It’s part of the parenting challenge I didn’t think about when I had my duo – raising a generation of kids whose lives are significantly different than my life growing up. My duo is part of Generation Alpha and their younger cohorts, Generation Beta, will have lives dominated by digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and robotics. These technologies continue to expand the gulf between how I was raised as a Generation Xer and the life they live. As my kids enter their latter elementary years, I’m curious about how to best prepare them for a life that seems like something out of the cartoons and out-of-this-world shows I grew up watching.
The consequences of pregnancy is that I’m not raising kids that are ‘like us.’ In fact, they aren’t like us at all. My kids adapt to and use technology more proficiently than I do. Even though I’m a knowledge worker that works in the digital space, my kids demonstrate a natural ability and acceptance of technology. While my husband and I push for learning and memorization of information, the truth is, Siri, Alexa, Gemini, CoPilot, ChatGPT, and other AI assistants can answer questions faster and with greater accuracy than our brains or an encyclopedia ever will be able to.
The consequences of pregnancy with raising Generation Alpha is this new chapter of
parenthood my parents didn’t need in their playbook – How to Raise Kids in the Age of the iPad. Although my husband and I apply parameters around their iPad usage, we don’t want our kids left behind when it comes to technology. We love the opportunities for creativity, learning, and thinking beyond their boundaries, which these technologies offer. On the other hand, we want to keep them safe and to value in-person connections with family and friends. We want them to believe in their own intelligence and not just the ‘general or generative intelligence’ of technology.
The consequences of pregnancy is that these early years of parenthood haven’t afforded me much time to think about their adult lives. Yet my duo is nearing their double-digit years and I’m beginning to imagine what their adult lives may look like. In some ways it’s intimidating to imagine how different it will be. On the other hand, it’s exciting to anticipate getting a front row seat to watching and helping them navigate their very different lives. I’m expecting that we’ll have to be more flexible in our ways of thinking about many areas of their day-to-day lives. Robots and immersive technologies will likely permeate many of the activities that are now manually done today. I expect that we will have to let our kids teach us so that we don’t fall behind in their new world.
Although it seems far away, I know that this time is closer than I can imagine. I focus on what I can control – who they are as genuine people. I hone in on raising good people; kind human beings; individuals who are smart and funny and can make the world a better place.
Let’s imagine together. What do you think will be most different in the world of your alphas and betas versus how you grew up?
