A Typology of Adolescent Developmental Stages as Revealed by Zoom

Junior high kids stay in place in the frame and stare intently at the camera, raise their hand to read or answer a question, and are breezily compliant. Of course. They can’t kick one another under the table or make a joke to the person next to them.

High schoolers recline in their rooms and fill their video with the blue and green lighting flashing on their ceiling and walls. They are more reluctant to raise a hand than their younger counterparts and look a measure or two less interested in what’s going on. But they’re there, together, and they keep coming back.

The college students are the most unruly. Delighted to see and be seen, they never stop replacing their background with some digital creation of their own, usually a photo from their roll, often one they have photoshopped in some clever way. They are riveted to one another’s performances.

They are delightful and instructive in their own way, all of them. I’m trying to learn from them.

One thought on “A Typology of Adolescent Developmental Stages as Revealed by Zoom

  1. This is fascinating. If you were to have left the ages blank, I would have mixed them up based on my own experiences.

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