By Katie Swyers
Basically 90 per cent of you reading this sentence, are in fact, not ‘90s kids. But some of your profs are.
To be a ‘90s kid, you must have been a child during the ‘90s—not an infant, fetus, or still in the sack/tube.
While commonly co-opted by those who were born in the late ‘90s and who have, until recently, identified as a child, most true ‘90s kids were actually born in the ‘80s. To be a ‘90s child, you must actually remember the ‘90s.
So, if you’ve only ever seen reruns of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, have no memory of life pre-Internet, had to Google what Y2K was and have never rented (or had to rewind) a VHS tape from a store, you are not a ‘90s kid.
I spoke to Ryerson professors born in the mid to late ‘80s, who have felt frustration over their identity being jacked by Gen Z students. In order to protect their Rate my Prof ratings and tenure track, all three have requested anonymity.
“They’re so… young. It’s like they had no idea that Adam Sandler used to actually be funny,” said one undisclosed computer science professor, who requested to only be known as MS-DOS.
“I had one student say they loved Nirvana so much, seeing them live was on their bucket list,” said MS-DOS.
“That moment defined my pre-teen years, the flannel I wore during that time has never been the same! Kurt was my first heartbreak. I bet they don’t even HAVE an opinion on whether Courtney did it or not. FOR SHAME!”
Another professor, Ms. Frizzle, lamented over how “these kids never had the struggle of going through puberty searching for your parents’ porn stash and blowing into your Nintendo cartridge with all your lungs’ might.”
“They can pry my Game Boy Color from my cold dead hands, bitch.”
For the record, Ms. Frizzle really likes the Magic School Bus and hopes that you all got the reference. If not, she requests you make mistakes and get messy, like she did “by swearing in front of student journalists.”
Another professor, known by their childhood MSN nickname, Frosted_tips_rMYjam, was born in 1985 and considers the ‘90s “their era.”
“From five to 15, a lot happens. I’m a ‘90s kid, not an ‘80s kid, what do I remember from 1989? I was four!”
Frosted_tips_rMYjam describes themselves as “a low-key Myspace star” during college.
“I overheard some students talking about forgotten social media sites from the past, their conversation was primarily about Vine.” Frosted_tips was not amused. “I was actually friends with Tom from Myspace, like we messaged, I can judge!”
None of the professors were willing to comment on the Pokemon Go vs the original playing cards debate. One asked me to leave their office when the topic was raised.
So please stop posting 2000s-era things and saying, “only ‘90s kids will remember.” You’ll all be claiming to be 2000s kids when trucker hats make their unfortunate comeback anyways.
Jackie
Its the same thing with 80s babies, specifically those born in 1981-84, claiming to be 80s kids even though they were only infants or fetuses when ET, Back to the Future, Sesame Street, Alf, Smurf, Madonna, Prince, MJ, Cyndi Lauper, Duran-Duran, Rick Astley etc. became popular and they only barely remember the late 80s. They’re 80s babies only (although I do understand 1981 babies claiming to be 80s kids since half of their childhood is in the 80s but they are basically an 80s-90s kids and not simply an 80s kid). I guess its about being confused by the term. In reality, 90s kids are those born from 1981-1990, basically the Older Millennials. They entered the 90s as children and left that decade as tweens and teenagers. People born in the 90s (except the 0 year) were too young to remember Nirvana, gameboy, tamagochi, bulky cellphones, Y2K, Spice Girls, Aqua, 70s throwback, Beavis and Butthead etc. My oldest nephew, niece and younger cousins were all born in the 90s and they barely remember anything from the 90s.
GIOVANNI S DOWE
Interesting point but I would argue that, but I would argue that 90s kids are those born from 1982-1991. I wouldn’t really call someone born in 1981 a 90s kid since they were coming close to adolescent territory before the first half of the 90s, so clearly they’ve had enough of their childhood in the 80s to claim a significant part of their childhood took part in the 80s. As for myself I was born in 1991 and my overall memory of the 90s goes back to 1994(although vague memories from that year, and my best memories from 1996 onward so I don’t think that those born in the 1 year of a decade would necessarily be excluded from claiming their birth decade as their childhood as well, even though their childhood would continue into the next decade just like those born in the 0 year of the decade, however I wouldn’t extend 90s kids any further than 91′.
Lisa
I agree with you.. I was the born in the year of 94’ so of course I remember watching shows with my big sis (a true 90’s kid) in the late 90’s, like 98 and 99 I’m not a 90’s kids I’m a true 2000’s kid bc I became a teen at the end of the early 00’s decade…. ppl confused generation babies with kids a lot..either way we are still millennials.. in a few years the 00’s will be super nostalgic and 90’s kids will stop thinking 00’s kids grew up with WiFi and iPhones lol..
Roger
Born in ’95, same here, remember watching a lot of TV shows with my elder brother born in ’90, who is more likely a 90’s kid. I am a 2000’s kid, I am not a 90’s kid either, however, me and my brother share similar childhood together, besides, I entered Kindergarten school in 1998/99, so I have spent much of my kindergarten days well in the late ’90s until 2000. That signals me that I have started becoming a kid at this time. I think people born in 1995 like me are the youngest millennials out there, the final people who can experience at least one year of the 90’s that is 1999, unlike people born in 1996 and 1997, who were still toddlers in the 90’s, and entered kindergarten around 2000.
Andrew
Actually, they’re spot-on in their description, because someone born in 1981 would only be 8 at the oldest in 1989 (if even just for a day as those born December 31, 1981 would turn 8 on December 31, 1989), so they are really “late-80’s/early-90’s kids”. There’s no way in the world they can claim they grew up in the 80’s going from NEGATIVE 1 to 8. However, they can claim a late-80’s, because around 1987 they’re at least in Kindergarten (if not 1st grade for the older 1981 babies), so they do remember the late-80’s, but they have no idea how big Dallas got when J.R. was shot. Nor do they remember staying up to watch the series finale of MASH in 1983, the highest rated show in the history of television.
Lisa
Born in 1981. You are correct I don’t remember watching the MASH finale or JR getting shot…but neither are those are kids things, both shows are focused on adult topics and issues. Here are childhood things from the 80s…Carebears, ET, Ghostbusters, Alf, The Smurfs, Punky Brewster, etc., all of which I remember. I remember sitting in my grandmother’s car listening to her 8 track as well as listening to Madonna and Duran Duran over and over on my sister’s boombox. I remember watching the Challenger explode on TV in Jan 1986 and when the Berlin wall fell in November 1989, both huge events that influenced my childhood. My childhood was the 80s as I was a child in the 80s and an adolescent/teenager in the 90s.
Stash
You’re a 2000s baby. Sorry
Garbita Saha
I was born in 2001 and I always wondered that something was wrong with the so – called 90s kids as they are not only claiming stuff from 2000s decade but also from 2010 decade. If this is the case then I, being 2000/10 kid can claim to be a 90s kids as I and others my age tick off all the boxes they claim to be there. Man, people born from 1990-99 are even more self centered than people born after 2000.
Samuel
I was born in 1991 and I remember between 3-8 years old. Vague memories in 1994, but I also grew up listening to older music and played anything from Pogs to Etch A Sketch. I had the best of both worlds really, because I’d be at home playing with farmyard animals or TY beanies and then play Pokémon with my friends. I definitely feel like a 90’s kid, but I guess it also depends on who someone is because I met a guy at college, 2 years older than me and he claimed he didn’t remember anything from his childhood.
Lisa
As someone born in 1981 I agree with you. I have memories from as far back as 1984, although admittedly those are spotty, and having an older brother and sister meant in addition to childhood memories I also remember the more adolescent experiences of the 80s even though I was only 8 years old when the decade ended. I remember riding in my grandmother’s car listening to her 8 track. I also remember listening to Madonna’s Material Girl on cassette with my sister’s boombox. I remember wearing stirrup pants with multiple pairs of slouch socks, playing the original Mario Brothers both in the arcade and on Nintendo, and watching Dirty Dancing in the theater, although that last one makes me question my parent’s judgement a bit. I remember the day the Challenger exploded and when the Berlin wall fell. I was a child in the 80s and primarily an adolescent/teenager in the 90s. I claim both. I have vivid memories of both. Both have influenced my life heavily. Any kid born in the 0,1, and even 2 year of a decade will largely be a kid of both decades. Those born towards the middle and end largely only have the experiences of the following decade instead of the one they are born in.
Kay
That’s silly because you’re only referring to the early 80s. I was born in 91 and owned a tamagotchi, ps1, pagers, Spice Girls & Destiny’s Child original members. Nirvana was the early 90’s when I was a baby. The early 80s were more like the late 70s than the rest of the 80s. Same as the early 90s being more like the late 80s. Also you’re getting teens mixed up with 90s kids. They are not the same. Childhood ends at 12. You can be a child in more than one decade, that’s silly. Especially if the things you were into were more in line with those who were actual children.
Jessie James
You’re exactly who this article is referring to, stop trying so hard to claim a nostalgia that isn’t yours. The spice girls? You were barely 3 years old when they came out and were what, 7/8 when they split? And you definitely didn’t own a pager, stop being silly.
Kay
You’re right. I didn’t own a pager it was the adults around me who had. Either way how does that negate my memories of them? I vividly remember them. I remember when Ginger left. My ma showed me the article while we were leaving one her classes. It is my nostalgia. You’re not a kid after 12. So if you were above a certain age in the 90s it’s definitely not yours. Hey Arnold, Gargoyles, Pokemon other 90s shows for children. You do realize the 90s wasn’t just the early or mid-90s?
90s culture didn’t even really start until the mid-90s. The 80s culture was still so heavy. Same with the early 2000s and late 90s.
Schmidt
I was born in 1980 so a little of both… mostly 84-93 were my kid years. I turned 13 in 93 and entered high school in 95 so it was a dif era and phase then.
Mike
That’s a little dismissive considering myself and many others were born in 1991 and still remember everything you listed and more from crazy bones, to MS DOS, to the start of dial up internet in homes. Anyone from 1990-1992 is easily a 90’s kid and would remember most of it.
Johnny
They’re not fully 90s kids, they didnt not experience the struggles of 90-94
Jacob
Born in 93…I relate more to kids born in the late 80s and early 90s i.e(1988,1989, maybe even people born 1987) than those born in 98/99 for example
Fullaseom
Dude, dont be ridiculous, how could you relate to people from the 80s?? you sure as hell are not the same as them, you are not a 90s kid
Johnny
Yes, you remembered the late 90s. Cool. People still used MS dos back then, well people still uses Vista and XP today in 2020. Dial up internet is still used today in places with bad internet infrastructure. If you can’t remember the early 90s then you’re more a 00s kid
Mariah
You clearly don’t understand the word kid. If someone was born in 1990-1992 they can vividly remember some songs, movies and school during the the 90s. I personally can remember going to movies and watching preacher’s wife on the big screen in the 90s. I remember payphones, pagers etc.
80s kid came of age in the 90s
You do realize you just said anyone born in 1981 isn’t an 80’s kid…. but you had to be born in 1981-1990 to be a 90’s kid?
For the record… if you were born in 1981 (ahem) you distinctly remember ET (and renting the VCR at blockbuster to rent it!), Back to the Future (saw it in the theater… yes, I remember), Seasame Street (we were the ones watching it lol) Alf (Alfie underwear?) Smurf (again… we were the ones watching) Madonna (my first ever cassett tape… in the 80s), Prince, MJ, Cyndi Lauper, Duran-Duran (we wanted those songs played at our funerals), etc…. it’s like you went shopping for references without the context. Judging from your picture, you mostly likely can’t hear the music if I mentioned the California Raisins.
Lisa
Oh my California Raisins, you just brought back so many great memories! I’m with you, born in 1981 and definitely consider myself an 80s kid. Shoot I remember riding in my grandmother’s car listening to her 8 track! I remember watching ET, as well as Ghostbusters, at my first sleepover and yes watching Back to the Future in the theater, as well as everything else you mentioned. Those things were my childhood! I like how your title put it…we were 80s kids who came of age in the 90s.
Carol
Yeah born 1983. We remember all that. We were 80s and 90s kids. I remember New kids in 1989 or 1990 at six flags. So yeah u remember both the 80s and 90s.
92wastheyear
I was born in early 92 and mos definitely consider myself a 90s kid everything from 96 and up I remember oddly enough but I will admit y’all way luckier than us folks born in 91-94 to be able to be older than 5 in the early to mid 90s my brother born in 88 my future wife born in late nov 86 I be like y’all got to experience way more than me shit I wish I was born in the 80s no lie at least after 85. The early 2000s weren’t that bad either definitely not as good as the 90s tho I was 8 in 2000 before then I had Gameboys had no internet watched cartoon network nickelodeon the old mtv drank out a Water hose went outside to play had a watch did most shit any other kid born 85-90 did I must say I’m grateful for that.
Steve
I was born in 94 and consider myself more of a 2000’s kid and I loved the early 2000s. So many iconic movies and franchises, like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Mean Girls, and Raimi Spider Man (as corny as it was).
True90sKid
What about BEEPERS?? XD I remember I wanted one soooo bad. All the cool kids had one.
Kay
That’s silly because you’re only referring to the early 80s. I was born in 91 and owned a tamagotchi, ps1, pagers, Spice Girls & Destiny’s Child original members. Nirvana was the early 90’s when I was a baby. The early 80s were more like the late 70s than the rest of the 80s. Same as the early 90s being more like the late 80s. Also you’re getting teens mixed up with 90s kids. They are not the same. Childhood ends at 12. You can be a child in more than one decade, that’s silly. Especially if the things you were into were more in line with those who were actual children.
JW
I was born in 81. I remember GOING TO THE THEATER to see Back to the future.
Freddy Krueger was the guy who scared me. I remember Regan. I remember the “Thriller” music video. Pretty much everything you listed, I know (and WAAAAAAY more stuff that even you’ve likely forgotten).
BTW, I can recall details from my first birthday… I can picture it in my mind so vividly that it’s like looking at a photo.
IMS
Millennial is the worst generation term. For people born in the 1980s and 1990s. Who was born before the Millennium. That should’ve been given to the ones born in the 2000s. Don’t say it’s because you turned 18 in the 2000’s. The term doesn’t make any sense.
Richard
While my childhood is very definitely a 1990s childhood, I was born in 1982 do have some definite memories from the 1980s. Some of it is music, others bits of news or sports, tv shows etc. I also have memories of my first years at school. I loved Back to the Future, recorded on VHS on it’s network premiere and watched a lot of times!
My real formative years were the 1990s though.
Kev
You are aware that the 90s was technically the decade when the internet came about, right? So technically, 80s kids are the last to remember pre internet life, not 90s ♂️
Greg Williams
@GIOVANNI S DOWE
Well someone born in 1981 certainly aren’t 80s kids. They wouldn’t even remember half of the decade. As much as they can claim they can. They simply can’t.
They weren’t old to remember 1980-1985 they weren’t in kindergarten yet.
Lisa
As someone who was born in 1981 and remembers plenty of things from before 1985 I beg to differ. Not to mention that there is still another half of the decade full of memories that our childhood was all about! As someone up above put it those of us born in 1981 were 80s kids who came of age in the 90s.
JW
Yes! Thank you!
I don’t know where these people get the idea that we don’t remember stuff. I remember my first birthday ffs.
I was even making out and getting to second base in the late 80’s. I was a hell of a cool kid.
Richard
I was born in April 1982 and know for certain I have memories from at least June 1985 and probably a few months before (maybe as far back as late 1984), but I can’t put I definite date on them. My family moved house in June 1985 (the only time I moved house before I moved out) and I have memories of both the house itself and of one or two things that happened there, including the night before we moved.
Gop
Some 90’s kids didn’t have the internet. I never went on any website in the 1990s.
Brian
I was born in 1980. Part of the micro generation, called Xennial. Half my childhood was in both decades. Half analog. Half digital.
Lisa
It’s not a confusing concept.. I’m a TRUE 00’s kid. And still a millennial. I was over the age of 5 in the year of 2000… I have some memories of the late 90’s only bc I started school in 98 and 99 and bc I have a sister born in 87.. so I do have vivid memories of the late 90’s leading into the 00’s but I’m not a 90’s kid… I was born in 94.. so I became a teen Mid way through the 00’s.. I grew up with technology but it wasn’t as heavy as it is now.. we had to pay for each text we sent out, we still used VHS and DVDs, CD players were still popular.. and we didn’t have internet on cellphones..
Raina
I agree with you.. I was born in 94 so I’m a 25 year old millennial. I’m a 00’s kid… I was 6 in 2000 and I entered high school in 2009… But some of the things you named were popular in the 2000’s. Like I remember going to Pokémon tournaments and having the board game.. I had an original MySpace and Tagged, and VHS were still being made… (that’s how I watched Freaky Friday and Pirates of the Caribbean lol.. and WiFi was non existent.. I feel like 90’s kids mistake 00’s kids for 2010’s kids a lot,
Roger
Born in ’95, same here, remember watching a lot of TV shows with my elder brother born in ’90, who is more likely a 90’s kid. I am a 2000’s kid, I am not a 90’s kid either, however, me and my brother share similar childhood together, besides, I entered Kindergarten school in 1998/99, so I have spent much of my kindergarten days well in the late ’90s until 2000, when I entered 1st elementary school. I entered high school (Grade 9) in 2008, and graduated in 2012. But around the time I started school in Kindergarten, that signals me that I have become a kid (and no longer a toddler) at this time. I think people born in 1995 like me are the youngest millennials out there, the final people who can experience at least one year of the 90’s that is 1999, unlike people born in 1996 and 1997, who were still toddlers in the 90’s, and entered kindergarten around 2000.
Ane
I was born in 1999, I spend all of my time outside playing in the park, I had a tamagotchi, a furby and a game boy. I remember rewinding VHS tapes and cassettes, and watching the simpsoms and friends (because my mom loved that show) on tv. The last day of class before summer, we would always have a water-balloon fight in the park, and when in the beach we would play with magic mitts and they would get so full of sand that we had to throw them out. My favorite movie was the parent trap, and my sister and I would always fight over who would be the daughter while playing with sylvanian houses. My point is, it kind of pisses me that people divide the generations in such a stiff line, like if you were born after “x” year, your experienced this or you never did that. I think it also depends where you grow up, as I grew upon Spain, maybe all this fashions took a little more time to come to europe, and because of that I can say I experience a 00’s/ late 90’s kind of lifestyle, mind of this the next time you want to judge someone for remembering a childhood that happens to be a lot like the 90’s.
D
If u lived in America its different, but that doesn’t make u a 90s kid per se.
Tara
I am born in 85 and my memories start at 89. But I lived the 90s I turned on The tv every Friday to watch TGIF . I watched every episode of 90210, sister sister, boy meets world, family matters, step by step, fresh prince. I can go on and on. Not only did I watch those shows but I watched the last episodes when you cry because it’s going off the air. I remember when nirvana debut on MTV. Nintendo was the thing. For girls there was mall madness and many other games like Trouble and Guess who. Yes I remember when SNL was actually funny and Wayne’s world came out. Adam Sandler made the Hanukkah song. Going to teen clubs. Shuffle dancing which is now coming back. Doin the running man and roger rabbit. For Christmas I got a NANO baby and then Tamogatchi and Giga pet. I SAT ON AOL ALL DAY IN 95 going in chat rooms and when NAPSTER came out I downloaded songs that took me 6 hours LOL.
hadia
i feel like people are really greedy and want t be known as a 90s kid when they were literally fetuses during the 90s. 90s kids span from – 76 to 85
Sheikh
What are you on about? Your definition makes someone legally an adult before the decade was even half gone. Meanwhile it makes those who had their childhood years 2-12 entirely in the 90s not 90s kids.
Kelly
Yeah I kinda agree with u. In those years. Born in 1983. Yeah your old enough to really remember what’s going on In the 1990s.
Rachel L
it works the same with me born in 83. I would never call myself an 80s kid cuz I was picking bugs from under rocks, and my nose for most of the 80s. I was not a part of pop culture at all, because back then our childhood lasted until about 13, to be honest. So I wasn’t really influenced by pop culture directly until 96 or so for me – especially raised in a strict house where the tv wasn’t allowed on except for Friday night TGIF. ) I did have a whole giant computer in my room without internet, eventually I got some games on it, like sim ant, sim city 1, sim copter, theme park…those games were so fun then. I really start to remember being influenced by pop culture in 1998 when I was 15 and in love with the backstreet boys (but these boy and girl groups were not cool to like as a high schooler. You had to like them in secret outside of school.
I also was developing my sense of self in the 2000s, so that time is still nostalgic for me. Your early 20s are a huge part of your learning experience, so I consider myself a 90s kid, but I was still heavily influenced by the 2000s culture, which is why I can still identify with younger millennials. Gen Z, I Don’t understand them at all. It’s crazy how one generation can change everything.
Lorie Porter
Hmmm sounds like you were emotionally immature so your more like someone born 1986
Rachel L
it works the same with me born in 83. I would never call myself an 80s kid cuz I was picking bugs from under rocks, and my nose for most of the 80s. I was not a part of pop culture at all, because back then our childhood lasted until about 13, to be honest. So I wasn’t really influenced by pop culture directly until 96 or so for me – especially raised in a strict house where the tv wasn’t allowed on except for Friday night TGIF. ) I did have a whole giant computer in my room without the internet, eventually, I got some games on it, like sim ant, sim city 1, sim copter, theme park…those games were such fun then. I really start to remember being influenced by pop culture in 1998 when I was 15 and in love with the backstreet boys (but these boy and girl groups were not cool to like as a high schooler. You had to like them in secret outside of school.
I also was developing my sense of self in the 2000s, so that time is still nostalgic for me. Your early 20s are a huge part of your learning experience, so I consider myself a 90s kid, but I was still heavily influenced by the 2000s culture, which is why I can still identify with younger millennials. Gen Z, I Don’t understand them at all. It’s crazy how one generation can change everything.
Kyros
If you have vivid memories of the 90’s, you’re a 90’s kid. Simple as that. People born in 85-90 are those who fully experienced the 90’s. The people born in 91-93 are mid to late 90’s kids. 95 and above are 2000’s kids
Fullaseom
those born from 1993 onwards are 2000’s kids, there core childhood and formative years where in the 2000s, not in the 90s
Jake
My belief is that people born from 90 to 92 are hybrids and that they are half 90s kids and half 2000 kids
Ramoray
Don’t forget people born in 94 are 2000’s kids also, they are NOT 90’s kids.
92
Born in ‘92 and I hit pretty much ever tick in your checkbox. Y2K scared me as a kid because I actually thought the world would end. lol
Also, my god I miss video rental stores. But yeah, I hate to break it to you, that’s when I was growing up. So, this article is just kind of….opinionated bullshit. lol
Bo Salvucci
Born in 1982 was 7 and in 2nd grade when the 80s ended and 10 when the 80s vibe ended in 1992 /93 and the actual real 90s began ! I was at browns river middle school 5th to 8th grade 1992-96 I’m certain those of us born in 77-83 are core 90s teenager’s our preteen and teenage year’s encompassing most the 90s I myself started puberty at age 10 I think when you start puberty plays a big role as to how you think being a kid versus a teenager! The 90s vibe ended after 9/11/01 happened and the 00s era began I was already in the army stationed at fort Bragg NC my cousin born August 17 1983 was in Bootcamp when that happened he had graduated high-school that past June 2001 and left for fort Knox for Bootcamp July 2001 . My point is your a adult once you turn 18 so your teenage year’s spent before than are your real teenage years 13-17 core teen year’s. I’m a 80s kid 90s preteen &Teenager 10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17 all in the 90s .
Lorie Porter
I’m born in 1972 hears my observation as I have a two 90s kid’s 1991 and 1993 and a 3 00s kid born 1999,95,97
Core 90s kid’s were not babies 0-2 or teenagers 13-17 for most the 90s
1986 – August 1993 at the latest are your genuine 90s kid’s
84,85 are fringe year’s depending solely on maturity of the individual as to weather they identify as both 80s/90s or just 90s !
Remember teenagers In the 90s and 80s and 70s and 60s and even early 2000s teens were much more mature most of the 14-17 yr olds held jobs after school and on weekends and all week in the summer many 10-13
yr olds babysitting, mowing grass paper routes were also working to make money especially 16/17 yr olds during the school year often working full-time jobs in the service industry that you would normally find grown adults working in now in 2021 American culture is very different we had way more freedom and less rules back then.
jorge chavez
1993 isnt a 90s kid, their childhood memories goes from 1997 onwards, only 3 years of the 90s decade, while having 6 years (7-12) in the 2000s decade, i think your maths are a little wrong lol
rebecca
I was born in 1987 so I am a 90s kid and have a sister who was born in ’85 and a brother who was born in ’93
Vorshack
Nope, to be a 90’s kid you had to have been a teenager during the 90’s. As in started middle school and ended high school within that 10 year period. You didn’t turn 13 until 2000.
Vorshack
“To be a ‘90s kid, you must have been a child during the ‘90s—not an infant, fetus, or still in the sack/tube.”
This is completely, offensively, and ironically incorrect.
To be a ’90s kid you had to have been a teenager during the ’90s, not a child. That’s what the term ‘kid’, in the context of discussing generational identities, actually means. The milestone is not the point at which you are able to form and retain memories, but when you are old enough to be genuinely cognizant of the culture of the time, yet still young enough to be deeply influenced by it. None of the ‘flower children’ of the ’60s and ’70s were 9 years old.
So if your middle and high school years, or one’s ‘coming of age’ period, began and ended within the the 10 year bracket that was the ’90s, then you’re a ’90s kid. Which means you were born in the late ’70s to early ’80s. If you were born in the mid ’80s then you are a Millennial, not a ’90s kid.
That’s right, ’90s kid is it’s own cultural micro-generation. The ‘overlooked’ generation, if you will. Our coming of age period, not our childhood, entailed a distinct and lasting shift in the zeitgeist (which is what cultural generations are) that was neither Gen X or Millennial in nature.
So what you are doing is the exactly what you think Gen Z is doing to you, misusing terms to claim that which isn’t yours. Call yourselves ’90s ‘children’ if you’d like, to distinguish yourselves from the younger Millennials, but you’re not ‘kids’. You are our younger sibling, sneaking into our rooms and trying to swipe our CD’s.
Arjun
I was born in 1979 but my memories as a kid only start from 1986 when I attended 3rd grade. I attained teenage in 1992 and still relish the 90s as the best years of life. Am I a 80s kid or a 90s kid?
N/A
I consider myself less of a 90’s kid and more of a 90’s baby since I was born in 1994. With that being said, I have quite a bit of memories from 1998-1999. I remember asking my mom what all the food in the closet was for and she told about how they trying to prepare for the year 2000.
John
I was born in 1986. I guess that makes me a 90’s kid, it’s a little messier being born 86 compared to 87 because you hit your teens as I have in 1999 so your hitting the 2000’s as just about a 90’s teenager. That would make me Generation Y.2. I’m the youngest of my siblings which are all born in the early and mid 70’s ( Generation X ) so they were early 80’s kids/teens/so I’m the odd one out and hanging around with them made me sort of less relatable to my own cohort.
Nate
What a stupid pointless article lol
Jack Klein
Someone’s triggered by the truth lmfao
Kozobloz
I was born in 1980. Consider myself an 80s kid, 90s teenager. I was still a “kid in 90-91, but those years felt more like the 80s anyway still. I just don’t remember the early 80s obviously but have pretty vivid memories of 84 onwards. Sure I didn’t understand what was going on in Dallas, but my parents were watching it. I definitely remember the cartoons, toys, music, and kids oriented culture though. I didn’t experience going to clubs and doing lines of Coke though. Each are valid 80s experiences. I have more memories of my childhood era from like 4-12 than I do of college or early adulthood, those early memories were more impactful and definitely more nostalgic for. Honestly from what I know and research 80-82 was more a transition from the 70s so don’t really feel like I missed out much.
Greg Williams
I agree with this and I get tired of little frauds born in 1981 claiming to be 80s kids when they wouldn’t even remember what went on from 1980-1985. They weren’t in kindergarten from that time frame and by the time Michael Jackson entered his peak they were infants.
I’m sorry but anyone born in 1981 are not 80s kids period. I was born in 72 and I’m not a 70s kid. It was before my time
Ron
If your culture is defined by gadgets and TV shows, you are one shallow, pathetic poser.
Katelyn A Gladman
Ok so I was born in 1990 but I “technically can’t be labeled a 90’s kid” because my adolescence was spent in the 90s, yet if I were born in 1985 I wouldn’t be an 80s kid either?? Do you all realize how stupid you sound LMAO
Lee
What are you on about ? You were born in 1990. You became an adolescent in 2003 ? You were definitely a child/kid in the 90’s
anon
Not everyone in the 1990s could even afford computers or even the schools with 1980s computers so was we supposed to be little kids of the decade we was a teenager in the 2000s. That means you was the kids of the 1980s in the 1990s when you was a teenager.
People think the 1990s with computers is like nowadays except for the more updated broadband not dial-up.
Lee
I was born in 1989 with the majority of my friends and their siblings born between 87-93 I’d say which generation you mostly fit with and if you’re considered an 80’s or 90’s kid is where you kind of fit in terms of when your siblings were born or friends siblings etc. like mentioned my friends are mostly 87-93 but those born in 83-84 with siblings in 78-82 are way closer to Gen X and call them themselves more of 80’s kids. I know for sure we can all agree that we were the last generations to see technology just get better and better. Not having a computer to type up an essay l isn’t the end of the world because we all have decent hand writing and are wizards around a library. No google needed !
Hal Johnson
I love how triggered all these stupid people born in the late 90’s are getting. You’re not a 90’s kid, get over it.
Hippo
Basically they are as babies are children. They just don’t remember the decade by the years of the 1990s.
Andrew
born early 88
proud 90’s kid n got to say 1 thing
TOMOGACHI that is the test
no millennial and up will understand or succeed
MWAHAHAHAHA*insert Zim laughter* *proper culture use* double points
here is the kicker
My ICQ Number ##########
wait i got a better one
playing with a tvs antenna to get the channel??*the use of foil is master lvl
Jay
I think it all boils down to people wanting to claim the definition of what it means to be a “90s Kid” under different meanings. The societal idea when I was born (1980) was that to be a “X0s kid” of whichever decade meant that you had to have spent the majority of your adolescence in that decade (I.E. your teen years). Nowadays I hear a lot of people defining 90s kids as someone who had an early childhood during that era instead of adolescence. It will probably change again in the future just like the term millennial. The early defining characteristic of a millennial (Gen.Y as I first heard it) was a person “turning of age/ entering adulthood” towards the end of the millennium (1999/2001). But then later on it adopted an almost opposite definition of someone “being born” near or around the end of the millennium *facepalm* They’re all just labels and not anything that will be decided on resolutely until probably many years later. My advice: Just dig what you dig!
One
I don’t think anyone gets that by law you are a kid until the age of 18.
Then we have those who are born in the late 1990s who get annoyed saying but we remember toys and cartoons from the 1990s. But people who also grew up in the early 1990s know 1980s toys and cartoons.
Uhh
Stop saying if you was born in 1997-1999 you are not a 90’s kid. Same for every other decade.
They was kids then but wouldn’t remember the 1990’s.
J
I do think that I am both a 90s kid AND a 2000’s kid because I was born in March of 93.
I remember the 90s and how I felt at the turn of the century/millennium. I guess that’s why they call us millennials? We saw the millennium.
I don’t agree with those who said that people born before 92 are the “real 90s kids.” I literally graduated at the same time with people born in 92 as the Class of 2011. It wouldn’t make sense that they would be 90s kids and I wouldn’t be? They’re my peers for goodness sake and we grew up together.
I also saw people on here saying that anyone who was a teenager in the 90s were the “real 90s kids,” which again isn’t true. I would like to point out that there is a distinction between teenagers and kids. As a teenager, you’re approaching young adulthood, but as a kid (a child), you’re experiencing childhood. So, how am I not a 90s child if I was literally a child in the 90s? You typically have to be 12 and under to get the kids menu at a restaurant and if that age is socially considered the cutoff for childhood, then I most certainly was a child of the 90s. Anyone 13-19 years old in the 90s were clearly teenagers of the 90s. In fact, since I lived my first 6 years in the 90s and another 6 years in the 2000s for a total of 12 years, then I’m both a 90s and 2000s kid.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk everyone! Lol jk Overall, this forum is entertaining! Interesting discussion.
Rich
Point blank, if you did not see Jurassic Park or the original TMNT movie in the theater with your folks, you are not a 90s kid. If you did not watch OJ going slow as hell in his white Bronco and wonder why adults were so excited, you were not a ’90s child. If you didn’t learn what a blowjob was until you heard our president got one, you were NOT a ’90s child. Lol.
Ever
You are a child under 18.
90’s kids don’t need to be fans of the same movies Jurassic Park and TMNT when they was little.
Martina Subathra
Am Martina Subathra. My research is. 90s kids r those who are born fron1986 til 1996. Jus imagine a baby who was born in the yr 86 wud be a kid below the age 4 in 1990. . So it is obviously a kid… Jus calculate accordingly. If u consider a 7yrs child as a kid then 1983 born is a 90s kid hehe … 😉 . Wats the limited age to be mentioned as ‘Kid’??? That will indeed bring the answer for this
TQ DEARs
Max Means
Well, I was born in 1994, but I started to remember things as early as 1997. I remember playing Mario Kart 64 on the Nintendo 64 in the rec room at a children’s hospital when I was about 2 years old. I was also watching Kids WB every Saturday Morning in 1998. So, yeah, Saturday Morning cartoons were still a thing at the time. And I also remember Christmas that year when I got a copy of The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride on VHS. So yeah 1997/1998 was my favorite years of my early childhood.
MPH
I was born in the Fall of 88 and consider myself a 90s kid (child if that’s work more for you) as I have cultural memories from 92/93 onward with the late 90s being the most pronounced. As others have mentioned, 90 and 91 were much closer to 80s culture than the rest of the 90s. Anything after 90 is really pushing it though in my opinion but granted your childhood can span over different decades (93′ kids). I’m certainly a millennial as I came of age in the 2000s and if you want to call me a late 90s kid that’s fine, I’m still a 90s kid. I wish I was a teen in the 90s though, seemed much cooler than the 2000s for that age. I was sad when the 90s ended honestly, I was just getting used to it lol.
MPH
Most of my favorite music is from the 90s too so I identify with that decade way more than the 2000s and 2010s which I hated musically.
Leanne Strong
Hi, I was born in 1993, and even I don’t consider myself a full on 90s kid. I was 6 1/2 when the 90s ended. I mean, sure, I do remember a few things from the 90s, but only because those things continued on into the early or mid 2000s.
huh
I was a 90s kid, sometimes I wish I was an 80s kid, 90s teen. Not one of the born in the wrong generation crap it’s not about the music being “cooler” and the music now being “crap” that’s a teenager belief.
People can really believe they was born in the wrong time it’s like thinking you was born in the wrong country. If you was an 80s kid you wouldn’t understand the Cold War and AIDS.
Sazi
I don’t consider myself a true 90s kid as I didn’t reach puberty til the early 2000s (born in ’92) and I feel as though you have to have been a teen to have fully enjoyed the 90s. But I do have a lot of nostalgia from that era; I remember when Playstation 1 came out, playing Tomb Raider, Duke Nukem, Bloody Roar, etc; unlike 80s kids who had walkmans I had a portable disc player; my favourite movies were on newly released on VHS; I remember Nintendo, especially playing Pokémon Red; cartoons like The Magic School Bus, Pinky and the Brain, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, CatDog, listening to cassettes on road trips; dial up broadband; watching MTV; my step Dad listening to bands like the Chillies and Nirvana (which is my favourite band even though you would’ve had to have been a 70s – 80s kid to even go to their concerts); and so much more.
When I was 18 I dated a 27 yro.. he was a true 90s kid. Grew up listening to Nirvana, Sonic Youth, The Pixies, Sublime, etc He was a grunge kid through and through and never grew out of wearing ripped jeans, band t-shirts, plaid and Converse. We were like two peas in a pod; regardless of the age gap we had so much in common. People even used to call us Kurt and Courtney as a joke… much to my chagrin, as I do think she did it!
Whether or not I’m a verifiable 90s kid doesn’t matter as I got to experience what it was like living in that decade. Especially Y2K (which has become an aesthetic now among Gen Zers); instead of my family thinking the world was coming to an end and that computers (remember those bubble shaped Macs?) not being able to clock over therefore causing a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions, we celebrated by hanging out on the beach, lighting sparklers and fireworks and counting down the New Year.
Samuel
I was born in 1991 and I remember a lot of things between 1994-1999 at least. From a musical point of view I was raised on stuff from the 80’s and even before that. So I think I’m more of a 90’s kid to be honest and I didn’t even know what the internet was until I was 9.
Corin Wright
So, I was born in February 1994…Now, I know it´s a hard sell when I try to tell people I am a 90´s kid, since I was 6 at the turn of the milenium, but I think there is some room for maneuvre when it comes to what you mean by the term.
I experienced a lot of 90´s culture growing up and I have vivid memories of core 90’s culture references like, the Pokemon craze, the first playstation, 90’s music, Beanie Babies, Friends, VHS, I even had my own blockbusters cards which I used to rent said VHS.
Plus, 90’s culture didn’t just switch off on the 31st December 1999. I think there has to be some hangover taken into account by where one could argue that 90’s culture lasted until 2001/2002 or maybe even early 2003.
I admit that my claim on 90’s childhood is a weak one, but it’s still a decade that I feel attachment to and that I’m fond of, even if I was only alive for 60% of it.
Leanne Strong
Hi, I was born in 1993, and I consider myself more of an 00s kid than a 90s kid. 1989 or 1990 is probably the latest birth year to be a 90s kid. However, 1983 or 1984 is probably the earliest birth year that someone can be considered a 90s kid. I only have very faint memories of the 90s, other than a few things that happened on the tail end of the decade. The only real memory I have from the 90s was my child-like innocence. I was still at an age where I thought the world around me was perfect, some kind of Utopia. Barely aware of how rough the world around me could be, and when something did happen, it seemed like it was always dealt with properly. I identify more with the 2000s, because that was the decade that really shaped my childhood. I was more aware of the pop culture, popular snacks, must have items, and significant national or world events from the 2000s than I was of those that took place in the 90s. The first national or world event that I remember being even remotely cognizant of was 9/11.