Middle School Classroom Decor Gen Alpha Slang Kindness Posters

Inside: Need middle school classroom decor for your school? You’ll love these kindness posters for teenagers who speak Gen Alpha slang. Speak their language to start to connect with them.

My teenage daughter just “bro’d” me again. Then she told me dinner was lowkey sus and basic, and I was delulu for thinking she would be down to eat it but thanks anyways. Luckily, I pulled out my decoder ring (am I dating myself?) and figured out that she thought dinner was gross and she was going to go make herself something to eat.

We can roll our eyes at the slang, because goodness knows some of it is out of control ridiculous (skibidi toilet and Ohio?), but as a Gen X’er, we relied on slang too.

Every generation does.

So I can roll my eyes every time she “dudes” me or tells me my outfit “ate and left no crumbs,” or I can lean in and go with it.

When we accept our kids and their vocabularies and wardrobes and music and clothing trends, we silently tell them we see them and we like them for who they are, even if we think the acne stickers on their face are ridiculous and socks with Crocs are not fashionable in any generation.

And if I’m ever going to get my kids to listen to me and my message of being kind, treating others the way you want to be treated, stand up for others, if you see something, say something, and be a helpful, thoughtful, friendly person, I have to change how I talk to them so they really hear me.

We will and should keep having deep, meaningful conversations about social emotional learning concepts and kindness in general, but we can also have a little fun with it.

We can merge our world of teaching a message we need them to hear (BE KIND!) with their world of slang with these classroom decor posters focusing on kindness; they’re perfect for middle schools and high schools, or wherever you find a horde of Gen Alphas or Gen Z’ers.

Are Posters Enough To Teach Kindness?

Posters hanging on a wall will never be enough to teach anything. Just like Kindness Week won’t do much to teach kids how to be kind. (Here’s what to do instead of Kindness Week!)

Just like we can’t put up an alphabet poster and expect kids to learn the alphabet by looking at it, we can’t put up kindness and anti-bullying posters and expect kids to learn from them without any other support.

But if we teach the alphabet, day after day, in meaningful ways that reach the students where they’re at, then the poster is there to support, to remind, to help.

Likewise, if we’re intentionally focused on social emotional learning concepts, if we talk about anti-bullying and anti-racist actions, if we expect and praise kind behaviors, if we have real consequences for bullying behaviors and harassment, then the posters are there to serve as reminders to treat others the way they want to be treated, even when an adult isn’t standing right there to monitor their behavior.

Please hang the posters up. But please do not hang the posters up and think you just checked off a “I taught kindness” box so you’re done.

As classroom educators, first of all, we know we’re never done because one kid will always need to hear it over and over again for it to sink in.

But also, all kids need to hear this message consistently and be given ample opportunities to practice being kind before kindness becomes a habit.

Need more kindness resources for teens?

Chapter Books that Focus on Social Emotional Learning Concepts

180 Daily Kindness Questions for Journaling, Class Meetings, or Bell Ringers

Teach Compassion with these Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes Situation Cards

Kindness Crossword

Kindness Dictionary to Teach the Real Meaning of SEL Concepts

Gen Z and Gen Alpha Slang on the Kindness Posters for your Middle School Classroom Decor:

Here are a few of the phrases that are so ingrained in the vocabulary of the teens in my life I had to include them in the middle school and high school classroom decor posters.

If you need a translator for the Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang:

Basic: not great, not original, nothing special
Be Salty: be rude, nasty, or annoying
Bet: an affirmation of agreement or confirmation, Ok, sure
Bro/Bruh: short for bro, brother, dude- gender neutral
Crash Out: throw a fit when you’re mad
Cringe: something awkward or uncomfortable
Delulu: delusional or confused
Dog Water: something of low quality
Fam: close friend, gender neutral
Fire: excellent or amazing
Flex: to show off or boast about what you’ve done or what you’ve got
FR/For Real/ For Real For Real/ For Reals/For Realsies: truthful
Ick: disgust or repulsion
It’s Giving: someone or something is evoking a vibe or feeling
Highkey: openly, obviously, intensely
Hits different: when something is special or unique or valued
Lowkey: secret or low profile, modestly, but often used to mean not really that secret
Mid: short for not great, mediocre
No Cap: truthful, not lying
No Rizz: no charisma
Periodt: emphasizes the end of the discussion
Sick/Sickest: Awesome, amazing
Sis: friend, gender neutral
Spilling Tea: Telling secrets
Sus: short for suspicious, indicating something is off or questionable.
Throw Shade: be rude, put someone down, name call
TBH: To be honest
Vibe: the feeling or mood or energy something or someone gives

How to use these Kindness Posters for your Middle School Classroom Decor:

1. Purchase the ePosters here *no physical posters will be sent to you. These are pdfs.

2. Print out the posters you wish to use on 11 x 17 paper. No need to hang all of them- that would be lowkey sus...choose the ones you like best or the ones you think will resonate most with your kids.

3. Laminate them for durability, then hang them in your class, in hallways, and in common spaces like the cafeteria, gym, PE locker rooms, and library.

These are also great for summer camps and homes because the cutesy posters with sunsets and rainbows with reminders to be kind are often overlooked and don’t connect with teens and tweens like these that we have for elementary schools:

3. Remind students (and your admins if needed) that even though it’s lowkey mid and highkey cringe ur using their slang and ur punctuation and spelling on these posters are totally sus, the message is a vibe and on point, bruh so they should get on board, no cap.

*I was told these are cringe by my 13 year old, but she was also laughing hysterically as she read them, asked me if I could send them to her Vice Principal (and then corrected a few of them for me.)