Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be really curious to hear when parents think their kids should grow up?

+1. Kids mature on their own timeline and based on the society they live in. Childhood is short for a reason.

I know, but I think that there is a such a thing as too mature and growing up too quickly, especially for middle schoolers. I want my middle school kids to still act like kids, at least somewhat

Anonymous wrote:I'd be really curious to hear when parents think their kids should grow up?

+1. Kids mature on their own timeline and based on the society they live in. Childhood is short for a reason.

My son is going into 6th grade and he and his closest friend, a girl who's also his grade still love playing like kids when they hang out. They love just dance, playing pretend, telling each other scary stories and games like tag and hide and seek. They're also on a soccer team together. I think it's great that they still enjoy just being kids. I wouldn't worry about it OP.

OP, if your DS just turned 11 it sounds like he is young for grade (late May birthday?) in this area. That may be affecting how he appears to compare with his grade-level peers. Some parents would have redshirted for maturity in this situation. But it really sounds like he’s fine.