By JOHN RICHARD SCHROCK
There was the Greatest Generation born before 1946, the baby-boomers of the post-War years, and then a series of generations X, Y and Z that also included millennials and xennials. Now what will we call this generation of youngsters growing up now?
“Generation Alpha” was proposed for the cohort of persons born after 2010. This seemed like an appropriate jump-off after exhausting the alphabet—just begin down the Greek alphabet.
Then Ed Yong, writing in The Atlantic, proposed that babies born in the post-coronavirus era should be called “Generation C.” And with many citizens staying at home, this time of felt vulnerability will certainly change the zeitgeist or “spirit of the time” going forward. There is a sober recognition that the continual rush of social progress has slowed. Assumptions of ever-more-prosperity that began with the baby boom generation are now obviously seen as false assumptions, although in reality, most children have not surpassed their parents for the last 30 years. But now, developed societies can only hope to hold the line and not fall backward for the next few years. That will definitely provide our new generation with a different perspective on life.
But it will not just affect the attitudes of babies born from 2010 onward, but also for current K–12 kids, college students and young adults who find themselves in a troubled labor market, perhaps laid off or unable to find a job. This “Generation C” is therefore not defined by time of birth, but by living through this unusual time of uncertainty.
Not since 1918 has the United States seen such a life-threatening health challenge. That influenza was by far the most devastating disease of modern times, taking an estimated 675,000 American lives from the very young, the middle-aged adults and the elderly. There were far more American deaths from the Flu of 1918 than there were American casualties from the World War I at the time. Thirty percent of our medical personnel were occupied supporting the military in World War I. The first clearly reported cases were from Kansas and our transportation of troops was a major factor in spreading the pandemic worldwide.
Aside from treating the symptoms, there was no cure or vaccine. Most extended families had members who died. The average life expectancy of Americans plummeted by 12 years. Communities were left with local actions to mitigate the spread of the flu. Some closed schools. Others used limited quarantines. Face masks were widespread.
The great Flu of 1918 had a much higher number of deaths than the current pandemic with over 40 million Americans infected. So did it produce a unique “generation”? That is difficult to determine. There was the post-war euphoria and the Roaring Twenties. And then a Great Depression. History is extremely complicated. The future of our “Generation C” will just have to “play out.”
On the education side, some of us were looking forward to Generation Alpha. They are the first generation to have parents who are computer savvy, having grown up in the Internet age. Prior students had pre-Internet parents who were easily impressed by school administrators who spent huge sums of money to put their students in front of computers—of course, that had to be superior education. But it was inferior education. Performance on genuine assessments have continued to decline and the parents of Generation Alpha should be less gullible. Having experienced the shortcomings of digital media, the parents of Generation Alpha would value the genuine face-to-face teaching and superiority of printed reading materials for their children.
However, this once-a-century pandemic disaster may change this scenario. Perhaps a multi-age “Generation C” will settle for ineffective modes of delivery, virtual impersonal lectures, fake labs, hands-off abstractions, and a simulated life. We already see split messages, with the Ed-Tech Industrial Complex proclaiming the superiority of their digital media, while the veteran teachers are calculating the COVID-slide, a likely loss twice the normal summer-slide in skills and abilities.
Except for sports. We will definitely want to return to real ball games with real spectators.
. . .
John Richard Schrock has trained biology teachers for more than 30 years in Kansas. He also has lectured at 27 universities in 20 trips to China. He holds the distinction of “Faculty Emeritus” at Emporia State University.