Generations & Stats
My wife and I recently went out to dinner with a couple younger friends of ours, also teachers like myself. I'm 41, my wife is 39, and when I say younger this couple is about 5 years younger than myself. When we were kids it seemed like a lifetime between us - I've known my buddy Jim since I was a teenager. Talking about how kids interact today with media and devices we got into a discussion on what the generations are.
I have always been under the impression that I am Generation X. My parents are Baby Boomers. I was born in 1976 and I'm young enough to have still played the Atari 2600 and seen the evolution of home computer use from occasionally seeing one at one of my "richer" friend's houses to being able to afford one of my own so I could take advantage of America Online to get on the internet while getting notices from my friends on my pager. If you look at how sociologists define the generations, that would make my wife a Gen-X-er like myself, but my buddy and his wife would be Generation Z, or "the Millennials" - the kids who played multi-button controller video games, had flip phones and a computer at home, and possibly started dating online. I'm young enough (and have younger sisters in Gen Z) that I don't really feel that far removed from that experience with the "newness" of the technology boom. My wife's two older siblings, who are over 5 years older than both of us, are definitely Generation X because they are not quite as tech savvy as us, although still not quite afraid of trying something new like both sets of our parents seem to be.
I came across this graphic from McCrindle from 2016. The stats are from Australia, but they still hit home here in the United States. It defines Generations X, Y, and Z (or "Zennials", so I'm told) and usage of different devices and social media over time from about when I was in my early 20's until today. An item that really caught my eye was the "redefined lifestages" about 2/3 of the way down the image. When I was a kid it was a really big deal to become 13 and be considered a teenager. In junior high it meant a little more freedom, and a little more responsibility. Then, when you turned 18, you were an adult. You could vote, smoke, and die for your country, and you had all of the responsibility you could handle, along with all the freedom your parents held back - until the dreaded age of 21, of course :) But today these life stages are more refined. Childhood corresponds to elementary school, "tween" to middle school, young adult must mean those awkward "I can't drink yet" years before turning 21. But what sticks out to me are the degrees of adulthood: kipper? (kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings - cute!), career-changer?, and downager? I wasn't this, but my youngest sister was a kipper, staying home as long as possible before getting married, and I can see many kids today getting out of high school and going to college acquiring so much seemingly insurmountable student loan debt that they can't afford to move out until their mid-20's. I, myself, am a career-changer, leaving the corporate world in my early 30's as a graphic designer to pursue a career in education. I hope "downager" doesn't catch on here in the states...
This graphic also shows a "Generation Alpha", the babies being born now in the mid-2010's, the children of many of us Gen-X-ers, Millennials, and Zennials. When out to dinner my friends and wife and I tried to make sense of what each of these generations is, and how technology plays a role in it all. Technology is not scary to any of us, but we've adapted over our lifetimes as the technology updated. The Zennials and the newborn Alphas will have "screens" in their liFe as a norm. Meeting new people for friendship or romance seems to be almost exclusively online, and their relationships don't seem to last very long, being "swiped away" as quickly as the new social media post hits. Information is instantaneous, when "back in my day" we had to WALK TO THE LIBRARY if we wanted to find out something we didn't know... now we can just Google it! (Get off my lawn!)
And what's scary is how much information, about anyone, is available online. Ever Google your own name? Try it sometime, and see just what is available about you to the world!
When looking at some statistics about what personal information is available online about anyone, I came across the above statistics from the Pew Research Center from 2013. When trying to find anything more recent, most reputable sources like Common Sense Media came right back to this study. Even though it's a few years old I would hope that people are trying to be careful and that some of these have gone down, especially with how common place it seems that identity theft has become.
It's not surprising that in most of these categories the percentages go up in the later teen years because this group is gaining freedom and independence as they get older. But what children need to understand is that this information is available to ANYONE - stalkers, identity thieves, and other n'er-do-wells. Without trying to sound like an old fuddy-duddy, you do need to be careful online. My identity has been stolen TWICE! AND I'M CAREFUL!!! I also teach internet safety and digital citizenship with resources from Common Sense Media, and hopefully through more awareness and regular reinforcement from parents and teachers through relevant lessons, students will learn how to better protect themselves online and when the more recent studies come out it will show these stats beginning to come down.
I have always been under the impression that I am Generation X. My parents are Baby Boomers. I was born in 1976 and I'm young enough to have still played the Atari 2600 and seen the evolution of home computer use from occasionally seeing one at one of my "richer" friend's houses to being able to afford one of my own so I could take advantage of America Online to get on the internet while getting notices from my friends on my pager. If you look at how sociologists define the generations, that would make my wife a Gen-X-er like myself, but my buddy and his wife would be Generation Z, or "the Millennials" - the kids who played multi-button controller video games, had flip phones and a computer at home, and possibly started dating online. I'm young enough (and have younger sisters in Gen Z) that I don't really feel that far removed from that experience with the "newness" of the technology boom. My wife's two older siblings, who are over 5 years older than both of us, are definitely Generation X because they are not quite as tech savvy as us, although still not quite afraid of trying something new like both sets of our parents seem to be.
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| Image property of McCrindle.com.au |
I came across this graphic from McCrindle from 2016. The stats are from Australia, but they still hit home here in the United States. It defines Generations X, Y, and Z (or "Zennials", so I'm told) and usage of different devices and social media over time from about when I was in my early 20's until today. An item that really caught my eye was the "redefined lifestages" about 2/3 of the way down the image. When I was a kid it was a really big deal to become 13 and be considered a teenager. In junior high it meant a little more freedom, and a little more responsibility. Then, when you turned 18, you were an adult. You could vote, smoke, and die for your country, and you had all of the responsibility you could handle, along with all the freedom your parents held back - until the dreaded age of 21, of course :) But today these life stages are more refined. Childhood corresponds to elementary school, "tween" to middle school, young adult must mean those awkward "I can't drink yet" years before turning 21. But what sticks out to me are the degrees of adulthood: kipper? (kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings - cute!), career-changer?, and downager? I wasn't this, but my youngest sister was a kipper, staying home as long as possible before getting married, and I can see many kids today getting out of high school and going to college acquiring so much seemingly insurmountable student loan debt that they can't afford to move out until their mid-20's. I, myself, am a career-changer, leaving the corporate world in my early 30's as a graphic designer to pursue a career in education. I hope "downager" doesn't catch on here in the states...
This graphic also shows a "Generation Alpha", the babies being born now in the mid-2010's, the children of many of us Gen-X-ers, Millennials, and Zennials. When out to dinner my friends and wife and I tried to make sense of what each of these generations is, and how technology plays a role in it all. Technology is not scary to any of us, but we've adapted over our lifetimes as the technology updated. The Zennials and the newborn Alphas will have "screens" in their liFe as a norm. Meeting new people for friendship or romance seems to be almost exclusively online, and their relationships don't seem to last very long, being "swiped away" as quickly as the new social media post hits. Information is instantaneous, when "back in my day" we had to WALK TO THE LIBRARY if we wanted to find out something we didn't know... now we can just Google it! (Get off my lawn!)
And what's scary is how much information, about anyone, is available online. Ever Google your own name? Try it sometime, and see just what is available about you to the world!
 |
| Image property of Pew Research Center |
When looking at some statistics about what personal information is available online about anyone, I came across the above statistics from the Pew Research Center from 2013. When trying to find anything more recent, most reputable sources like Common Sense Media came right back to this study. Even though it's a few years old I would hope that people are trying to be careful and that some of these have gone down, especially with how common place it seems that identity theft has become.
It's not surprising that in most of these categories the percentages go up in the later teen years because this group is gaining freedom and independence as they get older. But what children need to understand is that this information is available to ANYONE - stalkers, identity thieves, and other n'er-do-wells. Without trying to sound like an old fuddy-duddy, you do need to be careful online. My identity has been stolen TWICE! AND I'M CAREFUL!!! I also teach internet safety and digital citizenship with resources from Common Sense Media, and hopefully through more awareness and regular reinforcement from parents and teachers through relevant lessons, students will learn how to better protect themselves online and when the more recent studies come out it will show these stats beginning to come down.
Your point about kids being growing up with screen being the "norm" is very pertinent. My 3 year old son uses a tablet fluently and I am amazed at his ease and confidence with technology in general. I assume younger kids will grow up feeling just as comfortable with tech as they do with humans.
ReplyDeleteWhich I believe is scary. They are getting instantaneous feedback for all things, and therefore might never develop a sense of patience. I see all the time with my kids that if they can’t finish something in 5 minutes or less they give up. It’s hard to do projects that require any work-involved steps because the kids don’t get immediate satisfaction from the intermediate activities. They can’t see the end product. All too often I get the complaint , “This is hard,” which really means, “I’ve given up because this isn’t happening as fast as I’d like.”
DeleteGreat observations, Scott. I hadn't thought about the patience angle. Excellent post this week.
DeleteI definitely see a generation difference from "adapting" with technology and being "born" with it. It goes back to the technology visitor versus resident concept. My generation is for sure a resident whereas many previous generations are accustomed to just visiting. The times are changing as everyone is slowly being required to be a resident.
ReplyDeleteAnd my parents' generation is on both sides of the coin. My mother and my wife's mother will "attempt" new tech, like email, but if they don't get it on the first try they want step-by-step tech support at a moment's notice (my mother in law called at 11pm last week to try to help figure out something on Facebook). Or you have my father in law who won't even attempt it at all (he let's his wife do it, fail, then call us!). And then you have my uncle who is fascinated that you can "walk around the neighborhood" with Google Maps, but still has a flip phone and complains about getting error messages from being part of group texts. Yes, we are required to be resident, but just how resident is up to the individual willing to put in the effort to learn and try new things.
DeleteIt's never clear to me where I fall in the Generations. Born in 1985, I remember not having a computer, and then not having internet for the computer once we got one. I had a flip phone until my mid to late 20s. I don't understand hashtags or selfies, but I do use Instagram. I think people in their early 30s, like me, are sometimes grouped in with Millennials and sometimes not. I appreciate your discussion of the Generations how those differences are so often defined by their use of technology.
ReplyDeleteDepending on different sources the years can be different or even overlap. I think what’s important is that we recognize the different mindsets of different generations as we address technology needs for our students as well as the teachers we will be helping introduce new technologies in the classroom.
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