What’s important to you about social media platforms? 

Being able to connect with people that have similar interests.  Because I have interests in flight simulators and theme parks and stuff. I've been able to connect with people that I would never meet because of social media.

What are some things you don't like about social media?  

Sometimes I just don't feel like talking to people and just want a break from my friends, but they can reach me on so many platforms and figure out where I am at the time. They can text me saying, “I know you're at home. I know that you're on your phone.” I don't really wanna say, “I don't want to talk to you right now.” Because that's rude. So just that has been a downside, but I just usually just don't respond and then they give up.

But then they might be mad at you. 

Yeah, they might be mad at me.

When you think about being an adult, what do you think the best parts will be? 

Probably being able to work and make money and being able to drive. I can’t drive and it’s illegal for me to work right now. My sister is old enough to work and she is able to go with her friends to dinner and stuff. And I see people in like eighth grade who also have jobs having nice shoes and stuff. They are able to pay for that. 

What do you think is important about making money? 

There’s nothing important about making money when you're a teenager because you don't pay for bills and stuff. But when you're an adult, I'd say you need to make money to support your kids and pay your bills and stuff.

What do you imagine the worst part about being an adult? 

Probably having to deal with taxes and all that stuff. And then being in charge of a child for 18 years. 

Not everybody has kids.

Yeah, but if you were to have kids, you'd have that responsibility.

And that doesn't seem like much fun to you.

It would be an accomplishment, but I think there's highs and lows to everything. So there, yes, there will be highs to having children, but there will also be lows.  

Besides driving and making money, what are some things that you wish you could do now, but you can't because you're a kid?

I wish that I could pick my classes in school. Because there's certain classes that I feel that I will never need to take in my life and it’s just like a waste of 55 minutes of my day every day.

 Like what classes? 

I have engineering class, but we don't learn how to engineer things. Our engineering teacher uses this program that doesn't teach us anything and is completely online. And it doesn't teach us how to build, how to engineer. He never once told us the engineering design process ever. 

How do you think your life will be different when you're a teenager?

I will be able to pick classes in high school, so that's one thing. And also more freedom, like having the ability to do stuff with my friends instead of having my parents make plans. I ask someone at school “Can you tell your mom to ask my mom if you can have a sleepover?” That's how it works right now. “Can you tell your mom to tell my mom?” And it's just an annoying process. So I guess having more freedom but also being responsible for myself.

What do you think of the way adults are running the world right now? 

I think that there are lots of problems that are created because of ignorance. Barely any person over the age of 40 is doing stuff to fight global warming. And some people are spreading rumors that climate change isn't real when it's very real. They’re just not leaving a world that's suitable for a new generation to live in. Like the cost of everything - the cost of a house right now is so much that people who just left their parents' house can't find anywhere to live because the only places that are available for rent are crappy places that cost like the price of an entire house.

And then just not trying to stop problems in the world, like world hunger.  And pollution and stuff like that is like something that people are advocating for, but the majority of people that are advocating for this are teenagers and young. That’s just from what I've experienced. 

What would you do differently if you were in charge of the world? 

I would probably enforce laws to stop pollution and have a better police system. To have more accessibility to health care and not having to worry about not going to the hospital when you're sick because you don't wanna have to pay for medical bills. Because that's a thing that's actually going on - people not going to the hospital because they don't want to pay for medical bills.

How fair do you think life is? 

Not very fair especially for people who were born into poor conditions. If you look at graphs and stuff, the amount of people who are millionaires and billionaires, most of them started from middle class and upper middle class rich families. It's just not a very available thing for people.

How hopeful are you about the future? 

I think Gen Z and Gen A are all very passionate about changing the world. You could say the “woke generation.” 

What do you think of when people say that? “The woke generation.” 

It’s hard to describe it, but “woke” is being educated on different sexualities, world classes, and so much stuff that's going on. And then doing something about it too. Gen Z accepted that people can be gay or straight or trans and that's why people have gotten more support. There's also a lot of people in Gen Z and Gen A that are all fighting with their lives against global warming and trying to stop a bunch of bad things in the world. . 

And do you think it's gonna work? 

Probably not quickly, but we've already removed 30 million tons of trash from the ocean and planted 20 million trees. And that was all Gen Z.

What are you most scared about?

Probably World War 3 because that's been imminent for a long time. China has released those spy balloons. 

Do you think the US is spying on China? 

Probably. I think that there's a lot of secrets in the government and stuff that should be made public and known. But North Korea said “Prepare for war.” That's one thing that they said to the entire world. 

And that scares you.

Yeah. 

What would you say is the most important thing to you right now as a 12 year old?

Probably the friendships that I have right now. I've connected with these friends more than I have any other friends. So it's just the perfect group of people to surround myself. 

What is it about your group of friends now that is so perfect? 

We all kinda look at each other and - this is weird - but we can look at each other and just read each other's minds through our facial expressions. We have very specific facial expressions to get a point across and like I feel like that only happens when you're close.  

You feel really known and understood by these friends. 

Yeah definitely. 

As a 12-year old, what do you want to say to whoever's reading this?

Probably if you have means, donate to something to help out the world. Donate to cancer research or ending world hunger. Fight for the women in Iran and Iraq - that type of stuff.

Boogie Writes is a completely independent endeavor by one hard-working funnyman trying to make his way in the world today (which takes everything you’ve got.) If you like what you read, please subscribe, support, and tell a friend! Also - do you need advice? Of course you do! Send your queries to brendan@brendanboogie.com with “Dear Boogie” in the subject and get some solid or at least passable advice!