With the passage of each generation, the traits of childhood and early teenage get redefined subtly. By the time parents discover their children possess different behaviours despite ushering quite a static parenting, the children have already adapted to the soft cultures and catchy trends of the following time.
With each decade and changing culture, the behaviour of different age groups also transfers to new directions.
However, with the advent of accessible technology and lack of social recreational outdoors, the raising of our next generation often remarks a doubt in the social shell. "The Generation Alpha," immediate descendants of "Gen Z," have seen the lights of the earth amid the brightest colours of scientific advancements and fluid cultural transition.
The period that has outworn every prior decade based on cultural homogeneity will surely rear up a generation far different from previous age groups.
Gen Alpha is the cohort born after 2010 and onwards. While many participants of this group are yet to learn to spell or cross a road, they have already been introduced to gadgets, social media, and voice assistance as bread and butter.
For early Gen Z, such blessings came step-wise, giving away space to have a traditional childhood. A childhood encompassing outdoor games, reading, and non-virtual meetups was typical to each prior generation. But the foreseeable next generations may mostly pass by these standard practices, creating a unique childhood.
The people born in the ’90s falling between Millennials and Gen Z are now the driving force of the world population. If not the decision-makers, this generation will still be a dominant force in the following decade.
Surrounded by nostalgic impulses, this mixed group generation was the first-hand consumer of necessary modern tech like smartphones, social media, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As a result, there was a sense of uniqueness and fear of unleashing something new among them in the early phases.
Even if the next wave of the industrial revolution (AI and Big Data-based reality) does not occur by the end of the following decade, our infant ambassadors of Gen Alpha will associate themselves with the same amenities in a sharper way. They will be more confident and comfortable with technologies, like toys in hand.
From our cyber cafe-based manifestation to their easily accessible tech advantages, the definition of childhood has taken a drastic bypass. This subtle yet visible change of order can be narrowly compared to humanity’s shifting to Neolithic Period from prehistoric times.
The generation cohort entitles each generation with distinct features derived from periods and events. Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964 witnessed the post-War trauma and ravages of the Cold War. Seemingly, each generation, later on, has experienced both pros and cons of their growing up decades that shaped their lives.
So, what awaits Gen Alpha?
At most, we know they will have a much stricter environment. Their knack for technology and availability of knowledge material will be profound. A farsighted view may comprehend that their intertwined existence with technology will find natural lives in Siri, Alexa, and Google’s assistant-based AI realities.
However, in Bangladesh, Gen Alpha as a project raises a handful of concerns. Being located in the subcontinent, this region endows traditional norms and values for each age group.
We spoke with a few couples residing in Dhaka, having their first child sometime between 2010 and 2012. The assessment shows that most of the reviewed children have developed a sense of independent consciousness at a very early age. Having been exposed to vast resources, they are less dependent on their parents for basic queries.
In addition, the visual application of knowledge and open access to present themselves before people on social media usher them in developing a self-identity before reaching puberty.
More than half the children of this cohort are yet to hit puberty. It will be curious to see how this generation grows and responds to the next level of life, exceeding the innocent infant phase. Statistics suggest that by 2025, there will be nearly 2 billion members of Generation Alpha across the globe.
While thinking over this article, I constantly thought about F Scott Fitzgerald’s short story and the theatrical adaptation by David Fincher of the same name, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. Despite telling a completely different story, Mark McCrindle’s coined term Generation Alpha represents a cohort different from previous ones. With their sharp idiosyncratic views and sensitive outlook, this infant generation will reform the world in the 21st century’s second half.
Mohammad Sifat is a freelance contributor. He can be reached at [email protected].
