What is an "Adult" from a High School Girl's Perspective?

The Harajuku Cute Research Lab studies modern girls' trends. The theme of our third installment is the "image of adulthood" for today's high school girls.

How do adults appear in their eyes today? We also delve into their feelings about what kind of adults they themselves aspire to become!

❤We want them to understand this SNS generation that's extremely adept at reading the room

──"For example, say I tell an adult, 'School isn't fun right now.' If they just casually say, 'I didn't enjoy it either, so don't worry about it,' I feel like they don't get it at all."(High School Freshman)

Adults just don't get it.
It's a frustrating feeling young people have probably felt at least once in any era. Since environments change rapidly, a disconnect is inevitable. This time, we'll focus on that unique frustration felt by today's high school girls.

──"Having SNS now versus back then makes a huge difference!" (High school freshman)

Today's high school girls (ages 15-18) were born between 1996 and 1999.
The birth of "mixi," a pioneer of SNS popularity in Japan, was in 2004. When "Facebook" and "Twitter" arrived in Japan in 2008, they were in 4th to 6th grade. Then, when "LINE" launched in 2011, they were in 7th to 9th grade.
In other words, they've been exposed to a social media environment where "one-to-many" communication is the norm since they were just around 10 years old.

──"If I get featured in a magazine, people write things like, 'How come someone so ugly gets to be in it?'" (High school freshman)

The social media interactions of these developing teens often involve problems rarely seen in the adult world. Just standing out gets you attacked. Do something slightly unusual, and rumors spread instantly. So they have to be cautious about doing what they want.

Furthermore, the term "KY" (air-reading failure) was nominated for the Buzzword of the Year award in 2007, when these girls were in third to fifth grade. For them, the pressure to "read the air" has been the norm since elementary school.

──"I'm careful not to come off as awkward" (High School Freshman)
──"I can spot people who are full of themselves. I don't want to be like that" (High School Sophomore)

Avoiding standing out or being the nail that sticks out, their SNS posts reflect their own interpretation of "reading the air," forcing them to be extremely conscious of others' eyes—a defining trait of this generation.
They take care not to let others notice that they're "being careful about what they post," and they also make sure their posts don't seem unnatural. In a way, they're the generation that "read the room flawlessly and to an extreme."

It's also common for them to use separate accounts: one for school (main account) and another for hobbies or personal interests (secondary account).

──"I have mixed feelings about whether I want my school friends to see it or not. If they're going to say all sorts of things, it's better if they don't know anything at all." (High school freshman)

While the culture of "reading between the lines" has long been considered a Japanese virtue, until relatively recently, youthful exuberance—asserting one's feelings or even occasionally going overboard—was part of being young.
But today, it's hard to ignore "what others might think."

──"I definitely think life is harder now with SNS" (High school freshman)

That's why it's stressful when adults bluntly say things like "That's nothing" or "I wouldn't care about that." There seems to be a desire for adults to genuinely understand what SNS is, how it affects teens, and the difficulty of having to live while constantly being mindful of others, for better or worse.

──"No matter what adults say, I wish they'd talk to me after fully understanding what LINE is like."(High school freshman)

❤What kind of adults can we consult about our future?

While they read the room, it doesn't mean they lack their own will.
In fact, when it comes to what they want to do in the future, even if they haven't decided exactly, they have all sorts of ideas.

──"My dream is to become a pastry chef!"(High school sophomore)
──"I want to be a model!"(High school sophomore)
──"I want to work in product development"(High School 1st Year)

While the female employment rate increases year by year, a Harajuku Kawaii Research survey also found that over 70% of girls want to work full-time in the future, with only 2% aspiring to be full-time homemakers.

For these girls, who grew up with Wikipedia and Yahoo Chiebukuro, finding answers online is second nature.

They actively pursue their interests, immediately researching online and even joining corporate product development teams after school.

However, a source of frustration is that adults around them sometimes perceive these activities as "playing around without studying."

──"Of course, adults have lived longer and have more experience.
But now, there are so many choices that didn't exist before, and I don't think there's just one right answer."(High School Freshman)

It's not that she dismisses adults' experience or advice. But she wishes they would properly acknowledge how things have changed since the past and not just voice opinions based solely on their own values. Otherwise, the feeling of "Honestly, I don't know who to talk to about this" becomes the frustrating emotion these girls carry.

"I guess they don't understand because it didn't exist back then.
I mean, couldn't they just look it up on their phone right then?" (High school freshman)

Today's high school girls see the "ideal adult" as someone who doesn't lecture from above, but genuinely comes down to their level. Someone who shares their own experiences while also accepting, "Oh, so this is how kids are these days," with an open mind.

"We trust adults who listen to us and meet us at eye level. I want to be like that too,"(High School Freshman)

❤ The ideal image is a "grown-up woman" of the same age who thrives in the same environment

To adapt well to environments where reading the room is unavoidable, they've become "less able to voice what they want to do." At the same time, they seem to have a desire to possess enough strength not to let that crush their "authentic self" or "what they want to do."

──"I don't want to swallow someone else's opinion just to suppress my own." (High school sophomore)
──"I have to become strong enough not to care about that." (High school freshman)

In times like these, the people who understand them best are still girls their own age navigating the same environment.

The ideal "adult image" they aspire to be like isn't someone who grew up in a different environment, but rather someone their own age who's navigating the same conditions successfully.
They skillfully dodge blows. On social media, they always look sparkling. They possess proper gratitude and humility toward others. Sometimes they genuinely understand your pain and encourage you—that's the kind of person they seem to be.

──"There are lots of things I can talk to my older sister about that I can't talk to my mom about." (High School Freshman)
──"Don't we have way too many things to worry about? It feels like we're being chased by something all day long. That person isn't like that, so she's encouraging to me." (High School Freshman)

This could be a senior or an older sibling, but it's not necessarily someone older.
In fact, over 85% of girls reported having "a girl in their class who seems more mature than themselves."

Today's girls are navigating their way in the present environment—skillfully reading the room, occasionally seeking advice from experienced adults, encouraging each other alongside trusted peers, and fighting together.

 

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Overview of the "Teenage Girls Survey"
Survey Method: Internet survey
Survey Period: September 17 to October 19, 2014
Survey Participants: 293 female "JOL" members aged 13–20
　　(44 junior high school students, 199 high school students, 50 university students aged 19–20)
Survey Implementing Organization: Mynavi JOL Editorial Department

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❤What is Harajuku Kawaii Lab?
  Launched in December 2012 as a joint initiative between "Dentsu Inc. Gal Lab" and Mynavi's " JOL " service (which supports girls' dreams), this team specializes in researching the "present" of teenage girls in junior high, high school, and university. While based in Harajuku, its research extends beyond Harajuku to study the real lives of girls nationwide.

　

Related Projects
❤Dentsu Inc . Gal Lab
A cross-functional planning team within Dentsu Inc., primarily composed of young female employees. It aims to revitalize not only businesses but also Japanese society as a whole by harnessing the mindset and powerful lifestyles of gals.
　

❤Mynavi JOL
With 60,000 teenage female members nationwide (primarily junior high and high school students) registered. " Dream Station JOL Harajuku " has become such a staple destination that it's considered a must-visit spot when in Harajuku.