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PODCAST

Being 12: The Year Everything Changes

It's no secret that being 12 years old can be tough. At 12, kids shed layers, test new roles and transform before our eyes as they explore what kind of adult they want to be. Their brains and bodies change at alarming rates. At the same time, school gets harder. In New York City, academic performance in seventh grade largely sets a student's path in high school.New Yorkers this age often start commuting to school alone. For girls, it may be the year they buy their first bra or get their period. For everyone, it's an age for plugging in to the digital world, and tuning out adults more and more. Some may also have jobs or look after younger siblings. Friendships shift. Romantic feelings may blossom. The stakes get higher in so many ways. WNYC’s series, Being 12, brings to life the array of faces, voices and perspectives of these young New Yorkers.See what they look like. Hear what they have to say. They are the city’s future. We think you should get to know them better.

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Episodes

  1. On Talking Race to Young Teens, Teachers Say It's Been a Tough Year

    After a year that saw high-profile police shootings plus the deadly attack on a black church in South Carolina, middle school teachers told WNYC their classrooms were abuzz with personal and sometimes difficult conversations. And they didn't always feel prepared to handle what came up. In a brief...

  2. Being 12: How the Views of Young Teens Changed

    As issues related to race and policing reverberated through New York City classrooms this school year, WNYC spoke to a few different groups of 12-year-old New Yorkers about how their views changed. Amani Brown, who attended a recent conference on justice hosted by Global Kids, said she did not...

  3. Being 12: The Year Everything Changes for Kids, Schools, Tech, Bodies

    It's no secret that being 12 years old can be tough. That's why we've created a full show about it. At 12, kids shed layers, test new roles and transform before our eyes as they explore what kind of adult they want to be. Their brains and bodies change at alarming rates. At the same time, school...

  4. When Relationships Reign Supreme

    Twelve-year-old Déjà Palmer lives with her mother and twin brother on the Lower East Side. She’s a good student at Tompkins Square Middle School, and she’s very active in an after-school program for kids who are strong in math and another program for dance and theater. But like many kids her age,...

  5. What a Brand Would Give to Be a Tween Girl’s Friend

    Not so long ago, ads for pads and tampons showed images of women in gauzy garments, doing yoga on the beach. Manufacturers left it to moms and big sisters to give young women "the talk." Today, these brands speak to girls directly: Always’ “#LikeAGirl” ad, featuring young women, ran in the last...

  6. Meet the Teachers Crazy Enough to Teach Middle School

    It turns out middle school teachers disliked middle school as much as the rest of us. “It’s just an awkward and difficult time,” said Peter Schmitt, a middle school math teacher at Lower Manhattan Community School. “I would not want to do it again.” But if these teachers hated middle school, why...

  7. First Person: New Yorkers on Being 12

    Abraham Esber, Brooklyn During the day, this Williamsburg native is a seventh grader at East Side Community School in Manhattan. But three days a week after school, and on Saturdays, he travels to Lincoln Center to study at the School of American Ballet. Now that he's 12, Abe said his parents are...

  8. Lessons on Getting Adolescents Excited About Reading

    In conjunction with WNYC’s Being 12 series, celebrated children’s book author Jon Scieszka will talk about getting adolescents– particularly young boys – to read, and the appeal of writing for this age group. Scieszka is the author of books for young readers like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other...

  9. This Is a 12-Year-Old Brain on Peer Pressure

    If adolescence has a poster child, it's a teenager. In a car. Smoking, drinking, and driving badly while also, somehow, having sex in the back seat. But changes in the brain that lead to the famously bad choices of adolescence don't start at 16 or 17 years old. They start around 11 or 12, at the...

  10. Middle School: A 'Hot Mess' of Distractions

    Seasoned middle school teachers and principals know what they're up against. Their students are bombarded by physical and psychological changes. The same child can show up dedicated and hard-working one day, silly and difficult the next. But if you grab their attention, educators told WNYC…

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  11. Being 12: The Most Awkward, Essential Year of Our Lives

    For a lot of American adults, age 12 is probably just one more moment in the extended blur that is adolescence, located smack dab in the middle of those forgettable middle school years. We're here to argue that 12 is in fact pretty special, especially if you're a New Yorker. This is the moment…

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  12. Chancellor Fariña on Being 12

    New York City schools chancellor Carmen Farina explains why she thinks 7th grade is the single most important grade in a kid’s school life. Here's NYC schools chancellor Carmen Fariña in our studio today: pic.twitter.com/OZsCb2oCoK — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) March 9, 2015 Some schools are...

  13. Now Saving The Music Industry: Your 12-Year-Old

    The rising tide of digital music has threatened to sink much of the record business. But an unexpected sandbar of profit has emerged: the tween market. Turns out, kids around the age of 12 still buy music, and the tween market has become big enough and powerful enough to make stars out of their...

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

It's no secret that being 12 years old can be tough. At 12, kids shed layers, test new roles and transform before our eyes as they explore what kind of adult they want to be. Their brains and bodies change at alarming rates. At the same time, school gets harder. In New York City, academic performance in seventh grade largely sets a student's path in high school.New Yorkers this age often start commuting to school alone. For girls, it may be the year they buy their first bra or get their period. For everyone, it's an age for plugging in to the digital world, and tuning out adults more and more. Some may also have jobs or look after younger siblings. Friendships shift. Romantic feelings may blossom. The stakes get higher in so many ways. WNYC’s series, Being 12, brings to life the array of faces, voices and perspectives of these young New Yorkers.See what they look like. Hear what they have to say. They are the city’s future. We think you should get to know them better.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Being 12: The Year Everything Changes have?

Being 12: The Year Everything Changes currently has 14 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Being 12: The Year Everything Changes about?

It's no secret that being 12 years old can be tough. At 12, kids shed layers, test new roles and transform before our eyes as they explore what kind of adult they want to be. Their brains and bodies change at alarming rates. At the same time, school gets harder. In New York City, academic...

How often does Being 12: The Year Everything Changes release new episodes?

Being 12: The Year Everything Changes has 14 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to Being 12: The Year Everything Changes?

You can listen to Being 12: The Year Everything Changes on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
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