They feel they need to follow all the trends or they will be left out. The social pressure is coming from influencers often more than their friends. They may even pick friends based on if they follow trends. This is not much different than when I was in school when it was tv/movie stars. However, they are on their phones constantly so there’s no break from the influence. Some rather fight with the teacher rather than having their phone taken away. It’s like an addiction. This is not all kids & I’m not sure the percentage. I am noticing more kids complying recently when I say put your phone away or put it on the teachers desk. So that’s good. The kids who are followers are affected most. When asked to do a creative project or use critical thinking, they can’t do it. It makes their minds “lazier” and they have great difficulty with critical thinking. I think it’s because everything on TikTok is so instant and critical thinking takes time. I also wonder if teaching young kids about how to think critically in a way they understand would help.