[COLUMNIST] Understanding Generation Alpha and the challenges of digital parents

THE name Generation Alpha originated from a 2008 survey. It was apparent at that time, there was no name for the new generation after generation Z. After all, the kids in this generation are the first generation wholly born in the 21st Century , covering those born between 2010 and 2024.

This is the time where iPad was also launched, Instagram was created, and App becomes the most common word used.

Since their time, more than 2.8 million of the Gen Alpha are born globally every week. When they have all been born by 2025, this group will number almost two billions of population, which is the largest generation in the history of the world.

As the way Gen Alpha involves technology and has become more advanced and accessible through devices such as smartphones and tablets they engage more with TikTok , K-pop, WeChat and Manga, to teach themselves new skills which are above their parents.

Prior to this, Gen Alpha creates content rather than just consume it and through technology, they have become more collectivist than individualist. With devices in hand, they are very influential when it comes to brands, new culture and even policy change.

Another obvious notion we can see is that, the Gen Alpha are very active on virtual social networking. They can be aggressive multiplayer online gamers which allows anybody to enter a virtual fantasy world as an avatar to meet with other friends across the world, find loot and earn currency.

Another main feature of Generation Alpha is how the digital transformation really shapes their generation. Screens became omnipresent from their birth and has been kernel to their early years, entertainment, communications, schooling and interactions. It’s the source of information that they largely go to.

Since child, most of the generation Alpha’s parents do not purchase paper books but use digital one which are cheaper and save spaces. The use of digital technology in family life also covers the internet and in most cases, parents would use digital media with real-world interactions, such as art activities, outdoor activities, sports, reading, and music for the children.

It is common that when they reach the age of a year, Alpha toddlers are babysit with digital devices such as smart phones, laptops, and computers so that the can learn to control themselves and their parents in return can focus on other tasks.

Prior too much depending on gadgets, many believe that Generation Alpha will face challenges when it comes to keep their physical health because of increasing sedentary lifestyles, with greater inactivity and less time spent outside.

According to the Morning Consult research, 65% of Gen Alpha children, aged 8-10 years, spend up to four hours a day on social media. The surveys, conducted in 2023, among a representative sample of 1,002 members .

The study findings show that video streaming has become the norm for Alpha kids. The most popular video streaming platforms are YouTube, Disney+ and Netflix.

In another survey conducted among a sample of 1,453 pairs of teens with one parent found that most teens have not limited their phone or social media use.

The survey comes as policymakers and children’s advocates are growing progressively concerned with teens’ relationships with their phones and social media.

There was also a case , Meta Platforms Inc which owns Instagram and Facebook was sued for harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and intentionally designing features that addict children.

Along with the massive increase in the proportion of parents working full-time, the gen Alpha is very unlucky compared to their parents. Their working parents means this generation is having less focus and time to spend with, resulting them to grow up in a time of increasing complexity and greater uncertainty.

At some point, they are unable to understand and value the uniqueness and difference of others, which is essential to thrive in a more diverse world. As a result , they fail to modulate their own emotional responses and positively respond to the emotions of others.

On the other hand, Generation Alpha is a tech-savvy generation which opens to inquisitive and new experiences, prior to the access of internet to everything at anytime and any cost. A study by Apaydın and Kaya (2015) for example, revealed this generation Alpha is a careful, detail oriented, creative, peculiar, and ascertained generation with a high level of perception and a wide perspective.

However, they also, argued that Generation Alpha is an egoistic, obstinate, dour, impatient, unhappy, unsatisfied, withdrawn, well distracted, and tech-addicted generation that has an inclination to violence. They lack of social interaction, do not comply to the rules, need solving skills, have poor command of language and read little.

In short, raising children of Alpha generation is highly rewarding but can also be tough. Parents have a critical role in developing theirs children's character. The family, being the primary and most crucial environs in which children live, should monitor and guide them with kindness, firmness, and attentiveness.

What parents must do to educate children in the digital world is to avoid becoming uncaring parents. Some digital parents are harming the children as their social media contents by exposing their activities to public.

They can learn from experience how their parents in yesteryears raised them.

The proper ways for parents to guide their children as they learn to use technology and not negatively impacted by the current digital world. Even how busy they are with work, parents must set up guidance for the use of devices or gadgets, restricting screen time for children, attach and supervise children's actions in virtual world.

They must communicate with children and be alert with whom their children are communicating with.

Despite the variety of danger and benefits associated in the digital age, it is caviling for parents to plan a parenting paradigm that centering on protecting children and making use of its promise as an advancement at the same time.

For the Alpha generation, digital parenting is about aiding them in using digital media that is consistent with central family values. For the parents, they need to discover strategies for setting boundaries, fostering digital literacy, and creating a harmonious , responsible and positive digital citizenship for their beloved children.

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** Dr Abdul Mutalib Embong and Muhammad Khairul Zakaria are from RIG 4, Centre of Fundamental and Continuing Education (PPAL), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.

** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI

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