33% of eight-to-17-year-olds who are online think their own screen time is too high
Here’s to a screen-free summer then, right?..
Every fortnight, I round up the most interesting and insightful writing about British Gen Alphas (born 2010-2024) from across the internet so you can stay bang up to speed on this emerging and fascinating cohort.
This time we’re talking: kid-rotting, self-imposed screen limits and lonely girls. Swipe up for the down low!
Can kids still have lazy summers?
By Anna North for Vox
The clause missing at the end of the Q in this title is ‘when TikTok exists.’ And here North unpacks the 90’s idea of unstructured summers - you know, bike rides, woodland wanders and endless hanging around (mine heavily featured baking rockcakes and playing badminton with a neighbour on the grass in between our houses) in the deeply digital era that kids today find themselves. Alphas’ time is, in general, much more structured than in the 90s and when out of school or extracurricular activities, and with more parents working, many will be on devices. And while the experts interviewed here argue that there are benefits of playing on these, the truly limitless nature of watching on them is… problematic. But does #kidrotting really mean teens just lazing around on their phones all day? Possibly not, because…
Children limiting own smartphone use to manage mental health, survey finds
By Rachel Hall for The Guardian
Upcoming global research has found that kids are increasingly taking breaks from their smartphones to “better manage their mental health, personal safety and concentration spans.” Acutely aware that too much time online can be harmful, this report finds that children are taking precautions into their own hands rather than relying on parents to enforce screen restrictions. Since 2022, the number of 12- to 15-year-olds who take breaks from smartphones, computers and iPads rose by 18% to hit 40% Maybe there is hope for the ‘wild summer’ yet…
How Gen Alpha Will Travel: New Report Says AI And Entertainment Can Reshape Trip Planning
By Ramsey Qubein for Forbes
An “entirely new way to travel” may be upon us…in a decade or so. Based on a report by The Future Laboratory and travel company Omio, this piece lays out that future. It includes an increasingly seamless process from bingeing to booking (I’m imagining my kids watching Bluey and then finding that they’ve booked us all flights to Australia… Pretty sure this is not the vision for Omio), AI making curated itineraries and personalised recommendations easier than ever and diverting travellers away from destinations drowning in overtourism. And, finally, the increase of intermodal travel (that is, using multiple modes of transport, especially micro modes like e-scooters or bikes). If this all comes to pass, I’m backing 2035 as the real wild summer.
Generation Alpha in the workforce
With end-of-year exams now over for most British Alphas, this report explores what they’re looking for when it comes to employment; and the take-out seems to be purpose, support and decent pay (relatable!) 50% agree that being happy in their jobs is more important than being paid a lot - that said, when given 16 possible qualities of a future job to choose from, being “highly paid” was considered to be by far the most important (64%) Almost half (47%) want to work for a company that supports neurodivergent employees and just over three-quarters say it is important for their future workplace to offer mental health support. Is there a ‘job for life’ that ticks all these boxes? Alphas don’t think so - 37% of Alphas believe they’ll have two or three careers in their lifetime (again, can relate.)
Teenage girls are the loneliest group in the world, a new WHO study finds
By Gabriela Galvin for Euro News
A devastating stat to open this write-up with: today, one in six people worldwide are lonely. It’s pretty even between men and women, but there’s one group for whom the figure is even worse, and that’s teenage girls; a full 24.3% - that’s more like one in four - say they feel lonely. Highlighting the importance of social health, and on the back of this research, the World Health Organisation is calling for governments all over the globe to make loneliness a policy priority and for more research into strategies that can help bolster social connections.