Now she's embarrassed by what he wears. She wants him to walk behind her when they're in public and kiss her two blocks away from school. The change really hit home when they discussed going on a church camping trip. Lynch was crushed. But he found out later the pastor's son, about the same age, said the same thing to his father.
Middle school is the time parents cease to be the center of kids' lives.
What other kids think about the clothes they wear, the things they do, even the food they eat is more important than what their parents think. This can be disappointing to parents, but kids often find the new social life exciting. Meeting new guys in particular. Amanda McLeod, a seventh-grader at Swift Creek Middle School, agreed. She said she enjoyed the greater freedom to socialize between classes and during lunch.