GRWM Videos, Social Media, and the Great Shift Toward a More Sexualized Childhood

GRWM Videos, Social Media, and the Great Shift Toward a More Sexualized Childhood

In last week’s blog, I wrote about The Great Shift and how childhood did not move online overnight. It happened one platform update, one new feature, one new function, and one new trend at a time. A filter gets added, a new editing tool shows up, a platform creates a new way to go live, or a trend starts moving through TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube Shorts, or whatever platform comes next.

Each one of those changes may seem small by itself, but over time they change how kids communicate, what they see, what they imitate, and what they begin to believe is normal. That is one of the most important parts of The Great Shift. Technology does not just give kids a new place to hang out. It changes the behaviors that happen in that space.

As social media platforms evolve, the behavior on those platforms evolves too. The content gets faster, the trends get more extreme, and the pressure to be noticed gets stronger. The line between entertainment, identity, popularity, attention, and sexuality gets blurrier, and our kids are watching all of it.

The Three-Second Attention Economy

Meta has stated that people often decide within the first three seconds whether they will keep watching a video or scroll to the next one. That means creators are not just making content anymore. They are competing for attention almost instantly, and that competition changes the type of content that gets created.

Three seconds is not much time to make someone stay. If someone posting online wants you to stop scrolling, they need something that grabs your attention right away. That could be humor, shock, beauty, conflict, emotion, drama, controversy, or sexuality. The more crowded the feed becomes, the more intense the attention-grabbing behavior becomes.

This is another part of The Great Shift. It is not only a shift in childhood. It is a shift in attention, because the online world has trained many people to make quick decisions about what is worth watching. In response, creators have learned to make content that hooks people immediately.

The result is often more risky, more provocative, more sexualized, and more emotionally charged content. Sex sells. It always has. It probably always will. But the problem now is that elementary school kids, middle school kids, and young teens are being pulled into the same attention economy as adults.

They are no longer just watching cartoons, playing outside, or learning about the world through family, school, and community. Many are scrolling through feeds built to hold attention, increase engagement, and keep them watching. That means children can become the unwitting recipients of “sex sells” before they are emotionally, socially, or developmentally ready to understand what they are seeing.

What Are GRWM Videos?

One trend that shows how this has evolved is the GRWM video, which stands for Get Ready With Me. Not all GRWM videos are inappropriate. Some are harmless, ordinary, and even boring. A person might show their morning routine, talk through their outfit, apply makeup, do their hair, or share a little about their day.

But like many online trends, GRWM content exists on a spectrum. Some versions show influencers getting ready from pajamas. Others begin with the person in underwear, a towel, or very little clothing. Some are filmed in bedrooms or bathrooms, and some focus heavily on body image, beauty, appearance, desirability, or looking sexually attractive.

The trend itself is not new, but it has evolved. The more people compete for views, the more some videos push boundaries. What starts as “watch me get ready for school” or “watch me pick an outfit” can easily shift into something more revealing, more performative, and more sexualized.

For adults, this may seem like just another internet trend. For kids, it can become a model for behavior. Children and teens mimic what they see older peers, influencers, and adults doing, and that has always been true. Kids copied hairstyles, clothes, music, slang, and social behavior long before social media existed.

The difference now is scale, speed, and audience. A young person does not just copy a trend in front of a few friends at school. They may copy it, record it, post it, and send it into a digital environment filled with strangers.

Why GRWM Videos Can Be Risky for Kids

The concern is not simply that a child might watch a GRWM video. The bigger concern is what repeated exposure can normalize. A child or young teen may begin to think it is normal to post videos while getting dressed, showing outfits, showing their body, or inviting others into private parts of their life.

They may also see influencers receive likes, comments, attention, compliments, and followers for this kind of content. Over time, they may start to connect appearance with approval. They may learn that showing more can sometimes lead to more attention, and that is a dangerous lesson for a developing child.

When young people post content that is revealing, suggestive, or personal, they may attract the wrong kind of attention. Predatory adults and older teens often look for vulnerable young people online. They may begin with compliments, likes, follows, private messages, or seemingly harmless comments.

From there, the interaction can move quickly. A predator may encourage the child to post more, send links to other platforms, ask to talk privately, or try to move the conversation into disappearing-message apps, gaming chats, anonymous accounts, or other private spaces. This is how grooming can begin.

It does not always start with something obvious or scary. It can start with attention. It can start with flattery. It can start with “You’re so mature,” “You could be an influencer,” or “Your parents just don’t understand.” It can also start with someone telling a child to keep a conversation secret.

That is the slippery slope parents and concerned adults need to understand. Online grooming often begins by making a young person feel seen, special, attractive, or understood. For a child who is lonely, insecure, curious, impulsive, or hungry for attention, that can be very powerful.

This Is Bigger Than One Trend

GRWM videos are just one example of a much larger issue. The bigger issue is that kids are growing up in a digital world where adult behaviors, teen behaviors, influencer behaviors, and childhood behaviors are all mixed together in the same feed. A 10-year-old can be watching toy content one minute, beauty content the next, a teen relationship video after that, and then an adult influencer getting dressed for a night out.

There used to be more boundaries between childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. They were never perfect, but they existed. Kids had kid spaces. Teens had teen spaces. Adults had adult spaces. Social media flattened many of those boundaries, and now kids are often exposed to content that was never really created with them in mind.

This matters because children do not always have the developmental ability to separate entertainment from instruction. They may not understand that an influencer is performing. They may not understand that a video is designed to gain attention. They may not understand that comments from strangers are not the same as real approval, care, or connection.

This does not mean every child who sees this content will be harmed. It does mean we should stop pretending these platforms are neutral spaces. They are not. They shape behavior, self-image, expectations, values, and what kids think is normal.

The Great Shift Toward a More Sexualized Childhood

One of the hardest parts of this conversation is that many parents did not grow up with this level of exposure. Yes, sexualized media existed before smartphones. There were magazines, music videos, movies, television shows, commercials, and celebrity culture. But kids usually had to go looking for much of it, or it came through more limited channels.

Today, sexualized content can appear in the same feed as homework tips, dance videos, sports clips, comedy, skincare routines, and friend posts. It is blended into everyday scrolling, which can make it feel casual, normal, and constant. That is a major shift in childhood.

We are raising children in what may be the most sexualized digital environment in history. They are seeing more, earlier, and with less adult guidance than previous generations. That does not mean parents should panic, but it does mean we need to pay attention.

Panic usually leads to overreaction, secrecy, and conflict. Awareness allows us to have better conversations, set better boundaries, and teach kids how to think about what they are seeing. We need to talk about privacy, bodies, online attention, grooming, and what should and should not be shared online.

Most importantly, we need to talk before there is a crisis. Once a child is already caught in an unhealthy online relationship, exposed to sexualized content, or receiving inappropriate comments from strangers, the situation becomes much harder. Prevention is always easier than repair.

Holding Off Is Easier Than Undoing Harm

I know it is not easy to tell a child they are too young for social media. I know it can turn into a fight. I know they may say everyone else has it, and I know they may say you are being unfair, dramatic, controlling, or out of touch.

But it is much easier to hold off on social media and fight that fight now than it is to try to undo grooming, early sexualization, exposure to inappropriate content, or a child learning to seek validation from strangers online. That is not fear-based parenting. That is protective parenting.

Children do not need full access to adult-designed social media platforms to have a good childhood. They do not need TikTok in elementary school. They do not need public-facing accounts in middle school. They do not need strangers commenting on their appearance, and they do not need to build a personal brand before they have even built a stable sense of self.

They need time, guidance, real relationships, and adults willing to be unpopular for the right reasons. They need parents who understand that “not yet” is not the same as “never.” They need adults who are willing to protect childhood while kids are still young enough to have one.

What Parents Can Do Today

Here are five practical things parents can do today to help protect kids from sexualized social media trends like GRWM videos.

1. Ask your child what GRWM means and what kinds of videos they see

Start with curiosity, not accusation. You might say, “I’ve been hearing about Get Ready With Me videos. Do you see those? What are they like?” This gives you a chance to learn what is actually showing up in their world without immediately turning it into a lecture.

2. Talk clearly about privacy and getting dressed

Kids need simple, direct language. Tell them that getting dressed, being in underwear, being in a towel, or showing private parts of their body should not be filmed or posted online. Make it about safety, dignity, and boundaries, not shame.

3. Check their feeds together

Sit beside your child and scroll with them for a few minutes. Notice what the algorithm is showing them. Are they seeing beauty content, body-focused content, sexualized trends, adult influencers, or suggestive videos? Their feed will often tell you more than their words.

4. Delay social media as long as possible

A child may want social media before they are ready for social media. Those are two different things. Holding off gives their brain, identity, confidence, and judgment more time to develop before they enter an environment built around attention, comparison, and adult-level content.

5. Create a “come to me first” rule

Tell your child that if anyone online makes them uncomfortable, asks for pictures, comments on their body, sends a private message, or tells them to keep a secret, they can come to you without immediately losing everything. Kids are more likely to ask for help when they believe they will be supported before they are punished.

A Better Digital Future Is Still Possible

The goal is not to scare kids away from technology. The goal is to help them grow up with wisdom, boundaries, and support in a world that is moving very fast. Our kids are not the problem. They are growing up inside a digital environment that many adults are still trying to understand.

They need us to slow things down, explain what they are seeing, set limits that protect them, and keep showing up even when the conversations are uncomfortable. The Great Shift happened one feature, one trend, and one platform update at a time. Helping our kids can happen the same way, through one conversation, one boundary, and one moment of guidance at a time.

Parents do not have to be perfect. They just have to be present. When caring adults stay involved, ask better questions, set healthy limits, and remind kids that their worth is not measured by views, likes, comments, followers, or attention from strangers, we give them something the algorithm cannot give them.

We give them protection, perspective, and a childhood that still has room for privacy, innocence, confidence, and real connection.

Stay connected.

~Ryan