Have you ever heard of Generation Alpha? In fact, do you know which generation you belong to? At least I belong to the analog generation, the last generation without internet, the so-called Xennials or generation X.

Well, the Alpha generation is that of these young people and adults who are "living their life" in front of the screens of some device, be it the television, the telephone or the computer, because they were born in the digital age and consequently grew up with this technology.

This Alpha generation is adjusted to people who were born in the middle of 2010, although there is no exact date, because the generations are more adjusted to technological changes than to specific dates. By this I mean that as more drastic changes and great advances in technology emerge, the closer we will be to a generation change.

This generation began by having in their hands the first high-end smartphones with touch screens and high-resolution cameras, they met the first tablets, these young people have grown and evolved along with technology until we reached the era of artificial intelligence, something that for some adults is a bit annoying or cumbersome (while still being very useful), but for the Alpha generation, AI is already an extension in their daily life.

• Virtual assistants that in some sectors are only used to distract children, but in other cases we are talking about devices that provide assistance to disabled or sick people and who need some kind of help, these "professional" virtual assistants have solved many problems and now in times of pandemic they have even become indispensable.

• Monitoring devices such as sports and health smartwatches, of which we already know the virtues such as measuring heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and blood glucose levels (do not be surprised, this exists in the actuality).

• Intelligent vehicles, where it will no longer be necessary for a child to take the complex driving classes that many of us knew because these vehicles "drive themselves" and are as simple to operate as a smartphone.

• Smart homes, where each element can be controlled digitally, from heating and air conditioning, turning lights on and off, washing and drying clothes, among other advantages that I have already mentioned in previous posts.

Everything mentioned above is incredible and surprising for many of us, but for the Alpha generation this is totally normal and does not have the slightest complication, since the digital environment is the natural environment of this generation.

Each generation has a characteristic, and in the introduction of this post we only mentioned something very general, now we can list some notable characteristics of the Alpha Generation:

• Excess connection, the digital environment has a fundamental pattern and it is dependence on the internet, and each digital device in its own way requires constant connection, which translates into "hyperconnectivity".

• Development of visual and auditory skills, the digital environment follows a pattern of "data converted to video and audio" as is the well-known case of video games (for children and young people), and in the case of professionals, design tools graphic and engineering. This has allowed the development of a certain visual and auditory acuity that in earlier times would not be thought of because video games with high resolution images did not exist as now. And to think that in my time there was only the "Aatari".

• Excessively technological, because they do not know the "analog world" that most of us knew.

Certainly, given so many benefits, in some aspect we could find disadvantages, not everything is as positive as it seems, and we ourselves see this on a daily basis in the attitudes, behavior and expectations of our youth today, and we are talking about:

• High attention deficit: this generation is more attentive to “what happens” on the screens of their devices and the digital environment that surrounds them, that they do not “pay attention” to what happens in the real world, and in the worst cases, they do not know what happens in the family environment, it is a kind of abstraction within the digital world so that they are not able to pay attention or concentrate on something else.

• Little ability to socialize, as mentioned above, abstraction within the "digital environment" reduces the abilities to socialize with the "outside world and its individuals", leading to the phenomenon of "young people with few real friends" and many "digital friends" , including one of the most dire consequences is the "null ability" to establish a healthy relationship as a couple in their adult life, a very bad relationship with their parents (who belong to another generation), and as a more frequent fact it is encouraged among these young people the "low self-esteem" by not being able to accept individuals in their "real nature" outside the digital world and therefore "they do not accept themselves" as they are in real life.

_{Free use Resource from Pixabay edited with PowerPoint by @tocho2.}

• Few creative abilities, and this could be due to the fact that this generation has abandoned contact with nature and the well-known outdoor games in our childhood and youth, which greatly stimulated imagination and creativity, due to the great attraction offered by digital devices.

• Health problems that few people mention, such as the so-called “carpal tunnel” due to the amount of repetitive movements that the use of digital devices such as touch screens and peripherals requires; It is also worth mentioning the problems with the joints due to reduced mobility in those people who spend long hours "playing on the computer" or also working in other cases, since when they are "concentrated" on their devices they do not feel the need to "Take an active break" or walk and in the worst case, they also do not feel like doing any sport that counteracts these negative effects. And one of the least known, the lack of vitamin D, because these young people when they leave the house a little (they feel that they do not need it) do not expose themselves to the sun and outdoors, the sun being the natural source of vitamin D.

To conclude, I find that there is not a fair balance between the advantages and disadvantages faced by this Alpha Generation, although they were born within the digital environment with full mastery of current technology, they must also somehow overcome the lack of social skills (that is, very important) for developing an individual, pseudo-independent environment and a close relationship with technology, succeeding in replacing affections and friendships with the company of their devices.

I also think that the new challenges that the planet offers and that deserve due attention to reach effective and immediate solutions such as aggressive climate change and socio-political pressures on each continent, need a generation much more prepared than just the mastery of technology, I'm sorry to be crude with my words, but I see this on a daily basis and it causes me a lot of concern.

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