BY Joseline Byakatonda
A generation describes people born and living at about the same time or period, clustered together. A generation is 20-30 years, counting a period when those born at a specific time grow up, become adults and begin to have children. Clustering people in generations gained popularity in the 19 th century, enabling social scientists to study behaviour of people at a specific time, revealing profound uniqueness of each generation. If you notice, people of a generation will almost have the same behaviour traits even when leaving in different continents.
The environment they live in may only nurture some traits more and suppress others. The reason is, they are growing at the same time, so factors influencing them will more so be the same. You might be puzzled by the behaviour of teens and youth of today. However, the trends in the current generation depict those of the future. Somehow as nature dictates, the children will always surpass the generation that bore them so, for sure, what the current generation is grappling with will be passed on to the next and whatever they excel at, the next generation supersedes at it, good or evil. Therefore, the current trend of behaviour among teens and youth cannot be analysed in isolation of preceding generations.
Currently, the Z are mentored by Millennials who are eventually influencing the Alphas. The Alphas are also children of Millennials and Gen X, so, besides the peer Gen Z’s influence, the parents are directly passing on traits too. It therefore, takes three generations to almost wipe out an evil or nurture behaviour change. The eldest Millennial is 42 years, the youngest is 27; the oldest in the Gen Z is 26 years and youngest 11 years while Gen Alpha has all the super teens now, a multi-layer of generations. Millennials were born in a digital era while the Gen X were born in analog but have had a digital adulthood.
Digital revolution has set the Gen Z also called iGen and Gen Alpha far apart from previous generations because the first thing they saw at birth was a phone. While the digital era started in the later time of the Gen X, the complete roll out and feeling of the digital experience has been from the Millennials to now Alpha and so will Gen Beta, come 2026. While some Gen X may still struggle with some gadgets, it’s a piece of cake for Zs and Alphas. To them, digital is almost ingrained in their mind to explore any adget before them. This is witnessed by increased online presence of organisations, businesses and individuals.
Technology combined with proper guidance, youth today can do much more. Students now have moving libraries on their phones that before could only be accessed in physical buildings. Research is the in thing and every information is verified in a second. It’s an era where parents have to explain the why of things and accommodate discussions not just dictating what should be done. Freedom is freedom because they determine what to do when and how, after all, information is everywhere.
More effort in nurturing teens and youth now should be in solid values and self-leadership that will influence their discernment. In this era, all information a parent passes on to a child should be well researched, otherwise you cease to be an authority to them if you display ignorance. It’s in this era that a teacher is quoted over a parent. The later years of Alpha and Beta will greatly affect the mode of learning. Some courses will purely require no interface, rendering schools and tertiary institutions with a low adaptability to online and long distance learning irrelevant.
Whereas wars may still exist, world over, no war can be equated to World War I and II, if you doubt ask a Boomer. Boomers now range from 60+ years, now retired and grandparents. Baby Boomer is known for discipline and high work ethic. They are born during and after World War, a time when living on longer discipline in every aspect of life was key for survival. They grew in disciplined households and displayed the same professionally.
A Boomer would not accommodate reporting late to work. In Uganda, the cluster of Prof. Apollo Nsibambi (R.I.P) held the banner. Boomers take pride in the positions held and time spent working for a company. As they worked hard, they prioritised achievement over family-though they provided, they did not connect heart to heart with them and now their children-Millennials and grandchildren Gen Z and Alpha have upgraded to individualism, poor attitude to work and inclusiveness. Majority simply work for the sake of surviving but not impacting lives, believing that no matter what they do, they can never earn what they deserve.
Boomers also matured earlier in life and were super ready for adulthood by the time they were born. The harsh environment, not ignoring the side effects, formed them. Though well- known in social science, this theory is seldom used out of academia. It argues that how fast teens or youth mature depends on how they perceive their environment to be harsh, hostile or competitive.
When the environment is hostile or crude, people adopt the ‘fast life strategy’ to measure up or adopt a ‘slow life strategy’ where it’s safer or needs are catered for. This also accounts for the difference teens and youth from other continents and Africa or Uganda have. Although the current generation is less prepared for adulthood, following the life history theory, COVID may be a blessing in disguise that Millennials-Gen Alpha will adopt the ‘fast life strategy’ as the environment gets harsh each day from the biting effects of the pandemic and eventually pass on the traits to their children. The temptation previous generations like Boomers and Z have is to live in the past and want to uphold it in the present without knowing how the generations they are parenting or forming have changed.
