From the point of view of Western Sydney based social research experts Mark McCrindle and Ashley Fell, authors of Generation Alpha, published by Hachette and out now in bookshops and online, generations Z and Alpha are the luckiest children in Australia for having generations X and Y as parents and the thrifty Baby Boomers as grandparents and the cashed-up builders as great grannies.
McCrindle coined the term, Generation Alpha, taking the Greek alphabet for the first time as his choice.
But it was not an easy find from suggestions such as Generation New Age, Generation Tech, Zoomers or Onliners and he consulted thousands of people for their opinions in the research for the book that began in 2005.
In their book, McCrindle and Fell also made it clear on the “social markers” that make each generation distinct from the ways they lived, worked, socialised, and think on social issues such as education and environment.
The first chapter of the book revealed these generational markers from toys they enjoyed as youngsters, what devices they used to enjoy music, their leadership style at work, and what medium or media influenced their search for information.
The pages have interesting infographics to explain in simple terms those complex sociological contexts that McCrindle and Fell came across to those wanting to understand Generation Alpha, in comparison to other generations.
By email, I posed these questions to the authors and here are their responses:
What makes the challenges facing Generation Alpha born 2010 - 2024 so different from what the Millennials or Generations X, Y and Z are going through?
McCrindle & Fell: Generation Alpha began being born in 2010, the same year the iPad was released, Instagram was launched, and app was the word of the year. While all generations are living in this great screen age, Generation Alpha will be shaped differently by it because it is literally the only world they have ever known. They are going to be more digital, global, and mobile than previous generations. This will have impacts for them on their mental health and wellbeing, as well as the types of jobs and careers they will have in the future. Generation Alpha is also being shaped in a different education landscape, which focuses more on collaboration than command and control of the past. While this generation will face some unique challenges, we still believe the future for them is a bright one, and like generations before them, they will find the tools to help them succeed in a rapidly changing world.
Did the Coronavirus pandemic create this new generation?
McCrindle & Fell: COVID is going to have a big impact on Generation Alpha. We believe it will cause technology to become even more integrated into their lives, and 90% of Australians agree. We believe it is also likely that Generation Alpha will be a more creative and resilient generation due to the challenges COVID provided, technology will remain integrated into their life but they will also value time away from screens, they will appreciate the things that were lost – interpersonal relationships and going to school, they will value family time more, as it has become an expected and regular part of their life, and working and learning from home will become a regular part of their future. That is why we believe Generation Alpha has become the COVID-19 generation, not in terms of virus impacts but in the resulting economic, social, educational, and psychological impacts on their future.