We’re learning new things about Gen Alpha every day. It’s important we do so. But many of them are in middle school today, and we already know lots about middle schoolers.
While the world changes quickly, some things stay the same. Middle school is a hard time of life. Kids change more during middle school than any other time of their lives, other than infancy to toddler. They might wake up and realize their voice sounds different, or that their clothes don’t fit anymore. Social pressures are intense, and everyone is trying to fit in and figure out who they are.
Some research suggests that middle school for Gen Alpha is perhaps more difficult than for previous generations. Parents of today’s 11-14-year-olds report that their kids have difficulty making friends. Anxiety, depression, and behavioral issues among their cohort continue to rise.
This is also the first generation to grow up fully immersed in technology; 40% of them have access to tablets by age two. They’re digital natives in the truest sense.
Gen Alpha are middle schoolers and soon-to-be middle school students who need our discipleship, leadership, and love amid the generational challenges they face. They’re children, and they’re children of God.
If you love a middle schooler or are seeking to help them, you’ve got to recognize that technology has completely changed the game. Middle schoolers haven’t changed, but their environment has—radically.
Our digital culture is inundating them with unprecedented amounts of information, stimulation, and entertainment. Their brains are not equipped to filter or prioritize all that comes their way. It’s a truth that cannot be ignored.
This non-stop digital stimulus is a significant contributing factor to the anxiety so many middle schoolers experience. It used to be that if a kid looked around at school and noticed their peers had nicer clothes, that comparison more or less stopped at the end of the school day. Bullying might also stop when kids made it home. Today, it follows them everywhere they go via their phones.
I’ll never forget sitting next to two cheerleaders who posted the same picture on their respective social media accounts. One got hundreds of likes in minutes, and the other got two. The middle schooler who didn’t get to experience the nearly instantaneous positive reinforcement from likes streaming in deleted her post then and there.
That sort of social pressure is hard for adults to handle. It is almost unbearable for a young girl.
The good news is that they don’t just need us at this age. They want us. They want us to listen. They want us to help them discover how they feel, how they should act, and how they think. Middle schoolers are profoundly open to the love and guidance of trusted adults. But very few adults give them the time and attention they need.
