What Is the Honey Badger Generation?
January 28, 2024 6:39 AM Subscribe
“Generation Alpha can oftentimes challenge and refuse to accept the status quo, questioning rules and customs that may seem arbitrary or hypocritical” ... “The internet and social media have created a generation that can see anything at any moment, including social injustices and influencers who voice their opinions on anything and everything” ... "This can feel empowering and liberating to a child." [Parents.com / Axios]
Honey Badger, previously
Honey Badger, previously
The radical notion that children are people.
posted by splitpeasoup at 8:17 AM on January 28 [13 favorites]
posted by splitpeasoup at 8:17 AM on January 28 [13 favorites]
(BTW, parent of a PDAer here. I didn't exactly choose to radically reexamine and expand my views on children's autonomy; it was thrust on me. Now we are all happier and I am a better person for it.)
posted by splitpeasoup at 8:26 AM on January 28 [8 favorites]
posted by splitpeasoup at 8:26 AM on January 28 [8 favorites]
Interesting. As a childless boomer, I'm of course on the sidelines. Our cohort often marvel at the autonomy we seem to have had as kids - eg walking to school (8 miles there, and 12 miles back! Uphill both ways!!) And particularly - being trusted on our own so often - eg on a summer day, my wife and I recall, at age 8 or 9 and up, being GONE - bicycling, hiking, making forts in the "bush", or off to a movie - and only expected back in time for dinner. So we look at the next bunch, with helicopter parenting, and playdates, and kids enrolled in everything and needing a daytimer to manage it...
Maybe Gen Alpha is pushback - claiming their autonomy back, and empowered with new tools...?
Anyway, it's encouraging to me. They seem to have good values. I wish them Godspeed, and we're sorry for leaving them with such a mess.
(Today I also learned about cheugy. Seems to be synonymous with millenial nostalgia and kitsch. Glad to report that we have a minimum of that in our abode. )
posted by Artful Codger at 9:25 AM on January 28 [10 favorites]
Maybe Gen Alpha is pushback - claiming their autonomy back, and empowered with new tools...?
Anyway, it's encouraging to me. They seem to have good values. I wish them Godspeed, and we're sorry for leaving them with such a mess.
(Today I also learned about cheugy. Seems to be synonymous with millenial nostalgia and kitsch. Glad to report that we have a minimum of that in our abode. )
posted by Artful Codger at 9:25 AM on January 28 [10 favorites]
Newest generation is wise to bullshit and hypocrisy, news at 11.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 10:10 AM on January 28 [11 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 10:10 AM on January 28 [11 favorites]
The average member of Generation Alpha as defined here is 6½ years old. Maybe we should wait a bit before starting in with the pop psych stereotypes?
posted by mbrubeck at 11:29 AM on January 28 [64 favorites]
posted by mbrubeck at 11:29 AM on January 28 [64 favorites]
The internet and social media have created a generation that can see anything at any moment
and are unable to rationally interpret any of it
posted by Cardinal Fang at 11:34 AM on January 28 [8 favorites]
and are unable to rationally interpret any of it
posted by Cardinal Fang at 11:34 AM on January 28 [8 favorites]
Also, 1997–2012 seems to be the most commonly-used birth range for Generation Z. If we stick with that, then Gen Alpha is actually born 2013–present, making them age 0–11 currently, and just 5½ years old on average.
posted by mbrubeck at 11:34 AM on January 28 [4 favorites]
posted by mbrubeck at 11:34 AM on January 28 [4 favorites]
walking to school (8 miles there, and 12 miles back! Uphill both ways!
Living in a cardboard box in the middle of the road, nothing to eat but a handful of hot gravel?
posted by Cardinal Fang at 11:35 AM on January 28 [8 favorites]
Living in a cardboard box in the middle of the road, nothing to eat but a handful of hot gravel?
posted by Cardinal Fang at 11:35 AM on January 28 [8 favorites]
The internet and social media have created a generation that can see anything at any moment
and are unable to rationally interpret any of it
my brother lives in a small rural community which is nevertheless fully wired/online. It's one of those places where if you want any real world social life at all, you end up with friends of all ages. I don't know if he's hanging out with any teens or pre-teens but he certainly runs the gamut from twenty-to-ninety (he works as a caregiver).
In his experience, it's not the young who are getting all flabbergasted and demolished by social media etc. Not that they don't have their confusions. But that's what youth is. You get confused. A lot. If you're mostly mentally-spiritually healthy, you figure out how to roll with it, one way or another. Same as it's always been.
The few folks he knows that have gotten truly broken by it (Qanon related bullshit, disassociation from family and friends etc) are all older, in their forties and beyond. All people who reached adulthood before social media really took hold -- their personalities formed before this whole new THING fully imposed. For whatever reason (often ego related) they just can't accept the changes -- they've gone reactive, angry, hateful, some of them quite dangerously so.
So yeah, he's not worried about the kids. I suppose it gets back to that notion that when you're fifteen, finally getting some kind of grasp on the world and its various currents and velocities, you just assume that that's the way things have always been, and whatever new technologies and processes that come along, you tend to embrace them as progress, certainly worth trying out. But then around age thirty, you start to think enough's enough. You cease embracing change, start to view it as threat, you (to paraphrase Bob Dylan) cease being busy being born, start being busy dying.
Which is laying it on a bit thick, I guess. There is wisdom in age and experience. But, as a not particularly young friend recently pointed out, it should be our default view that, whatever's going down, whatever weird new currents and changes are afoot, it's the youth we should be aiming to align with in terms of negotiating our relationship with the future. Because it's those children of now who are going to end up spending the most time there.
posted by philip-random at 12:06 PM on January 28 [15 favorites]
and are unable to rationally interpret any of it
my brother lives in a small rural community which is nevertheless fully wired/online. It's one of those places where if you want any real world social life at all, you end up with friends of all ages. I don't know if he's hanging out with any teens or pre-teens but he certainly runs the gamut from twenty-to-ninety (he works as a caregiver).
In his experience, it's not the young who are getting all flabbergasted and demolished by social media etc. Not that they don't have their confusions. But that's what youth is. You get confused. A lot. If you're mostly mentally-spiritually healthy, you figure out how to roll with it, one way or another. Same as it's always been.
The few folks he knows that have gotten truly broken by it (Qanon related bullshit, disassociation from family and friends etc) are all older, in their forties and beyond. All people who reached adulthood before social media really took hold -- their personalities formed before this whole new THING fully imposed. For whatever reason (often ego related) they just can't accept the changes -- they've gone reactive, angry, hateful, some of them quite dangerously so.
So yeah, he's not worried about the kids. I suppose it gets back to that notion that when you're fifteen, finally getting some kind of grasp on the world and its various currents and velocities, you just assume that that's the way things have always been, and whatever new technologies and processes that come along, you tend to embrace them as progress, certainly worth trying out. But then around age thirty, you start to think enough's enough. You cease embracing change, start to view it as threat, you (to paraphrase Bob Dylan) cease being busy being born, start being busy dying.
Which is laying it on a bit thick, I guess. There is wisdom in age and experience. But, as a not particularly young friend recently pointed out, it should be our default view that, whatever's going down, whatever weird new currents and changes are afoot, it's the youth we should be aiming to align with in terms of negotiating our relationship with the future. Because it's those children of now who are going to end up spending the most time there.
posted by philip-random at 12:06 PM on January 28 [15 favorites]
The average member of Generation Alpha as defined here is 6½ years old
All of the members of Generation Alpha are above average.
Living in a cardboard box in the middle of the road, nothing to eat but a handful of hot gravel?
You had gravel?!
posted by chavenet at 12:22 PM on January 28 [3 favorites]
All of the members of Generation Alpha are above average.
Living in a cardboard box in the middle of the road, nothing to eat but a handful of hot gravel?
You had gravel?!
posted by chavenet at 12:22 PM on January 28 [3 favorites]
I always feel kind of skeptical of the idea of generational personalities, but assigning one to a generation that has not finished having its formative experiences because some of them are still in gamete form seems exceptionally silly to me.
posted by eirias at 1:28 PM on January 28 [16 favorites]
posted by eirias at 1:28 PM on January 28 [16 favorites]
As a childless boomer, I'm of course on the sidelines. Our cohort often marvel at the autonomy we seem to have had as kids
We often hear this but I find that the people least likely to give my five year old autonomy are his boomer grandparents and their wider cohort; they are genuinely worried about, well, everything. It's something I've observed applying to my kid's friends as well. I'm not sure what the origin of this is but it's definitely a thing.
posted by deadwax at 1:42 PM on January 28 [5 favorites]
We often hear this but I find that the people least likely to give my five year old autonomy are his boomer grandparents and their wider cohort; they are genuinely worried about, well, everything. It's something I've observed applying to my kid's friends as well. I'm not sure what the origin of this is but it's definitely a thing.
posted by deadwax at 1:42 PM on January 28 [5 favorites]
I find that the people least likely to give my five year old autonomy are his boomer grandparents
You haven't met my sister.
But seriously, what autonomy should a grandparent grant a 5-year-old, especially one you only see occasionally?
posted by Artful Codger at 2:24 PM on January 28 [6 favorites]
You haven't met my sister.
But seriously, what autonomy should a grandparent grant a 5-year-old, especially one you only see occasionally?
posted by Artful Codger at 2:24 PM on January 28 [6 favorites]
Well it'd be good if they'd grant the autonomy the parents ask for. To this point it's mostly been physical autonomy, playground stuff etc, but it's broadening from there. These are grandparents that see the kid regularly.
posted by deadwax at 2:32 PM on January 28 [4 favorites]
posted by deadwax at 2:32 PM on January 28 [4 favorites]
This thing where generations are criticizing the other generations and assert their superiority is what really gets to me. It’s fine for trends to be observed but when I hear Boomers and Gen Xers (mine) relentlessly broadcast their opinion that millennials are absolutely worthless. Essentially, my eyes certainly do give a big roll.
posted by waving at 2:42 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]
posted by waving at 2:42 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]
My kids are, according to all these yammering accordions, peak generation alpha. They are primarily concerned with whether they can have more time to play Minecraft and if I will buy them more Lego roller coaster parts. They have recently discovered the concept of sugary cereal and are very excited. As others have pointed out, they are literal small children. Please stop trying to "profile their generation".
posted by phooky at 4:05 PM on January 28 [8 favorites]
posted by phooky at 4:05 PM on January 28 [8 favorites]
Disappointing that anyone is giving the tag "Generation Alpha" any weight.
Pigeon-holing people by when they were born is astrology for folks getting their masters in social science. Or trying to hawk a book career.
posted by Ayn Marx at 4:13 PM on January 28 [16 favorites]
Pigeon-holing people by when they were born is astrology for folks getting their masters in social science. Or trying to hawk a book career.
posted by Ayn Marx at 4:13 PM on January 28 [16 favorites]
Stop using marketing nonsense as a prejudice. Any time I've heard someone talk about Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, or boomers it's usually derogatory bullshit to fit their particular prejudice. I'm in the boomer demographic, and contrary to what I hear about boomers, I think the kids are awesome (or alright, if you're a fan of The Who) Confound a marketer, and ignore the bullshit.
posted by evilDoug at 4:13 PM on January 28 [1 favorite]
posted by evilDoug at 4:13 PM on January 28 [1 favorite]
Apparently this is just statistical noise and a bad headline.
posted by Artw at 4:29 PM on January 28 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:29 PM on January 28 [3 favorites]
These wild generalizations based on a handful of datapoints and a lot of post-hoc rationalizations are about as useful as 18th century astrology treatises, except without the cool diagrams.
posted by signal at 4:38 PM on January 28 [4 favorites]
posted by signal at 4:38 PM on January 28 [4 favorites]
You don’t even get a set of head calipers.
posted by Artw at 4:58 PM on January 28 [8 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:58 PM on January 28 [8 favorites]
Metafilter: yammering accordions
posted by Pyrogenesis at 11:06 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]
posted by Pyrogenesis at 11:06 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]
You don’t even get a set of head calipers.
Or Beethoven's Ninth.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:34 AM on January 29
Or Beethoven's Ninth.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:34 AM on January 29
influencers who voice their opinions on anything and everything
Influencers aren't voicing opinions. They are pretending to be your friend in order to get paid for driving traffic to their advertisers.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:40 AM on January 29 [5 favorites]
Influencers aren't voicing opinions. They are pretending to be your friend in order to get paid for driving traffic to their advertisers.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:40 AM on January 29 [5 favorites]
But seriously, what autonomy should a grandparent grant a 5-year-old, especially one you only see occasionally?
This is exactly the responsibility we have as grand-persons. We allow the great-nephew to do exactly what he wants all day, and then deliver him back to the parents covered in mud and hopped-up on sugar.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:44 AM on January 29 [5 favorites]
This is exactly the responsibility we have as grand-persons. We allow the great-nephew to do exactly what he wants all day, and then deliver him back to the parents covered in mud and hopped-up on sugar.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:44 AM on January 29 [5 favorites]
8 miles there, and 12 miles back! Uphill both ways!!
Did you live in an MC Escher print? Because otherwise, that doesn't seem possible.
posted by Paul Slade at 1:29 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
Did you live in an MC Escher print? Because otherwise, that doesn't seem possible.
posted by Paul Slade at 1:29 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
Verily, no young people have ever rebelled against the older generation's grip on social norms.
OK, boomer.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 6:26 AM on January 29
OK, boomer.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 6:26 AM on January 29
Did you live in an MC Escher print? Because otherwise, that doesn't seem possible
....and ANOTHER thing about young people, nowadays, i tell ya.... no sense of humour!
/getoffofmylawn
posted by Artful Codger at 6:41 AM on January 29
....and ANOTHER thing about young people, nowadays, i tell ya.... no sense of humour!
/getoffofmylawn
posted by Artful Codger at 6:41 AM on January 29
I was hoping to add to the humour rather than detract from it, but I can see how it might not have come across that way. Don't blame the young 'uns for my misfire, though - I'm well into codger territory myself
posted by Paul Slade at 6:56 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
posted by Paul Slade at 6:56 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
Which generation is it that's characterized by an obsession with assigning blanket characteristics to entire generations?
posted by gurple at 10:53 AM on January 29 [5 favorites]
posted by gurple at 10:53 AM on January 29 [5 favorites]
I guess one of my kids is Generation Alpha and the other is Generation Z but I can't really look at them, or even them and their friends/classmates, and make any meaningful generalizations because they all seem fairly "normal", but also all different from each other. The only thing I've got is that these kids are much nicer to each than kids were at my age.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:14 AM on January 29 [2 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:14 AM on January 29 [2 favorites]
gurple: Which generation is it that's characterized by an obsession with assigning blanket characteristics to entire generations?
My notes say it's for "capital generation" but there's a smudged note linking to "let's you and them fight."
posted by k3ninho at 3:41 PM on January 29 [2 favorites]
My notes say it's for "capital generation" but there's a smudged note linking to "let's you and them fight."
posted by k3ninho at 3:41 PM on January 29 [2 favorites]
IMO, this generation really likes snacks and hates going to bed.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:45 AM on January 30 [2 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:45 AM on January 30 [2 favorites]
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Remember when media critics were excited about 'interactive television' and now kids can PRODUCE it in their pocket
posted by eustatic at 7:42 AM on January 28 [4 favorites]