“So who do we blame for this entire generation’s main character energy?”
I'm not sure Gen Y parents can palm this all off onto Gen Z siblings
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: character skins, Chat (not GPT) and school shepherd’s huts. Let’s go!
Who’s Afraid of These Gen Alpha Queens?
By Kate Lindsay for Bustle
The brilliant Kate Lindsay (shout out to her Embedded Substack) explores Alphas’ reputation for being lonely, suffering from “brain rot” and their emboldened tormenting of teachers. There are some great interviewee insights in here plus the slightly ominous warning that while they’re following trends atm it won’t be long before they’ll be out in front. Has ‘gentle parenting’ given way to ‘permissive parenting’? Were kids always precautious and it's just easier to gain digital infamy for it now? I’m into Lindsay’s parting thoughts on this one: perhaps when you grow up during a global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, you get a generation (set to be the most diverse yet) that will continue to defy authority and become world-beating adults.
Games marketing firm Livewire on the attention economy across generations
By Rachel Kaser for Venture Beat
Gaming is big business for this audience, so it's perhaps unsurprising that (anecdotally) I’d say it's one of the sectors most invested in researching this generation. This piece, based on a study of gamers across the UK, U.S. and Australia, finds that 76% of Gen Alpha gamers are into in-game branded moments (like custom-built worlds and experiences or cosmetics such as character skins) - which is significantly higher than their Gen Y (49%) and Gen Z (54%) counterparts. And as many as 73% prefer playable experiences over video ads. The takeaway here is that Alphas expect brands to meet them where they are - and that is in games such as Fortnite and Roblox (whose immersive ads experience is now open to all brands.)
Hey, Chat - Teens are taking slang from the screen to the schoolyard. It’s reshaping the way that they connect with each other and the world.
By Steffi Cao for Slate
I am fascinated by how youth culture adapts and plays with language so I was beyond delighted to find a piece that really gets into the cultural context of an emerging phrase. “Chat” which can be used as singular or plural, online or IRL has its roots in internet gaming culture, and - according to Darlene Intlekofer, a sociolinguistics instructor at CUNY Graduate Center who was interviewed here - it is used to cope with the natural stress of growing up through humour and lightheartedness. She also offers perhaps the most positive soundbite about teens I’ve come across since starting this Substack: “I think it shows that young people value inclusivity in group interactions, and I love that about this generation.” But how prevalent is “chat” amongst British teens? Please let me know if you’ve heard any “chats” in the wild here in the UK.
Schools in England and Wales use dogs and prize draws to lure absent pupils back
By Richard Adams for The Guardian
With 150,000 “severely absent” children in England missing 50% or more of school sessions last year, this piece outlines some of the more exciting strategies schools are implementing to draw “anxious avoiders” back into regular attendance including therapy dogs, prize vouchers, wellness sessions, taxi rides and shepherd’s huts. While the featured schools report varying levels of success, overall attendance is still lower than pre-pandemic. No mention here of term-time holidays, which must surely drive absenteeism given that a recent survey found that 57% of parents have or would consider their child missing school for a term-time holiday and the same amount say the risk of receiving a fine for doing so would have no impact on their decision.
What Gen Alpha Thinks of Politics: Growing Up on the Internet in the Era of Trump and Covid
By Lilyanna D'Amato for Teen Vogue
While Alphas may not have voted in this election (in this case in the US, though I see many parallels with the UK), their experiences this year will no doubt shape their decisions next time around and I believe it’d be remiss not to give that some close consideration. This op-ed asks whether Alphas are inheriting Gen Z’s political pessimism and, if so, what that means for the future. It points out that Alphas are growing up in “an era of unprecedented politics” marked by the dissolution of faith in facts, mounting fears over the urgent and irreversible effects of climate change and the extreme isolation of the Covid lockdowns. The pandemic will have made policy very tangible to school-age Alphas and so “there's a keen awareness among young people [and] more sophistication around examining government's accountability to the people.”