COPPA decided that the minimum age to sign up for online things should be 13, way back in the 90s. Any other age could have been picked, but 13 was what was decided as law. Many years later, enter me, me when I was 11. I knew I was too young to be on YouTube, but YT Kids sucked and I had already been using the regular YT for my entire life anyway. I never shared my age. Safety was one of the reasons why, because I could get banned was one too, but the major reason was because of how I would be treated. I would be infantilized, patronized, and everyone would act condescending towards me! At some point, I noticed how 13 year olds didn't appear to receive the same treatment and was very envious and saw this as unjust. Flash forward to nearly 2 years later, now I was 12. I observed around me as my peers turned 13, the magic number, apparently. Absolutely nothing changed about them. I had a friend who was 13 before me, there was no noticeable difference in our behavior. Then, I finally turned 13, only to realize...13 & 12 year olds are
exactly the same! So how come 13 year olds were treated like responsible and mature while 12 year olds are treated like helpless, dumb babies!? Years have since passed since I was 13 & 12, yet I still think about this a lot.
Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I remained very immature regardless of whether I was 13 or not. So immature that people think I'm 9 years old specifically for some reason!
I didn't want to be 13, because I hate getting older saw it as my childhood finally ending forever. I just wanted to be a little kid again and hated being called a teenager. I still sometimes get sad about it, to be honest.
