Gen Z: digital natives

Will Generation Z - history's most technogically adept - evolve into tomorrow's realists or idealists?

Pinned to the wall of my daughter's grade 1 classroom is a sheet of butcher's paper, listing questions she and her classmates would like to answer. Will the water run out? How many children travel to school in a sustainable way? Are cities a good idea? The next sheet lists ways they will find out the answers. First on the list: check the internet.

These six- and seven-year-olds are part of the emerging generation Z. Demographers and social researchers have banged on endlessly about gen Y and their rapid embrace of new technology but gen Z is the first generation born into a digital world. It's a bit like learning a language in high school compared with being a native speaker (hence an alternative name for gen Z: digital natives).

This key difference, and others, is now attracting the attention of those who want to know the answer to the question: what kind of adults will gen Z - this century's first generation - grow up to be?

First things first, though: the age group. It's a bone of contention among the experts, who argue that the first gen Zs were born as early as 1991 (making the oldest now 17) or as late as 2001 (so the oldest is seven). "I get frustrated beyond belief with all the age spans," says IBISWorld founder Phil Ruthven, who firmly plumps for a 2001 start point and a 2020 end point, supported by 150 years of charts. Others, including social researcher Mark McCrindle, say gen Z began around 1995, so the oldest are now hitting 13, and the last gen Zs will be born next year.

That's a huge discrepancy, based largely on differing start and end points for the preceding generations Y, X and baby boomers. Until the experts sort out their differences, it seems safe to assume that today's babies to seven-year-olds are definitely gen Z, and kids aged eight to 12 are on the fuzzy line between very young gen Y or the oldest gen Zs. Certainly, these older pre-teens were toddlers when the internet took over the world, so on that point they can be classified as "digital natives". Continued...