The successors of Gen Z (1997-2012), the youngest adults currently, the gen Alpha were welcomed to the earth about a decade ago. The gen Alpha (or the gen A) comprises of all the people born after 2012 to maybe, around 2025. These people are the future of the world and though currently, all those reading this article might belong to Gen Z or Gen Y, (or millennials as you all like to call yourselves), knowing about our successors won’t hurt.

Let us first begin with why are the generations named after alphabets.

It all started post World War-2. Americans at that time enjoyed a new found prosperity which resulted in a lot of children being born. The children in this era came to be known as ‘baby boomers’. Well, the name here is self explanatory though, so no issue. The children born after this era, didn’t have any special cultural identifier that made them different. And so here, the name ‘Gen X’ originated, illustrating the diminishes characteristics that would later be known. The generations next was by default known as ‘Gen-y’, though they later adopted a new name- ‘the Millennials’, when the impending turn of the millennium began to feature heavily in the cultural consciousness.

It is now assumed, though, that both the ‘gen-Z’ and the ‘gen-A’, will later adopt a new name that suits their interests. Some potential names for ‘gen-z’ include Gen Tech, post-Millennials, iGeneration, Gen Y-Fi, and Zoomers.

Gen-A is the first generation to be born completely in the 21st century and most off them are the children of millennials. Generation Alpha is expected to reach two billion by 2025. Many members of Generation Alpha have and will grow up using smartphones and tablets as part of their childhood entertainment as well as education with many being exposed to devices as a soothing distraction or educational aids, especially now with the global pandemic. Generation Alpha have also been surrounded by adult Internet use from the beginning of their lives, much more even when compared to gen-x (whose parents are primarily gen-x). Their parents, primarily Millennials, are heavy social media users and rely heavily on gadgets for work and even entertainment (Alexaaa!). Broadcast television viewing among children has declined during the early lives of Generation Alpha. Statistics from the United States suggested that viewing of children’s cable networks among American 2- to 11-year-olds were falling sharply in early 2020 and continued to do so even after them being at home due to pandemic(source: Wikipedia). After some time, we might not even see cartoon channels in the wake of the children belonging entirely to Gen-Alpha or Gen-Beta .

The first wave of Generation Alpha will venture into adulthoods in 2030s. By that time, the human population is estimated to be just under nine billion, and the world will have the highest ever proportion of people aged over 60. Gen Alpha has a huge burden waiting for them.