Axolotl and friend (Photo by Jon W. Sparks)
Historians of the future might do well to study the popular culture influences of young people to figure them out. Yes, I know, it’s already difficult for even contemporary grownups to understand kids today, but there’s always an effort to find the key that defines a generation.
But part of the problem is that we put way too much value on these so-called generational divisions. Millennials, X-ers, Boomers are all labels that endeavor to explain people of a certain age, but they are terrible tools. Generalizations are always risky (see what I did there?). All the members of any particular group can truly only be defined by their age range, and even then, not everyone agrees on the exact years of each cohort.
And because the attempt is to define large and wildly diverse groups of people, the tendency is to associate major global events with them. Things they had nothing to do with, typically, like wars, since the world seems to have so many of them.
My grandkids are part of what someone has designated Generation Alpha, born between 2013 and 2025. There are some safe generalizations to make about this group, such as immersion in technology and a childhood shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic. But none of that helps with specifics. For that, you need to know what they’re engaged in day-to-day. Not just that they’re hunkered over a tablet device, but what it is they’re absorbing. And of course, the toddler’s world view will be different from the fourth grader’s despite both being labeled Gen Alphas.
So for the 3-year-old, the influences come from Bluey, Blippi, Peppa Pig, and PAW Patrol. Now I can’t say exactly how she’ll manifest all this exposure. If she starts honking out an annoying mirthless laugh (Blippi-style), then we’ll banish that program. If she begins to affect a British accent, then we can blame Peppa and family, although maybe we can make fun of the royals.
But I suspect the influence of these shows is limited. After all, when she was fully engaged in the vast world of Cocomelon, she repeatedly was shown the importance of saying please and thank you. But to this day, she still requires the occasional courtesy prompt. And if she picked up any potty training lessons from the show, it’s news to us. But she no longer is a Cocomelon devotee, and I can say it’s a relief that we don’t hear “Wheels of the Bus” in our house anymore, despite the many and varied versions that exist.
As I am in a somewhat older generation (okay Boomer), I like to think that books have a place in all this stimulation. At age three, we favor picture books with corresponding words, preferably in both English and Spanish. We have plenty of books in the house, there for the perusing, and sometimes they get attention. Even the ones without pictures.
Now, the older grand is 10, and has a very different set of experiences. What she’s experiencing is shaped much more clearly by parental influences. Studio Ghibli productions are highly favored and there is attention paid to the Star Wars and Star Trek universes. But she also finds her own areas of interest. She dressed up as an axolotl for Halloween because it’s the cutest salamander you’ll ever hope to see.
And she has her own books to read, but some we still read aloud. The misadventures of Amelia Bedelia are a favorite and she has become attached to some of these book series that keep you reading (and buying) from one to the next. As we did with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys (okay, again Boomer).
What we — parents and grandparents — are trying to do is shape the influences of culture on our kids. Wish us luck, right? We can only hope to choose well and hope the good stuff sticks. But you can’t always tell, and sometimes an odd choice turns out all right.
I remember my parents taking me to a movie when I was around eight years old. It was Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, of all things. The film was set during the Black Plague in Europe, and we meet a knight returning from the crusades, his squire, and a traveling troupe of actors. And Death, clad in black and looking pasty. The knight challenges Death to a chess match. I wasn’t terrified at all, but I remember some puzzling moments. What I don’t remember is probably locked away in the noggin somewhere influencing my regard for knights and plagues and traveling actors.
So assume that everything sticks inside those little minds, and do your best to make sure they learn what is good and right and beyond generational influences. And teach them to play chess.