Millennials love them. Boomers are clamoring for more of them, and Gen Z wants to be as far away from them as possible. The next generational cohort is upon us: Generation Alpha.

Viral TikTok videos are asking millennial parents, "Why are your kids so awful?" Are these kids already doomed?

Los Angeles Times metro reporter Sonja Sharp joined host Lisa McRee on "LA Times Today" with more on Generation Alpha.

What You Need To Know

  • Despite Gen Alphas' access to the internet from such a young age, data shows that only 43% of California students can read at grade level

  • Millennials are those born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s

  • Gen Z is the late 1990s through roughly 2010

  • 2010 until the end of 2024 will be Alphas

Sharp, who is the mother of two young children, and another on the way, explained where Generation Alpha falls. 

"This is the generation that comes after Gen Z. So my generation are those born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s. Gen Z is the late 1990s through roughly 2010. And 2010 until the end of this year will be Alphas," Sharp said. "These are kids who, even more so than Gen Z, have always had mobile devices. They've always had access to YouTube. They've always been on Instagram. Many of them have had Instagram since they were born. Much of their childhood, and in fact, their very earliest years in some cases were shaped by the pandemic."

Sharp reported that Gen Alpha and their parents are getting a bad rap on social media from other generations. She shared some of the general characteristics of Alphas, as told by Gen Z. 

"They're feral. They can't read. They're crazy. They're addicted to their iPads," said Sharp. "So it starts with the very youngest, who are the sad, beige babies. They only wear oatmeal-colored clothes and play with wood toys. And then all of a sudden they wake up one day around three and they can't get their face out of their iPad with the plastic cover and the sticky fingers. And then suddenly, they evolve into pre-teen form that we're seeing now, which I think is why they've come in for so much hate."

Sharp spoke to some children and parents who said access to the internet from such a young age has made Gen Alpha smarter than previous generations. But, literacy data shows that only 43% of California students can read at grade level. 

"This older half of the cohort really was so strongly hit by the pandemic," said Sharp. "They were out of school at exactly the moment when we solidify or we expect kids to solidify those critical reading skills. And by the time they reemerged, if they were not strong readers when they left the classroom, they're returning at an age when there's no longer the support, for example, to learn phonics, to learn just the building blocks of reading."

Sharp also shared about what she does to help her kids be successful.

"There's so much anxiety about the screens," she said. "And I feel that anxiety, too. I try to have screens be social. I don't let my kids watch by themselves. We don't use it in the car. We don't use it at the restaurant. We don't use it when we're out. It's really something we do on the couch in front of the TV. And then the rest of the time I let them be bored."

Click the arrow above to watch the full interview.

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