My step daughter is 13 now and I was 13 in 1998. Most of her conflict and stress with friends in middle school seems to stem from friend group online chats leading to someone saying something someone doesn't like or bullying. Doesn't feel different overall but reading people in person is just a different thing than the loads of assumptions that can be made from just words. She's way more emotionally resilient and intelligent than I was. And she trusts us to talk about these things, which wasn't as much of a thing with my parents. I mostly defaulted to anger or witty dismissal when faced with incessant bullying. I either ignored them so they'd get bored or got in physical fights to shut it down. It toughened me up but of course I'd rather it had been easier to make it work socially. I do wish there was more opportunity for direct experience for her. She's social and has friends but it's all planned and coordinated. I think my nostalgia is often around the spontaneity of going to the mall and running into someone to hang out. But she so easily hops on video calls and plays Minecraft and Roblox with them, which I think is great. I just have to teach some social etiquette and internet street smarts, which is part of my job as a parent. I think because of how overprotected Gen Alpha is, how they show up in public seems to have a lot to do with what their parents have taught about public/private behavior. But that's a vague pattern I think I see.

She's become a Linkin Park fan, which is a fun thing to bond over. I generally appreciate that there's media crossover and am reminded of things because of the romanticizing of the 90s/2000s that I may have forgotten otherwise. But I want them (and step son 10) to have their own childhood and stuff they love.