Los Angeles Times

Millennials gave birth to 'Generation Alpha.' Are these kids already doomed?

School busses sit at the Alltown Bus Service yard on the first day of classes for Chicago's public schools on Aug. 21, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois.

Zoomers fear them. Boomers want more of them. Millennials will keep making them for the rest of the year.

Born between roughly 2010 and the end of 2024, "Generation Alpha" is the demographic successor to Gen Z. Its oldest members are not quite ready for a quinceañera, while its youngest will be conceived in the coming weeks.

When the last of them arrive this December, they'll close the largest cohort of children ever to exist on Earth. There are already concerns that the kids aren't "alright." The overwhelming majority have yet to graduate elementary school, and 1 in 5 are still in diapers, yet they are widely being called "feral," illiterate" and "doomed" on YouTube and TikTok — where alphas themselves make up a large and growing share of users.

Blame bad parenting by millennials or tech companies or both — but many of those responsible for setting the discourse online agree we should be worried for them.

"Everyone on the internet is really scared of

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times4 min read
A Guide To Everyone Taylor Swift Sings About In 'Tortured Poets Department' — And Their Reactions
Taylor Swift didn't hold back on calling everyone out on her newest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," and the reactions are rolling in. The surprise double album was released in two parts on April 19, giving exuberant Swifties plenty of materia
Los Angeles Times4 min read
Stagecoach And Coachella Fans Leave Behind Tons Of Camping Gear, Clothes, Food. Here's What Happens To It
LOS ANGELES — Once music fans file out of the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio at the end of the Stagecoach and Coachella festivals, the work begins for charitable organizations who turn the discarded clutter — more than 24 tons of it strewn throughout t
Los Angeles Times4 min readPopular Culture & Media Studies
Commentary: Does Social Media Rewire Kids’ Brains? Here’s What The Science Really Says
America’s young people face a mental health crisis, and adults constantly debate how much to blame phones and social media. A new round of conversation has been spurred by Jonathan Haidt’s book “The Anxious Generation,” which contends that rising men

Related Books & Audiobooks