Generation Alpha
The Singularity on the Event Horizon
2024
Attachment and the Machine
Let’s begin at the basics:
Tronick’s Still Face Experiment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Jw0-LExyc
Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBqwWlJg8U
What PG Means
Parental Guidance NOT Parent Gone
This is not the EFC
You are the Gods of your children’s Childhoods
The most important job in the world that only you can do
Also the hardest
Child Development
Vertical (Safety)
Horizontal (Trust, Independence, Initiative, Industry)
Domains (Gross, Fine, Sensory)
Life cycle (eg Sport and School)
Social (OL and IRL)
Who are Gen Alpha
Children of Millenials
Younger siblings of Gen Z
2010 - 2024/5 (Born Fully in the 21st Century)
Largest Generation Ever
2 Billion
Also called Gen G (Glass) and Gen C (COVID and online acceleration)
Integrated AI voice assistants and large language models
From curation to attention to intimacy
Algorithm Media
Have had their personal stories, photographs, and videos posted online by their parents since their birth - "sharenting."
Downside - being ordinary is not enough (and products)
Mini_Millenials
Younger age at which they started using social media
I-Pad Kids and multiple screens
They socialise differently (gaming shoulder to shoulder)
Watching gamers game
Cont…
TikTok as a growing platform of choice. Unlike millennials' pre-algorithm Facebook, TikTok repeatedly exposes users to anyone and everyone, rather than just networks of friends and family.
13 years old to use basic features.
13–15 Accounts are private by default, and only friends can comment on videos. Other users can't duet with videos. Accounts won't be suggested to mutual connections.
TikTok won't recommend age-restricted content during a LIVE for people aged between 13 and 17.
YouTube Kids
Feb 15th 2015
Removed children from programmed TV and shared family screens
Tailored content (by whom for whom and how?)
Skibidi Toilet (Violent)
Elsagate Controversy (Sexual)
Massive over stimulating visual and auditory
Discord
Most used
13 years old and local legislation may mandate an older age eg. 14 - 17
On another level especially with language and social online gaming (integrated)
Free voice, text and video communication
Direct messages, private groups, communities (servers) public or private
Can stream, play games, music etc
CCP and Tencent major shareholder
Insurrection Jan 6 USA led by discord (2 million messages)
As of January 2023, WhatsApp is rated 16+ (Previously 15). This age limit is based on the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
All of the above are becoming seen as the equivalent of a mind altering substance.
Like alcohol, nicotine and THC
Obsession, Compulsion and Addiction
Brains, wiring and switches
Pruning
Dopamine
Serotonin
Just 5 more minutes
I just need to finish the game
Education and Social Domains
Decline in traditional measures of academic intelligence
Eg. writing and reading for comprehension
Very difficult to teach (academically and behaviourally)
And are having complex social problems (not socialised and fragile)
BUT will probably be better of EXCEPT in mental health
Aggression and Isolation
Changing teaching and parental expecation
The Extreme
Tic Tok Tics (Observing, stress and anxiety)
Amplifies ASD Challenges especially social interaction and communication and
According to some studies, too much screen time in young children can lead to autistic-like behavior. These behaviors include:
Anti-social eg. Flashmob looting (Flashrob) and sextortion
Back to Basics
You, and your relationship with your child, are the greatest protective feature for your child against any threat.
Think of how you protect your home.
Every black mirror is a window into your child’s mind.
We teach children to cross the road, holding their hands and telling them where to look. We don’t roll up the roads.
Education and babysitting are not the abandonment of your child in front of a screen
Nor is it outsourcing parenting
Q and A