Generation Alpha has “grown up in an incredibly digitised world,” according to a leading sociologist.
Dr Melissa Bohnert said the generation name applies to all children born after 2010, whose behaviour researchers are beginning to study.
On Moncrieff today, Dr Bohnert said many things will have shaped these children’s lives, including the COVID-19 pandemic and their unfiltered access to the online world.
“They have gone through these key developmental stages during the pandemic,” she said.
“There was a period when there wasn’t really an option, they couldn’t go outside and socialise or play.
“In that situation, parents felt beholden to give their kids an iPad, because what else was there to do?”
Digital world
The pandemic catapulted Gen Alpha further into the digital world, according to Dr Bohnert.
“They have all been born after the advent of the smartphone in 2008,” she said.
“They’ve grown up in this incredible digitised context where all of the technologies are incredibly mobile and incredibly accessible.
“They are often marketed at children and adolescents which is what really marks this generation – they have a complete mesh with the digital age.
“It is going to be really important to suss out the effects of this highly digitised world on them in the future.”
Screentime
Dr Bohnert said the amount of time this generation spends looking at screens is worrying.
“Almost 40% of children aged nine are engaging with more than three hours screentime every day,” she said.
“It’s also important to consider that this is the first generation who are growing up with parents who are often digital natives themselves.
“These are millennials who have pretty decent digital competencies and we have to see how that meshes with their parenting – it’s very interesting.”
Designations
The designation of generations should be treated with a pinch of salt, according to Dr Bohnert.
“In many ways it is arbitrary," she said.
“What is the cut-off, particularly, as a late Gen Z might be more similar to an Alpha?
“But it tends to be a useful mechanism to be able to discuss these social changes - there are concrete differences that we see and different cohorts of people.”
Generations are designated every 20 years, with Gen Alpha extending to all children born until 2030.
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Main image: A child uses an iPad. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
