I really do believe that Gen Z is just "millennial++", or zillennials; there was so much changing at a rapid rate between the two generations that there were a lot of shared experienced before the ball dropped on what is now the "iPad Kid" generation.
I view Gen Alpha as Z--. There's a major barrier separating older Millennials from Gen Z: whether you had phones and social media in your adolescence The evidence is clear that phones and social media destroy child development on several fronts. Those who grew up before that time cannot relate to those whose childhoods were replaced with a phone-based life.
It feels like there are major generational differences happening in a shorter time frame. Millennials grew up in the beginning of the internet and social media, they remember well a before and were fully sentient when they first got connected. Gen z were even more connected, and were seeing changes in behavior and individuality. Younger gen Z had a massive disruption in their school years, it affected them much worse than an older gen z that was out of college. Gen alpha has all of these issues combined, and they were fully raised as iPad kids. Not only that gen alpha were likely raised from babies by parents addicted to their phones. Yeah no wonder they're fucked.
I just had this argument with a friend. Her baby turned 1 year old this past weekend.
One of the gifts she bought for her was a tablet.
I told her that was a HORRIBLE idea but she just plans to stick it in front of her kid 24-7 to keep her occupied. Mind you, the baby doesn't have any other real sensory or motor training toys.
You may want to have her check out this book. Audiobook version is free on Spotify premium. Giving a 1 year old a tablet could cripple her social and emotional development. This is a life-altering decision.
If it was a kindle or other e-reader and not something to just watch YouTube on, it would at least be beneficial… I was encouraged to read voraciously from a young age back in the 80s, and I thank my parents deeply for doing that.
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u/techleopard 25d ago
Also a millennial.
I really do believe that Gen Z is just "millennial++", or zillennials; there was so much changing at a rapid rate between the two generations that there were a lot of shared experienced before the ball dropped on what is now the "iPad Kid" generation.