How old qualifies as a “tween”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live with a 9.5 year old girl in 4th grade. Some days she is very tween like and other days she’s still a kid. So I’d say 9 is the earliest, but most likely by 10 for sure.

Tween just means they are approaching their teenage years. Which to me is exactly what’s happening at ages 10-12.

+1. I’ve got a young 4th grader (will turn 10 right around the start of 5th grade). One minute she’s acting like she thinks she’s 15, the next 7 - she’s also small for her age and most likely won’t start puberty anytime soon.

I like 10 as the start of “tween” as the earliest- but it’s not a term that needs to have an exact definition so I’m not sure why people are getting hung up on the cutoffs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tween is double digits before 13 so 10 to 12

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some tweens play with some toys but are getting interested in fashion and or makeup. It's often overlooked which is why a lot of tweens are watching shows for teenagers/ growing up too fast.

The point of the term tween in my opinion is to NOT make kids grow up too fast aka not considering an 11, 12 year old as a teen.

What do you mean it's often overlooked? Do you consider 11 and 12 teen? I know some do, I just don't understand it. My intention is not to stop my child from growing up. I just don't want them to grow up before they have to. Plenty of time later to be a full blown teen and then an adult.

11 and 12 are still tweens its 8 - 12.

Overlooked by media industry who make movies and TV shows. Lots of stuff is out there for little kids, teens and adults but barely anything for tweens.
Meaning a lot of parents let kids watch stuff that's tv 14 or pg 13. Which in my opinion why so many tweens are growing up so fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some tweens play with some toys but are getting interested in fashion and or makeup. It's often overlooked which is why a lot of tweens are watching shows for teenagers/ growing up too fast.

The point of the term tween in my opinion is to NOT make kids grow up too fast aka not considering an 11, 12 year old as a teen.

What do you mean it's often overlooked? Do you consider 11 and 12 teen? I know some do, I just don't understand it. My intention is not to stop my child from growing up. I just don't want them to grow up before they have to. Plenty of time later to be a full blown teen and then an adult.

11 and 12 are still tweens its 8 - 12.

Overlooked by media industry who make movies and TV shows. Lots of stuff is out there for little kids, teens and adults but barely anything for tweens.
Meaning a lot of parents let kids watch stuff that's tv 14 or pg 13. Which in my opinion why so many tweens are growing up so fast.

PG-13 was invented by 80s moms who wanted to stunt their children's development. It's not a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some tweens play with some toys but are getting interested in fashion and or makeup. It's often overlooked which is why a lot of tweens are watching shows for teenagers/ growing up too fast.

The point of the term tween in my opinion is to NOT make kids grow up too fast aka not considering an 11, 12 year old as a teen.

Agreed. They’re beTWEEN two age groups and often have interests in both younger and older activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always thought it was a play on words. You’re inbeTWEEN being a teen and being a child. And in english we don’t say tenteen, eleventeen, twelveteen. But there are big enough differences of behavior and maturity that 10,11,12 year olds experience, from the kind of things that kids younger than 10 experience, and teenagers experience.

So I’d say 10,11, and 12 year olds are tweens. Strictly-speaking.. however I can definitely see precocious 9 year olds and late-blooming early teenagers having more in common maturity-wise, with tweens.

No one ever said tenteen. Eleventeen and twelveteeen were silly words, and I think tween was probably invented to capture 11 & 12 year olds. It got *ridiculously* stretched to 9 and 10 year olds. I never considered my children tweens when they were that age. Such a cringy marketing term anyway, we should all be objecting.