Parenting

Viral TikTok Shares Which Parent Behaviors Make Middle Schoolers Cringe

by Sarah Aswell
mom taking a selfie
Caucasian girl embarrassed of mother taking selfies with cell phone

What, we can’t even dab anymore without embarrassing our teen?

A new viral TikTok video shares a damning list of things that makes middle schoolers cringe at their parents — and yes, it looks like we are guilty of basically all of them.

A seventh-grade teacher in Palm Springs, California, asked his 12 and 13-year-old students what their parents do that embarrasses them and then had them write their answers down on Post-It notes. He then uploaded the compiled list, to the horror of millions of parents and the delight of millions of kids.

“Asked my students the following question: what is something your parents or guardians do that makes you cringe?” reads the caption on the one-minute video on his account, 7thGradeChronicles.

What follows is a full-on minute of cringe-worthy parental behavior according to our kids.

“My mom uses Facebook,” the first note reads, setting the stage for more harsh moments of truth.

“Taking mirror selfies,” says the next — making us wonder if our child is somehow in this teacher’s class in Palm Springs.

“Listens to Katy Perry!”

“My dad still wears Speedos.”

“When they say, ‘That’s tight,'” — but what else are we supposed to say when something’s tight!?

“Watching NCIS.”

“My mom calls herself ‘gangster,'” laments another student. “Girl, no.”

“Making me order off the kids’ menu even though I’m 13.”

“My mom hangs up positivity signs — Live Love Laugh.”

“My mom still dabs,” writes the next kid, adding a frowning face.

Even worse: “My mom does TikTok dances.”

We don’t even know how to process this list of extremely reasonable activities.

The parents completely sounded off in the comments, defending everything but Speedos.

One mom made an important point: our kids have no idea how gangster we might have been in the past. It was tight!

Many were devastated that NCIS was caught in the fray.

And even the official NCIS fan account itself got in on the fun.

But one mom pointed out something that the teens might have been overlooking: maybe we’re embarrassing our kids on purpose. As revenge.

Anyway, later gangsters. Got to work on our TikTok moves.