As the parent of Gen Alpha kids, it can feel somewhat dizzying at times to keep up with them. Is “6-7” still a thing? Is the broccoli head hairstyle of preteen boys still cool? What TikTok trend should I expect them to ask to do next? Why on earth are preteen girls doing makeup better than I, a 40-year-old woman, could ever pull off?
It can be easy to forget that Gen Alpha kids are a unique generation. Just like other generations before them had unique characteristics — for instance, we millennials pioneered both The Oregon Trail and the advent of social media, thank you very much — Gen Alpha has developed traits that define who they are.
So despite the fact that most of us are, you know, actively parenting Gen Alpha kids, it can be helpful to understand a little bit more about what drives Gen Alpha. Why are they the way that they are? How have pivotal life events, like the pandemic and politics in the palms of our hands, shaped Gen Alpha’s characteristics? What can we do as parents to help meet them where they are at?
Mom.com spoke to experts to get more insight into Gen Alpha. Here are five ways Gen Alpha is different from other generations — and some of them may surprise you.
1. They’re digital natives.
Stephanie Malia Krauss, educator and social worker, national expert on youth development, mom of two Gen Alpha children, and author of How We Thrive: Caring for Kids and Ourselves in a Changing World as well as the best-selling, Whole Child, Whole Life: 10 Ways to Help Kids Live, Learn, and Thrive, explains that Gen Alpha kids are “digital natives.”
In other words, they’re the first generation to grow up with digital technology and media being an integral and integrated part of the world. “Gen Alpha kids have only known the world that’s hyper-connected with social media, smart technologies, the rise of AI, where their real life is happening both offline and online, and they can seamlessly go in between the two,” she explains.
For Gen Alpha, the online world is also their real world, and that comingling might be something their millennial parents are still navigating, too.
2. They don’t just consume content, they identify as part of it.
Leah Ringelstein, Cofounder and Director of Digital Wellness at Zigazoo, explains that Gen Alpha doesn’t just view themselves as consumers of culture, especially online, but also as active participants.
“They are growing up creating, sharing, and engaging with audiences from an early age, which gives them a strong sense that their voice matters,” she points out. “They are comfortable with technology and approach the future with curiosity and optimism. Because of their digital connectedness, they also have a more global, collective identity that spans geography and culture in a way previous generations didn’t experience.”
3. They expect things to move fast.
Representing Zigazoo, Ringelstein adds that Gen Alpha kids move seamlessly across platforms and prefer fast, visual, and interactive content, whether that’s for education, gaming, or content.
“This environment fosters early exposure to concepts like personalization, algorithms, and even financial systems through in-game economies,” she explains. “It also shapes their expectations; they are used to on-demand, engaging, and participatory experiences, whether in entertainment, education, or social interaction.”
4. They’re growing up faster, but not how you think.
According to Krauss, Gen Alpha kids are developing in a way she’s dubbed “aging” and “staging.”
“What we are seeing with Gen Alpha is that they are aging quickly and staging slowly,” she notes. Krauss explains that aging quickly but staging slowly is linked to the fact that Gen Alpha kids have been exposed to so many intense and mature situations — like the pandemic or volatile politics — that have aged them.
However, simultaneously, the social development that leads children to different developmental stages was disrupted with Gen Alpha, too. (Think virtual school or a year of isolation.)
The disrupted developmental windows, says Krauss, may lead children to appear older, in terms of how they dress or what language they use, without the developmental process happening behind the scenes on the same timeline.
This might explain why you may have heard of more teenagers who aren’t interested in driving or going off to college, or children who seem reluctant to enter the next “stage” as we remember from our own youths.
“Each group had a disrupted different developmental window, and that has lingering effects,” she adds. “So my 15-year-old having a third and fourth grade year has affected him in different ways than my 13-year-old having a disrupted first and second grade year because of what normally is learned and practiced and happens in person during those times.”
5. They’re pretty darn incredible.
As a mom of two Gen Alpha kids herself and an educator and expert who has spent countless hours with youth, Krauss stresses that it’s not all doom and gloom when it comes to this generation of kids.
On the contrary, she reminds us all that Gen Alpha kids are incredibly creative and inspiring. “I really feel so passionately about that these kids are freaking amazing,” she gushes. “There are so many headlines about the kids not being all right vs. how incredible these kids are in the face of extremely challenging conditions that they did not choose. Like, how interesting are they?”
