Big changes from my 7th grade year...

When I was in 7th grade:

1. NKOTB was the hit band

2. If girls dressed in a way that showed any cleavage or leg, they had a reputation. Things are different now as even kids who consider themselves "Christian" dress more revealing than those kids with "reputations".

3. Even the word "sex" was whispered and talked about with a blushed face. Kids now talk about sexual things openly.

4. There was a sense of privacy and boundaries that were commonly acknowledged. Myspace and other digital forms of communication cause for everyone to be open books.

5. When I was in 7th grade, I knew who the 7th graders were. Now kids are often mistaken as high schoolers or in some cases college students.

6. In 1990, tennis court baseball, street hockey, basketball after school, frisbee were all common place. The places where all these activities happened on a daily basis have completely grown up with weeds and broken pavement. Kids now spend all their available moments playing Halo 3, pretend games of tennis or Olympics in the virtual world. Real physical activity seems to be substituted for make believe.

7. There was a huge difference between kids in the country and kids in the city. Country kids were always snowmobiling, ATVing, running around on the farm. City kids were very different from that. Now they are all the same as all kids are immersed in the digital world.

8. Kids weren't as quickly medicated to keep them on par with the other kids.

9. Kids weren't labeled as quickly as they are now.

10. Clique's weren't as diverse. Now the diversity is great. Back then I think we had musicians, jocks and nerds. Now there are hundreds of forms of cliques.