<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" > <channel> <title>New Silents – After The Millennials</title> <atom:link href="https://afterthemillennials.com/tag/new-silents/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com</link> <description></description> <lastBuildDate>Wed, 27 Dec 2017 22:04:44 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1</generator> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">32899985</site> <item> <title>What You Need to Know About Marketing to Millennial Parents</title> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com/what-you-should-know-about-marketing-to-millennial-parents/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Anne Boysen]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 10 Sep 2014 04:13:51 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Values]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homeland generation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Millennials]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Silents]]></category> <category><![CDATA[parenting]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://afterthemillennials.com/?p=3165</guid> <description><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="200" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?w=400&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="3166" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/id-10036602/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?fit=400%2C266&ssl=1" data-orig-size="400,266" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Millennial Parents" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?fit=400%2C266&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p>The only other generational topic receiving as much attention as the young Generation Z or Homeland generation is the Millennial parenting cohort raising them. Still held back in life by economic setbacks and lengthy educations, Millennials are nonetheless a family-loving generation and will eventually go for the parenting life phase with full steam. In fact, they like...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/what-you-should-know-about-marketing-to-millennial-parents/">What You Need to Know About Marketing to Millennial Parents</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="200" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?w=400&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="3166" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/id-10036602/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?fit=400%2C266&ssl=1" data-orig-size="400,266" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Millennial Parents" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ID-10036602.jpg?fit=400%2C266&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p>The only other generational topic receiving as much attention as the young Generation Z or Homeland generation is the Millennial parenting cohort raising them. Still held back in life by economic setbacks and lengthy educations, Millennials are nonetheless a family-loving generation and will eventually go for the parenting life phase with full steam. In fact, they like the idea of having children so much that they believe <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/03/09/for-millennials-parenthood-trumps-marriage/">being a good parent is more important than having a happy marriage</a>. But how exactly can marketers win the hearts of this less than brand-loyal generation?</p> <p>Millennials are known to be<a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/03/07/millennials-in-adulthood/"> skeptical of big institutions</a>. No generation does more research before making a purchase. They were children when the FCC relaxed their rules on marketing to children, which might have resulted in the side effect of producing more skeptical consumers. They are savvy buyers who have seen credit bubbles burst and have instant access to information at their fingertips. Listen to them, and you might win the trust of what might become the biggest parenting generation in America’s history.</p> <p><strong><strong>Thou shall not pretend! #1 </strong></strong><br /> With pertinent, unbiased, often user-generated information at their fingertips, empty corporate promises and gimmicks are quickly divulged. So make sure your product can deliver what it claims, whether it relates to quality or standards of operation. On the other hand, this is a forgiving generation. You may have failed in the past, but Millennials won’t hold you in perpetual contempt or view you with the ideological lenses of their Boomer parents if you change.</p> <p><strong>Thou shall not pretend! #2 </strong><br /> In advertising, don’t go for high gloss and glamour. <a href="http://twiniversity.com/2014/07/perfectly-imperfect-parenting/">Be real</a>. Millennial parents are sick and tired of celebrity moms who shed their baby weight the first week after birth. Or the moms and dads who always puree organic celery (which their little tykes always pleasingly devour) on their spotless countertops. This should give a lot of creative freedom. Have fun. And invite parents to have fun by <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/08/29/mom-confessions_n_5738310.html">confessing to the little irks and challenges that go along with the early stages of parenthood</a>. Because parenting is hard. And nobody’s perfect. And you’re not perfect either.<strong><br /> <strong>Be transparent!</strong><br /> </strong>Earlier this summer <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-12/why-elon-musk-just-opened-teslas-patents-to-his-biggest-rivals">Elon Musk released the patents</a> for his Tesla car. Musk is of course motivated by his desire to make the autoindustry go green. And maybe sell some more batteries. But this was also a very strategic PR move on many levels. On the one hand, environmental consumption is becoming the norm, not the exception. Secondly, car buying among millennials is currently abysmal. They opt for zip cars or take the bus. But millennials respect corporate transparency almost as much as they respect green production. So when car-sharing turns out to be too laborious for millennial with growing families, Tesla will own this market. And maybe even unemployed millennials will forgive <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/business/new-wave-of-adept-robots-is-changing-global-industry.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">Tesla’s manufacturing robots that are currently stealing their jobs.</a></p> <p><strong>Know your tribe</strong><br /> No, you don’t have to be liked by everybody. Not every millennial parent will be evangelizing your message across social media platforms. But in the reputation economy you have to know who your mavens are. Maybe they’re not the ubercool hipsters who twirl their staches while discussing Proust over a glass of Kombucha in the back of an urban vinyl record store. If they are parents, they most likely belong to a very different market segment. For<a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140820006100/en/Data-Reveals-Millennials-Conservative#.VAsrFpRdXFo"> millennial parents turn out to be more conservative</a>, even more likely to say they are born-again Christian. This is partly because millennials are depoliticizing the meaning of ‘conservative’. Another possible reason is selection bias because the subset of millennials who become parents in their 20s tend to be more religious and marry and procreate earlier. Just focus on your market segment and make sure they talk about you. Then most is won. And your marketing director doesn’t have to read Proust.</p> <p><strong>Diversify it!</strong><br /> Do your best to appeal to all types of parents, interracial couples, same-sex couples, single parents or other good but different parenting types who evade the traditional straightjacket. Advertisement still to this day is remarkably homogenous. Reflect the true diversity and you will not only win points with the groups that are notoriously underrepresented, but you will also win over the vast majority who sympathizes with them. Here’s how it works: You launch a marketing campaign that is controversial among consumers on the last quartile of the any <a href="http://www.ideacouture.com/blog/innovation-early-adopters-beyond-the-bell-curve/">bell curve indicating adoption of changing values</a>. This will generate publicity for your product by antagonizing the cultural laggards most millennials want to disassociate with. Not saying you shouldn’t choose a more diverse strategy just because it’s the right thing to do, but extra points for aligning yourself with the right “controversial” values is a nice side effect, isn’t it? This is what youth marketing expert <a href="http://www.shapingyouth.org/">Amy Jussel</a> calls outrage-bating.<br /> <a ref="magnificPopup" href="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/outrage-baiting.jpg?ssl=1"><img decoding="async" data-attachment-id="3167" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/outrage-baiting/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/outrage-baiting.jpg?fit=1936%2C1452&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1936,1452" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="outrage baiting" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/outrage-baiting.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/outrage-baiting.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class="alignright wp-image-3167 size-medium" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/outrage-baiting-300x225.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1" alt="outrage baiting" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/outrage-baiting.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/outrage-baiting.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/outrage-baiting.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/outrage-baiting.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/outrage-baiting.jpg?w=1936&ssl=1 1936w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p> <p><strong>Quantify it!</strong><br /> It’s possibly our <a href="https://afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/2014/04/01/generation-y-wants-anonymity-online-homelanders-will-demand-it/">Homelander kids’ 1984-like future</a>, but big data is still in a phase where people are willing to sacrifice potential privacy leaks for convenience. Eventually <a href="http://www.shapingtomorrow.com/home/alert/155481-Millennials-embrace--Resilience-Parenting-">Resilience Parents</a> will shed some of the parental angst that flourished with Boomer and Gen X helicopter parents, <a href="http://ryan-jenkins.com/2014/09/05/drone-parents-the-next-evolution-of-helicopter-parents/">but for now young parents embrace the safety of surveillance</a>. Just wait till baby-related TMI from all sorts of <a href="http://quantifiedbabies.com/">quantified baby devices</a> explode the already exponentially growing curve of the world’s zettabytes. Welcome to the Internet of things. And of babies. Or something like that.</p> <p><strong>Healthify it!</strong><br /> Millennial expert Jeff Fromm of <a href="http://www.thefuturecast.com/">FutureCast</a> says that Millennial parents want foods that are <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2014/01/13/how-less-bad-food-marketing-is-attracting-millennial-parents/">‘less-bad’</a>. They are still holding on to their pre-kid foodie, locavore identities, but have to adjust to the not-so wholesome realities of limited household budgets. And they are <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-25/millennials-are-careful-frugal-shoppers-who-buy-for-the-long-term">frugal</a>. As mentioned, millennial parents learn quickly that their babies might just as well use their lovingly prepared rutabaga stew as orally administered spray paint. So even the self-assured millennial parent will eventually come to accept that the mac’n cheese box is a survival kit, not a culinary choice. The fact that obesity in America is stagnating; even reversing in some places, proves a shift to healthier American families. So food is not an area were millennial parents are likely to skimp on. On the other hand, most of them have modest incomes, so ‘less-bad’ foods will be the sweet spot for many brands.</p> <p><strong>Beware of gender stereotyping.</strong><br /> Not only is the focus on mothers as the default parent implying that raising children is still a woman’s job, but you’re alienating the growing number of fathers who are taking a more central role in child rearing. These men carry a double duty because they often get ostracized on playgrounds and from mom circles. Co-existing with the aforementioned cultural laggards who patronizingly call them “mister moms”, the scorn they receive can be particularly harsh if their sons also espouse “effeminate” interests. These men need some long overdue role models. The hapless, doofus sitcom dad isn’t helping much. Like Coca-cola shows us <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRqUTA6AegA">here</a>, a fair gender portrayal doesn’t have to be preachy nor unfunny.</p> <p><strong>Care.</strong><br /> Care about their children. Care about them. <a href="http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/cadbury-schweppes/the-importance-of-cause-related-marketing/what-is-cause-related-marketing.html#axzz3CYZZhbaY">And care about the world</a>. Your advertisement dollars are only going to get new parents’ attention for a fleeting moment. It’s not going to make them like you. Or just ‘like’ you. To get them to really like you, you have to do something for somebody or something they care about. Whether it’s building drinking wells in drought struck regions or providing healthy foods for the needy, your brand is what you do. And eventually what you do is what the millennials’ kids will remember you for.</p> <div style="position: relative;"> <div style="width: 600px; margin: 0 auto;"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/back_to_camera_black_white/thing.outbound?.embedder=0&.svc=copypaste&id=43938646" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" title="back to camera, black and white, dark hair, dress, field, girl" src="https://i0.wp.com/embed.polyvoreimg.com/cgi/img-thing/size/y/tid/43938646.jpg?resize=600%2C600" alt="back to camera, black and white, dark hair, dress, field, girl" width="600" height="600" border="0" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></div> </div> <p><small><br /> </small></p> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/back_to_camera_black_white/thing?.embedder=0&.svc=copypaste&id=43938646" target="_blank">back to camera, black and white, dark hair, dress, field, girl</a> (clipped to <a href="http://www.polyvore.com/" target="_blank">polyvore.com</a>)</div> </div> <p> </p> <p><em>Image: Anne Boysem FreeDigitalIPhotos.net, Polyvore</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/what-you-should-know-about-marketing-to-millennial-parents/">What You Need to Know About Marketing to Millennial Parents</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">3165</post-id> </item> <item> <title>International Women’s Day is for Our Daughters’ Future</title> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com/international-womens-day-the-future-of-homelander-girls/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Anne Boysen]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 09 Mar 2014 04:19:52 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Values]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gender]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Generation Z]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homeland generation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Silents]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://afterthemillennials.com/?p=2842</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>It’s been a while since I wrote about gender issues so today I’ll harness International Women’s Day to give a few forecasts that will affect women of the Homeland generation, or Generation Z, which is a more widely used name. I chose to describe the developed and the developing world in two different paragraphs. This...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/international-womens-day-the-future-of-homelander-girls/">International Women’s Day is for Our Daughters’ Future</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It’s been a while since I wrote about gender issues so today I’ll harness International Women’s Day to give a few forecasts that will affect women of the <a title="Homelanders – Our Youngest Generation" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/2013/05/14/homelanders-our-youngest-generation/">Homeland generation</a>, or Generation Z, which is a more widely used name. I chose to describe the developed and the developing world in two different paragraphs. This is <em>not</em> to say that you can easily dichotomize the worlds of women into two hemispheres, but there are two overarching trends that vary significantly with economic (or cultural and industrial) maturity. Also my time is limited today because, well, I’m a woman and should take the day off, right?</p> <p><strong>1. In developed countries</strong> <strong>(OECD)</strong> women will continue to strive for equality, not only in opportunity, but in outcome. The countries that are leading in women’s equality, like the Scandinavian countries, will continue their focus on <strong>assimilating men into traditional female roles</strong> and on some issues we might expect to see a “men’s movement”, where men who feel marginalized come together to improve their opportunities. Lately there has been a push in those countries toward giving divorced fathers an equal standing in custody cases and more acceptance for taking out paternity leave. United States trails behind other western countries politically and is one of only two countries that don’t have mandatory maternity leave. Workplaces are still often rigid towards the needs of families, which has led to an “opt-out” movement where highly educated women stay home with children instead of working. This has resulted in a greater income gap between those women who have children and those who don’t have children than between women and men. So in the U.S. we might mistake progress for childless women with overall progress for women while overlooking the personal sacrifices for both groups of women. This fork in the road around the critical age when women have to chose between family or careers will not resolve itself automatically. Expect a change to be voiced by next crop of mothers, <a href="http://www.babycentersolutions.com/docs/BabyCenter_2014_Millennial_Mom_Report.pdf">Millennial women</a>. Besides being more gender neutral, Millennials generally are generally more open to social institutions and are demonstrating <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/12/the-rise-of-the-new-new-left.html">changed attitude to motherhood</a> that is less self-sacrificing than their mothers. The Gen Z/ Homelander women will likely continue the trend toward full equality.</p> <p><strong>2. In developing countries</strong> women are still facing hardships that have been largely overcome in the Western countries. But here too things are changing. The fastest way to progress for women seems to go via access to <strong>contraceptives</strong> and <strong>education</strong>. Advanced skills and the freedom to chose when to have children give obvious economic opportunities and geographical freedom. Looking at the numbers from Unicef there is a <a href="http://www.unicef.org/pon95/wome0009.html">stark generational increase in the number of women who are educated</a>. Comparing the cohorts of women who are between 45 -49 and 20-24 we see that there is a 50% jump in some African countries. In countries that have experienced steep economic progress young educated women feel the pressure between the expectation of conforming to old traditions and embark on new opportunities as single women. In China this tension is particularly strong. Despite the female scarcity after years of gender selection during the one-child policy, men will often not consider marrying a woman over 30 years. The endearing” term for these women is “left overs”. Chinese women who spent their early adult years getting an education may simply prefer to go it alone. By the time the Homeland Generation come of age it is likely that the preference for having boys is in its last throes. Millennial Chinese are displaying a different value set that is very comparable with the one that dominated the 1980s here in the West. Independence, economic prosperity and personal competence are idealized. so while in the west post-material values have introduced a new “retro- movement” of post-modern June Cleavers in response to their trailblazing mothers, women in fast developing countries are more likely to embrace independence. It is not inconceivable that Western Homelander women will fall behind on independence and economic opportunities than their sisters in developing countries. <strong>All over the world</strong> expect to see Homelander girls evolve into being equally represented in parliamentary arenas, growing into engineers and scientists and as mothers who will raise their daughters very differently than how their own mothers were raised. Progress is slow and sticky but, in this arena, I would say pretty certain.</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/international-womens-day-the-future-of-homelander-girls/">International Women’s Day is for Our Daughters’ Future</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2842</post-id> </item> <item> <title>How the Great Recession Defined a New Generation of Children</title> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com/how-the-great-recession-defined-a-new-generation-of-children/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Anne Boysen]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 26 Nov 2013 18:00:13 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[economics]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Generation X]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Generation Z]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Great Recession]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homeland generation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Silents]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://afterthemillennials.com/?p=2581</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Our youngest generation, the Homelanders is defined by the Great Recession. According to generational expert Neil Howe, this was the pivotal historic moment that allowed one generational archetype to be succeeded by the next. What makes the recession of 2008 so different was that it cut deeper and lasted longer than any other downturn since the Great...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/how-the-great-recession-defined-a-new-generation-of-children/">How the Great Recession Defined a New Generation of Children</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_2582" style="width: 306px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a ref="magnificPopup" href="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/dorothea-lange-photography-large-2.jpg?ssl=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2582" class=" wp-image-2582 " src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/dorothea-lange-photography-large-2.jpg?resize=296%2C368&ssl=1" alt="dorothea-lange-photography-large-2" width="296" height="368" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2582" class="wp-caption-text">The Great Depression – the last time life was particularly tough for poor families</p></div> <p><strong>Our youngest generation, the <a title="Homelanders – Our Youngest Generation" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/2013/05/14/homelanders-our-youngest-generation/">Homelanders</a></strong> is defined by the Great Recession. According to generational expert <a href="http://blog.lifecourse.com/2012/03/dating-the-fourth-turning/">Neil Howe</a>, this was the pivotal historic moment that allowed one <a title="Generations Timeline" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/generations-archetype-turnings/">generational archetype</a> to be succeeded by the next. What makes the recession of 2008 so different was that it cut deeper and lasted longer than any other downturn since the Great Depression. Families with young children are hit particularly hard, and the recovery for these families is often so slow or absent that it will leave permanent marks on a large portion of the next generation of children. In fact recent reports indicate that almost all of the recovery has benefitted only those highest on the income ladder. Over the last four years the top one percent saw their income rise by 31.4 percent, while the bottom 99 percent only saw real growth of 0.4 percent. This we learn from the recent <a href="http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/the-rich-get-richer-through-the-recovery/?_r=2">report from economists Emanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty</a>. Rich or poor,the recessionary economy is associated with Strauss and Howe’s <a href="http://www.fourthturning.com/">Fourth Turning</a> and will continue to act as the lens through which the world will be perceived by the rising generation. They will have no memory of America before the recession. They will have no memory of a time when America was most known for providing its citizens social mobility.</p> <p><strong>On the contrary, the gap between the haves and the have-nots</strong> hasn’t been greater in 80 years and the inequality is growing. We are at a point where the Gini-koefficient – the most common measure of wealth distribution – in the United States is peaking at its highest since the Great Depression, and is higher than any other OECD country and <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2172rank.html ">several non-democratic developing countries</a>. And when it comes to economic development standards, the Gini is not one of those where you want a high score.<strong> </strong>The latest report from <a href="http://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/MCCORMICK-FINAL.pdf">Child Trends</a> discloses that a colossal 48% of all infants and toddlers now live in low-income families, 25% of children live under the official poverty line and 15% live of half the poverty line – in deep poverty. Yes, that means that a substantial number of America’s children are not getting enough to eat, safe living conditions or many other essentials to live a comfortable childhood. These children often grow up in broken homes, with a single caretaker or in the care of grandparents. Caretakers in these households are often poor and poorly educated. All this has enormous ramifications on multiple levels for how the next generation will turn out. Economic insecurity affects brain and physical development as well as the way we raise, nurture, educate and buy for our children.</p> <div id="attachment_2622" style="width: 378px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a ref="magnificPopup" href="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/gini-index-usa-1.jpg?ssl=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2622" data-attachment-id="2622" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/gini-index-usa/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/gini-index-usa.jpg?fit=1157%2C815&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1157,815" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="gini-index-usa" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Can you see the four turnings in the Gini?</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/gini-index-usa.jpg?fit=300%2C211&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/gini-index-usa.jpg?fit=1024%2C721&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class=" wp-image-2622 " src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/gini-index-usa-1.jpg?resize=368%2C260&ssl=1" alt="Can you see the four turnings in the Gini?" width="368" height="260" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2622" class="wp-caption-text">Can you see the fourth turning in the Gini?</p></div> <p><strong>In the following three posts</strong> (<a title="The Economic Downturn’s Effect On The Youngest Generation’s Physiological Development" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/2013/12/02/the-economic-downturns-effect-on-the-youngest-generations-physiological-development/">here</a>, <a title="Economic Deprivation is at the Root of Mediocre Educational Outcomes" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/2013/12/05/economic-deprivation-root-of-mediocre-educational-outcomes/">here</a> and<a href="https://afterthemillennials.com/2013/12/09/im-gonna-pop-some-tags-rise-of-the-thrifties/"> here</a>) I will write about how poverty and income insecurity affect children’s physiological and mental development, how this poverty problem can be seen in educational trends, and finally, how the young recession-driven post-millennials are changing consumer patterns. These shift will have tremendous impact for social workers, educators, politicians, product developers and marketers. It might look dark at the moment, but there are also good reasons to be optimistic if we don’t let the opportunities pass us by.</p> <p><strong>There are upsides to lower consumption</strong> – especially if seen from an environmental perspective. But if the goal is to improve living conditions, develop new products and services or adjust to the changing market demand, it is absolutely necessary that we discern the underlying dynamics of each generation and its macroeconomic conditions. Only then will we align ourselves with the hopes and possibilities of the future, rather than the realities of the past. If America is to achieve new economic growth we will have to take a look at the ways in which resources are being allocated at the moment. Because if we are to shift from the unsustainable Gilded age of the few to a Golden Age of general economic wellbeing, we have to adapt and allow an improved system to emerge. Thankfully, emerging trends show signs that our children will be more than ready to take on that challenge.</p> <p><em>Photo: Dorothea Lange, ‘Migrant Mother’ </em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/how-the-great-recession-defined-a-new-generation-of-children/">How the Great Recession Defined a New Generation of Children</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2581</post-id> </item> <item> <title>The Class of 2025 – Smart Kids Who Might Not Be ‘Buying It’?</title> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com/the-class-of-2025-smart-kids-who-might-not-be-buying-it/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Anne Boysen]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 04 Oct 2013 16:36:39 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[forecasts]]></category> <category><![CDATA[future]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Generation Z]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homeland generation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Millennials]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Silents]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.afterthemillennials.com/?p=2253</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Appealing to the hearts and minds of the Homelander kids (post-millennials) happens by addressing their taste for technology and modern communication devices. Growing up with touchscreens as the main window to the world, these kids are seriously steeped in a lifestyle and educational agenda that revolves around digital – where technologies are used as learning...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/the-class-of-2025-smart-kids-who-might-not-be-buying-it/">The Class of 2025 – Smart Kids Who Might Not Be ‘Buying It’?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_2257" style="width: 336px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a ref="magnificPopup" href="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/super-child.jpg?ssl=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2257" class=" wp-image-2257 " alt="super-child" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/super-child.jpg?resize=326%2C492&ssl=1" width="326" height="492" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2257" class="wp-caption-text">Future graduation attire?</p></div> <p><strong>Appealing to the hearts and minds</strong> of the <a title="Generations Timeline" href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/generations-archetype-turnings/">Homelander kids (post-millennials)</a> happens by addressing their taste for technology and modern communication devices. Growing up with touchscreens as the main window to the world, these kids are seriously steeped in a lifestyle and educational agenda that revolves around digital – where technologies are used as learning devices (educational platforms), often through<a title="Gamification – Learning is what happens when you play" href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/2013/05/20/gamification-learning-is-what-you-do-when-you-play/"> gamified experiences</a>, as well as study objects (coding, programming). For-profit university Ashford University does a good job at mining this sentiment in <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57595173/study-parents-are-funding-less-of-their-kids-college-tuition/">a commercial</a> featuring children caressing their devices like they did their teddy bears a few years earlier. The message is clear: To be relevant and effective with the class of 2025 education needs to live in the tablets and smart phones, or soon bionic lens projections. The commercial revolves around catchwords like “smart” and “bright”, words recent surveys show cling well in the ears of kid today. So much in fact, that smart as an aspirational goal is overpowering any other superhero power that previous generations of kids used to idolize.</p> <p><span id="more-2253"></span></p> <p><strong>This message is in steep contrast to the realities of higher education today.</strong> Recent psychographic surveys show that despite their esteem for smarts, Generation Z/Homelanders are less enthusiastic about going to college. The reason is: kids today are in no hurry to grow up and want to remain kids. They are growing up sheltered and heard, and also experience childhood as a safe place in a world full of turmoil. They are probably unaware of the fact that college tuition increased by <a href="―Ed tech‖ is itself a huge sub-area in the ―education industry.‖ According to GVS Advisors, an ed tech consulting group, investment in that sector hit $1.1 billion in 2012, a figure almost as big as that in the dot com market.3 Profits are following for many investors in this market area. For instance, in just one year (from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012), investors in 324 companies offering ed tech products and services made $1.43 billion.4 Online higher education has also become a hot spot for corporate growth. Following the money in online higher education: 2000 – today The online higher education market has had an action-packed history in just the last decade and a half. Throughout this time, investors and corporate leaders have done a remarkable job of ―following the money‖ to be made – expanding rapidly in areas where profits were robust, moving into virgin territory when new laws or other changes created new possibilities, tweaking their ventures when faced with bad press or regulatory crackdown, and always shaping their sales pitch to make each move appear a boon for students and for our country. These savvy, aggressive, and flexible strategies have worked well; profits overall for the industry have been impressive. A look at a few key developments in the online higher education market since 2000 can help us better understand the current landscape. Stand-alone institutions During the first part of the 2000s stand-alone for-profit entities, such as the University of Phoenix and Kaplan University, were the leaders in the online higher education business world. And they were hugely successful. During that time, five of the top 25 growth companies in the country were education entities heavily involved in online education.5 In fact, between 2000 and 2003, online higher education providers were the darlings of Wall Street and the highest-earning stocks of any industry.6 Later in the decade, however, the American public learned why the profits were so huge. After a series of scandals about fraudulent practices, shoddy degrees, dismal graduation rates, and a host of other issues arose, a 2012 report released by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) revealed that these for-profit providers spent more on advertising and recruitment than on instruction.7 Profits in 2009 alone were over $3 billion dollars with a whopping profit margin of 19.4 percent.8 These profits primarily came (and still do) from federal financial aid dollars, courtesy of the American taxpayer. As the Harkin report detailed, the amount of public money involved is enormous. In 2011 alone, $32 billion dollars in federal financial aid was funneled to for-profit colleges, 25% of all Department of Education financial aid funds. Pell Grant monies going to these companies grew from $1.1 billion in 2000-2001 to $7.5 billion in 2009-2010, twice as fast as the overall increase in the program. In just four years, from 2006 to 2010, veterans‘ educational benefits flowing to for-profits increased 683%. Without taxpayer subsidies, for-profit colleges simply could not stay in business, much less generate huge profits. As the Harkin report documents, during 2009 for-profit schools received 86 percent of their revenues from taxpayers.9 4 Profits in this sector suffered greatly in the aftermath of governmental investigation, widespread media coverage, and public outrage over for-profit practices. For example, the Apollo Group, owner of the University of Phoenix, saw its stock drop by 62%, giving it the distinction of being the third biggest stock loser in 2012.10 Other for-profit online providers suffered as well. The sector did not die, however. Instead, many companies simply moved into ―partnering‖ with existing universities and colleges. Corporate/College Partnerships Although these corporate-college arrangements were (and are) often justified publicly as yet another innovative way to expand access to higher education, the business rationale has been profit. Recognizing that the image of the stand-alone online college was severely tarnished, companies quickly moved to remedy the problem by partnering with traditional colleges and universities and banking on their respected ―brands.‖ As one of the masters of this strategy, Randy Best, head of Academic Partnerships, pointed out, ―‘Public universities‘ brands are the gold standard around the world.‘‖ 11 He and a host of other entrepreneurs and ―partnering‖ companies have raked in more than a little of that gold.12 After the Harkin report and its fallout, the University of Phoenix announced that it would enter new partnerships with more than 100 community colleges in 2013.13 Business analysts responded positively to the company‘s innovative strategies to recoup its image, increase enrollment, and recover profits.14 As part of this strategy, the University of Phoenix also partnered with the Harvard Business School. Again, analysts recognized the move as a savvy ―part of a bigger effort to retool its struggling brand‖; and in industry publications the company spokesperson acknowledged that the move was part of ―repositioning the University of Phoenix.‖15 In addition to stand-alone course providers, other companies also began partnering with traditional colleges and universities to offer a variety of online goods and services. This too, is a big and growing market. Some of these companies, often referred to as ―enablers‖ or Bundled Service Providers (BSP), have been buying up smaller companies (at impressive prices) to increase market share and squelch competition. Pearson, formerly a publishing company, has recently begun moving rapidly into providing online services for traditional colleges and universities. As part of that transition, they bought Schoolnet, a personalized learning company, for $230 million in 2011 and Embanet, a company that sells online services to higher ed, for $650 million in 2012.16 John Wiley and Sons bought a BSP, Deltek, for $220 million.17 The number of contracts between for-profit online service providers and traditional">1,120 percent </a>in the same time period that average wages only increased by <a href="http://economyincrisis.org/content/study-shows-meager-increase-median-wages-1980">11 percent</a>. But they nonetheless sense their parents’ financial difficulties and worries, and see their over-educated older siblings scraping by in a sluggish economy.</p> <p><strong>The cost increase in education</strong> is central to <a href="http://nation.time.com/2013/09/26/the-class-of-2025/">Time Magazine’s current special college report:</a> <em>“Class of 2025: How they Will Learn And What They Will Pay”</em>. While families’ private assets such as income and home value have plummeted, both private and and public university tuitions keep rising. This is partly due to declines in public funding. Writes Phyllis Wise, chancellor of U of Illinois: <em>“Funding for our public universities, which educate 70 percent of all undergraduates has declined to the point where the cost of a college education rests increasingly on the backs of our students.” </em> The problem with funding to universities is actually so severe that the leading edge U.S. education has over other countries is coming to a halt. Actually to the point where it’s leading to a reverse brain drain. Mary-Sue Coleman at U of Michigan claims that while education and research is viewed as an investment in the future in many developing countries, Americans speak of it merely as a cost. Perhaps not so surprising when individual families have to foot the bill of a college education that no longer guarantees ROI? President of MIT Rafael Reif believes the answer lays in free or heavily “discounted” online education, the so-called <a title="Can Technology Fix the Cost Crisis in Healthcare and Education?" href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/2013/06/03/social-technologies-healthcare-education/">MOOCs</a>. When online instruction was compared to on-campus learning online came out best in retention of the content. There’s one big caveat though. The study, carried out by Nobel laureate Carl Wieman addressed a situation where online instruction was combined with ‘highly interactive “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_teaching">flipped classrooms</a>“‘. This is a very important distinction from the typical online format that relies heavily on top-down based instruction with very little or no participatory and individualized follow up.</p> <p><strong>While online education might seem like the golden bucket at the and of the rainbow</strong> to those strapped by money, time and geography, critics are scratching at the optical illusions behind its’ highly promoted halcyon prospects. A brand new report from <a href="http://futureofhighered.org/moocs-are-they-about-access-or-money/">Campaign for The Future of Higher Education</a> says it pretty bluntly in it’s title: <em>Follow the Money</em>. The proliferation of online degrees that promise to make education fit into our busy (read: overworked) lives are billion dollar money machines often often funded with public money.</p> <p><strong>There has been a gradual development from no public funding of for-profit universities prior to 1998 to a situation where in 2010 a staggering $1.46 billion was allotted to Kaplan alone</strong>, thereby accounting for 82 percent of the company‘s higher-education revenue! So what seems to be a funding deficit addressed earlier in this post is rather a rerouting of resources from public to private institutions.</p> <p><strong>In the our youngest generation’s rather gloomy education prospects</strong>, it does indeed look like – regardless of how much they value ‘smarts’, regardless how potentially inclined they would be in pursuing the traditional route to knowledge accumulation – the path ahead are growing over with obstacles. They might become autodidact self learners, home-schoolers in hackerspaces, intuitive masters and mavens of web 2.0+ and natural champions of content creation and self-branding. But education as we know, or at least the most corrupting elements of it, could become extinct if our youngest generation turn out too ‘smart’ to be fooled by empty promises.</p> <p><em><strong>Images:</strong> <a href="http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=37459&picture=super-child">George Hodan</a> @ PublicDomainPictures.net; Ashford University</em></p> <p><meta name="google-translate-customization" content="e4373f05c2984749-01f0b4458362c5d2-g0664d566587f22d4-1b" /></p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/the-class-of-2025-smart-kids-who-might-not-be-buying-it/">The Class of 2025 – Smart Kids Who Might Not Be ‘Buying It’?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2253</post-id> </item> <item> <title>What YPulse Mashup and MomCom Taught Me About The Next Generation and Their Mommies</title> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com/what-ypulse-mashup-and-momcom-taught-me-about-the-next-generation-and-their-mommies/</link> <comments>https://afterthemillennials.com/what-ypulse-mashup-and-momcom-taught-me-about-the-next-generation-and-their-mommies/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Anne Boysen]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jul 2013 16:37:33 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Generation Z]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homeland generation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Silents]]></category> <category><![CDATA[parenting]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.afterthemillennials.com/?p=1939</guid> <description><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="236" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=300%2C236&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?w=1340&ssl=1 1340w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?resize=300%2C236&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?resize=768%2C604&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?resize=1024%2C805&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?resize=600%2C471&ssl=1 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="1973" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/ypulsepanel/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=1340%2C1053&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1340,1053" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 4S","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1372266572","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.28","iso":"125","shutter_speed":"0.05","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="ypulsepanel" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=300%2C236&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=1024%2C805&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p>Last week I had the opportunity to attend a conference about the generation after the millennials. This entailed the latest stats and survey results from this youngest group of Americans on and an effort to (re)name the youngest generation – the one that is currently called the Homelanders. This event was part of the annual YPulste Mashup and...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/what-ypulse-mashup-and-momcom-taught-me-about-the-next-generation-and-their-mommies/">What YPulse Mashup and MomCom Taught Me About The Next Generation and Their Mommies</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="236" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=300%2C236&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?w=1340&ssl=1 1340w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?resize=300%2C236&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?resize=768%2C604&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?resize=1024%2C805&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?resize=600%2C471&ssl=1 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="1973" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/ypulsepanel/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=1340%2C1053&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1340,1053" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 4S","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1372266572","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.28","iso":"125","shutter_speed":"0.05","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="ypulsepanel" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=300%2C236&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=1024%2C805&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><div id="attachment_1973" style="width: 760px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a ref="magnificPopup" href="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel-1.jpg?ssl=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1973" data-attachment-id="1973" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/ypulsepanel/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=1340%2C1053&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1340,1053" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 4S","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1372266572","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.28","iso":"125","shutter_speed":"0.05","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="ypulsepanel" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=300%2C236&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel.jpg?fit=1024%2C805&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class=" wp-image-1973 " alt="ypulsepanel" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ypulsepanel-1.jpg?resize=750%2C589&ssl=1" width="750" height="589" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-1973" class="wp-caption-text">From Left: Lenore Skenazy, Dan Coates, Neil Howe, Mary-Leigh Bliss and Jake Katz</p></div> <p><strong>Last week</strong> I had the opportunity to attend a conference about the generation after the millennials. This entailed the latest stats and survey results from this youngest group of Americans on and an effort to (re)name the youngest generation – the one that is currently called the <a title="Homelanders – Our Youngest Generation" href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/2013/05/14/homelanders-our-youngest-generation/">Homelanders</a>. This event was part of the annual <a href="http://www.ypulse.com/events">YPulste Mashup</a> and located in New York.</p> <p><strong><span id="more-1939"></span>I gleaned a lot of insights</strong> from <a href="http://www.nick.com/">Nickelodeon</a> and <a href="http://www.mtvinsights.com/">MTV</a>, which had several appearances both days including some very interesting psychographic studies and data rich slides. Obviously, kids change, so we cannot know for sure if the opinions, preferences and habits exhibited by this generation are going to stick, but it was possible to draw some cohort comparisons between younger Millennials and Homelanders. It was confirming to see how much of this complied with my own forecasts and intuition, but there were also some very interesting surprises.</p> <p><strong>Great stuff from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Howe">Neil Howe</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_Skenazy">Lenore Skenazy</a></strong> (the NYC columnist who gained notoriety as ‘America’s Worst Mom’ after she let her son take public transit by himself). I think Skenazy’s influence is particularly important because I think she pretty much stalled the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent">parental helicopter</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent">ing trend</a>. At least she stokes a national discussion which let ‘helicoptoholic’ parents know they have a problem, which I see as a first step in controlling any addiction. And yes, I believe some of the habits and impulses that result us stifling our progeny are controlled by our reptillian brain. I haven’t written near enough about these trends and how I think they are changing American childhood, but I have big plans for the future. Pinky promise.</p> <p><strong>We got to vote on the name</strong> for the post-millennials at the end of the session. The voting process started with eliminating options using and app called <a href="http://thumb.it/">Thumb</a>, then with a thumbs up/ thumbs down sign. I found the voting process a bit confusing, so probably didn’t make much of a contribution. Some of the names that were suggested included Generation “Local”, “Purell”, “Creative”, “Global”, “Organics”, “Regulated”, “Plurals” and the existing “Homelanders”. All of these suggestion point to trends affecting children today and their immediate future. It was mentioned that a dilemma would be to come up with a label that would encapsulate their future state rather than merely representing their current childhood. This is important in any kind of forecasting. “Purals” was the name suggestion that came up as the winner. It points to the increasing fragmentation of society and the multiverse they are growing up in. I’m not sure if I agree. It is true that they are growing up in a fragmented society where longstanding institutions are being second guessed and society’s <span style="font-size: 1rem;">current</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;">modus operandi is experiencing some form of identity crisis. But this problematique is not new. As is the case with any other organism, society is in a state of flux rather than status quo. The speed of change might accelerate, but </span><a style="line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;" title="Patterns of Change" href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/the-patterns-of-change/">change itself is not new</a><span style="line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;">. If increasing complexity and fragmentation prevents the reorganization into new social arrangements we might as well call them Generation Entropy. The German sociologists back in the early 20th century made distinctions between </span><a style="line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemeinschaft_and_Gesellschaft">Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft</a><span style="line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;">, or the transition from organizing society around the family to a Max Weber type of rational bureaucracy. Perhaps now with the two younger generations turning back to localism and the locus of the family might </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">we</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;">see a resurgence of Gemeinschaft orientation? It was also mentioned that the term “Purals” also plays on the scope of online identities these people will adopt. Many techno-optimists and futurists see cyper connections as equal to “real world” connection. Hence we would expand our social circles over a multiverse via various avatars that more or less represent our true selves. This is indeed what many people do, especially those who struggle with social relations and isolation. But research shows that ultimately, the social connections made in Second Life and Sim City are not made out of the same stuff as those we make offline. Sometimes successful sites like </span><a style="line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;" href="http://match.com/">match.com</a><span style="line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;"> are brought up in these discussions as confirmation of our new cyber-generated relations. But dating sites are merely hubs where connections are made, not where they are nurtured. It might be that the youngest generation will be fully satisfied playing out their various avatars in cyberspace’s many nooks and crannies, but I’m inclined to think that they too will seek authenticity and genuine relationships.</span></p> <p>What I think was the best name suggestion came from the audience: “Generation Transparent”, alluding to surveillance government, hovering parents and compulsive sharing over social networks.</p> <p>Finding a good name for a generation is clearly no easier than naming a baby! Prior to the panel discussion, Neil Howe edified the audience on how generations ended up with their various labels. What stuck out most to me was the name that has meandered through various European avantgardists and subcultural dark alleys before it came to to signify my own generation. It makes all the sense in the world to me that the punkish past of Billy Idol’s Generation X band was reused (but not really repurposed) to capture my own cohort of dark deviants. Idol himself is actually a Boomer, but made an impression on many young X’ers.</p> <p>All in all I found this to be an enriching event. I got even a deeper perspective upon coming back when I attended the <a href="http://momcomlife.com/">MomCom conference</a> here in Austin. This is a conference geared to empower mothers and female entrepreneurs, many who have <a href="http://www.workingmother.com/research-institute/opting-out-or-pushed-out">“opted out”</a> (read: been pushed out) of traditional careers and life outside of diaper changes and Little Leagues. The <a href="http://momcomlife.com/">MomCom</a> event drew an impressive amount of sponsors both from the local entrepreneurs the conference caters to and from large companies that have understood that moms make 80% of the purchasing decisions in a family. I found the mood of this conference more humble, but also more passionate. Not only passionate as in “boom chicka wow wow” from erotica writer <a href="http://www.desireeholt.com/">Desiree Holt</a> and her mental escapades with the local cowboys around here, but because of the experiences, frustrations, love and compassion that so many generation X mothers are shaped by. Parenthood and age are humbling experiences in and by themselves, but our group has experienced some of the highest expectations of parenthood of all times, often framed by the false dichotomies of the antagonizing mommy wars. American motherhood of the early 21st century is fraught with a recessionary economy, feminist backlashes and the skimpiest maternity policies in the Western world. We’re certainly more vulnerable but also stronger than we were in the roaring 90s. You need to look no further than to the momentum that was raised at the <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/politics/wendy-davis-crowdsourced-filibuster/">Texas capitol this last week</a> to see that the resilience of contemporary women is a force to be reckoned with.</p> <p>Last week started with learning about the next generation and ended with a deeper appreciation for my own. And in the end we are the ones who are raising the next generation. Lets agree to raise them well. But for future sake, Let’s not forget ourselves in the process!</p> <p><em> Image: After the Millennials</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/what-ypulse-mashup-and-momcom-taught-me-about-the-next-generation-and-their-mommies/">What YPulse Mashup and MomCom Taught Me About The Next Generation and Their Mommies</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://afterthemillennials.com/what-ypulse-mashup-and-momcom-taught-me-about-the-next-generation-and-their-mommies/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>4</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">1939</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Homelanders – Our Youngest Generation</title> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com/homelanders-our-youngest-generation/</link> <comments>https://afterthemillennials.com/homelanders-our-youngest-generation/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Anne Boysen]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 19:13:44 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[forecasts]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Generation Z]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Great Recession]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homeland generation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Silents]]></category> <category><![CDATA[scenario]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.afterthemillennials.com/?p=1717</guid> <description><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="196" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?fit=300%2C196&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?w=4173&ssl=1 4173w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?resize=300%2C196&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?resize=768%2C503&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C670&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?resize=600%2C393&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?w=3000&ssl=1 3000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="4565" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/nature-people-girl-forest-12165/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?fit=4173%2C2732&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4173,2732" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D7000","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1444493619","copyright":"","focal_length":"50","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="nature-people-girl-forest-12165" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?fit=300%2C196&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C670&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p>Wait, what? There’s a generation after the Millennials? It’s not that long ago since I used to be asked this question. But this generation is building up steam. The oldest Millennials are all grown up and are not exactly “news” anymore (despite what Time Magazine seems to think). While Google Trends probably points to the TV-series...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/homelanders-our-youngest-generation/">Homelanders – Our Youngest Generation</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="196" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?fit=300%2C196&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?w=4173&ssl=1 4173w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?resize=300%2C196&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?resize=768%2C503&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C670&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?resize=600%2C393&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?w=3000&ssl=1 3000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="4565" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/nature-people-girl-forest-12165/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?fit=4173%2C2732&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4173,2732" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D7000","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1444493619","copyright":"","focal_length":"50","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="nature-people-girl-forest-12165" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?fit=300%2C196&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nature-people-girl-forest-12165-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C670&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p>Wait, what? There’s a generation after the Millennials?</p> <p><strong>It’s not that long ago</strong> since I used to be asked this question. But this generation is building up steam. The oldest Millennials are all grown up and are not exactly “news” anymore (despite what<a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143001,00.html"> Time Magazine seems to think</a>). While Google Trends probably points to the TV-series called Homelanders, the traffic directed to this website is more often generationally directed. Search word data bringing traffic to After the Millennials does show that “Homeland generation” and “homelanders” is increasing, meaning it’s getting closer to becoming a “legitimate” generational moniker. But many names have been suggested for this generation, and at least to me, none of them sound particularly good.<span id="more-1717"></span></p> <p><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/profile/fluffbreat"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1720" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/boy-binochulars/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/boy-binochulars.jpg?fit=2896%2C1944&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2896,1944" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"5","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D40X","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1228662462","copyright":"","focal_length":"125","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.003125","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="boy binochulars" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/boy-binochulars.jpg?fit=300%2C201&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/boy-binochulars.jpg?fit=1024%2C687&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class="size-medium wp-image-1720 alignleft" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/boy-binochulars-300x201.jpg?resize=300%2C201&ssl=1" alt="boy binochulars" width="300" height="201" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/boy-binochulars.jpg?resize=300%2C201&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/boy-binochulars.jpg?resize=768%2C516&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/boy-binochulars.jpg?resize=1024%2C687&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/boy-binochulars.jpg?resize=600%2C403&ssl=1 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><a title="Generations Timeline" href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/generations-archetype-turnings/">Homeland generation</a> was coined after a contest among the readers of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Howe">Neil Howe’s</a> website in 2005. I personally think there’s a very strong 9/11 flavor over the Homelander term.</p> <p>Depending on how you slice the generational categories, you might call them <a title="Mapping Generation Z – forecasts and formulas" href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/2011/05/12/mapping-generation-z-forecasts-and-formulas/">Generation Z</a>, in which case they are now entering their teen years. Gen Z is assumed to have commenced their years on earth somewhat earlier, or between 1995 and 2000 (vs. New Silent/ Homelander 2004/05). Sometimes they are called the <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/advertising/story/2012-05-03/naming-the-next-generation/54737518/1">iGeneration</a>, alluding to their supposed preference for the Apple brand. But whereas their parents and maybe some grandparents worshipped Steve Jobs as the ultimate tech-entrepreneur, it is not clear yet if their heirs will continue this brand loyalty. And there are some indications out there that Homelanders actually might be <a href="http://www.wpcentral.com/teenagers-apple-no-longer-cool-microsoft-surface">ditching Apple for Microsoft</a>. If you see a kid transfixed on an apple embellished device, it is very possible he or she inherited it after a parental upgrade. We tend to run into anachronistic labels if we borrow trends from the present in order to envision the zeitgeist of the future.</p> <p><a ref="magnificPopup" href="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/girl-green-bckgr.jpg?ssl=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1721" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/girl-green-bckgr/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/girl-green-bckgr.jpg?fit=2215%2C1636&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2215,1636" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"8","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D70","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"52","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.004","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="girl green bckgr" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/girl-green-bckgr.jpg?fit=300%2C222&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/girl-green-bckgr.jpg?fit=1024%2C756&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1721" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/girl-green-bckgr-300x221.jpg?resize=300%2C221&ssl=1" alt="girl green bckgr" width="300" height="221" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><strong>It’s a pretty established idea</strong> that you can’t assess a generation until they’ve already entered their formative years. The early 20th century sociologist <a href="http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/201/articles/71HistProbGenerationsSpitzer.pdf">Karl Mannheim</a> and other <span style="line-height: 24px;">generational scholars </span>often state that identity formation happens during adolescence and that children are not exposing the traits they will inhabit as adults. Hence some are reluctant to speculate about the future character trait of a generation that is still mostly only children. I both agree and disagree with this stipulation. I agree that you cannot <em>predict</em> the exact characteristics of a future adult generation. In fact you can’t predict anything at all. However, I do believe that you can make <em>forecasts</em> and <em>scenarios</em> based on theory, generational archetypes, trends and driving forces in society, and documented childhood experiences of those who are children today.</p> <p>I don’t only think we <em>could</em> make some forecasts. I think we <em>should</em>. Because if we don’t try to anticipate them now, we will be less able to understand them and meet their needs in the future. And we will permanently lag behind.</p> <p>Can <a href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/1590-2/">you </a><a title="Let’s Unleash Your Future!" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/services/">afford</a> to lag behind?</p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/homelanders-our-youngest-generation/">Homelanders – Our Youngest Generation</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://afterthemillennials.com/homelanders-our-youngest-generation/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">1717</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Young and Famous in 2030 – a Scenario</title> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com/young-and-famous-in-2030-a-scenario/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Anne Boysen]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 01 May 2013 22:46:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[culture]]></category> <category><![CDATA[forecasts]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homeland generation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[immersive technologies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Silents]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online privacy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[parenting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[scenario]]></category> <category><![CDATA[virtual]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.afterthemillennials.com/?p=1349</guid> <description><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="240" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=300%2C240&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?w=500&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?resize=300%2C240&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="1413" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/2280592833_9d8943037d/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=500%2C400&ssl=1" data-orig-size="500,400" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="2280592833_9d8943037d" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=300%2C240&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=500%2C400&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p>Sorry Kitty is lead singer of the K-pop band Saccharine. Her nickname is a blend of Super Junior’s 2009 hit Sorry, Sorry and the still popular cartoon Hello Kitty, and influenced by the post-ironic cat-meme era she was born into. She earned it for her allegedly sad expression as a child, but later made it her...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/young-and-famous-in-2030-a-scenario/">Young and Famous in 2030 – a Scenario</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="240" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=300%2C240&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?w=500&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?resize=300%2C240&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="1413" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/2280592833_9d8943037d/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=500%2C400&ssl=1" data-orig-size="500,400" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="2280592833_9d8943037d" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=300%2C240&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=500%2C400&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p><strong><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lutykuh/2280592833/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1413" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/2280592833_9d8943037d/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=500%2C400&ssl=1" data-orig-size="500,400" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="2280592833_9d8943037d" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=300%2C240&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?fit=500%2C400&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class=" wp-image-1413 alignleft" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?resize=450%2C360&ssl=1" alt="2280592833_9d8943037d" width="450" height="360" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?w=500&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2280592833_9d8943037d.jpg?resize=300%2C240&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>Sorry Kitty is lead singer of the K-pop band Saccharine.</strong></p> <p>Her nickname is a blend of Super Junior’s 2009 hit <em>Sorry, Sorry</em> and the still popular cartoon <em>Hello Kitty,</em> and influenced by the post-ironic cat-meme era she was born into. She earned it for her allegedly sad expression as a child, but later made it her legal name as a provocative statement of Asian pride. While Korean women in the entertainment industry undergo canthoplasties and other plastic surgeries to look “less Asian”, Sorry embraces her Asian features and is unknowingly signaling a new trend that will unfold after her career takes off in 2030.</p> <p>Sorry grows up as an only child of a Korean PR professional / Tigermother and a British DJ / sound engineer who moved to Korea to work as an English teacher when the job market dried up in Europe.</p> <p><strong><span id="more-1349"></span>Hyperparented and public: </strong>“Successful Children In Omnipotent Nurturance” (SCION) – is an ironic term that<a title="Pampers "Hello Baby" iPad app at the bar by Dan Nguyen @ New York City, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zokuga/4551819258/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright" src="https://i0.wp.com/farm4.staticflickr.com/3507/4551819258_5587502cd9.jpg?resize=320%2C248" alt="Pampers "Hello Baby" iPad app at the bar" width="320" height="248" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a> has grown into the modern vernacular to describe children raised the way Sorry is. SCIONs are mostly growing up in the U.S. and Asia, and are raised by extreme versions of those who once went by terms like ‘soccer moms’, ‘stage moms’ and ‘helicopter parents’. Parents who raise SCIONs are not only driven by vicarious narcissism, but also by pragmatic fears of challenges posed by global competition and population growth such as scarce access to jobs, security and resources. Real or imagined, these external threats motivate parents to build a public reputation that will maximize opportunities to succeed later in life. “Positioning” is just as important as true talent in a world driven by short attention spans. Hence the SCIONs childhood is planned, profiled and public right from conception. SCION parents know how to use social media (or just media as it is now called) to it’s fullest. Sorry’s mother is taking great care curating her public profile right from the first sonogram, not leaving anything to circumstance. But although (social) media projections are never spontaneous, they have to espouse a sense of leisurely bliss. Constantly searching for photo-ops and making them appear serendipitous rather than staged is tiresome. But in a virtual landscape where everybody is screaming for attention, frequency and “authenticity’ is key. The first tooth! Happy family holidays! Moments of subtly pretentious joy, meticulously stylish yet charmingly whimsical. Balancing formal attempts at showcasing Sorry’s talents with something that can pass for “genuine family moments” is critical in order to stay “personable”. Sorry’s family subscribes to a coaching service which helps brand her the right way, but behind the facade there are many rough moments. The hardest part is cajoling a five-year-old to do weekly auditions in-between long violin practices and acting classes. But Tigermom is not too worried as she reasons all the tantrums and crying spells will only improve Sorry’s vocal capacity.</p> <p><strong>Custom-made education.</strong> Like most SCIONs, Sorry is receiving a custom made and blended type of education. Streaming instructional videos from the world’s highest accredited schools and universities, Sorry doesn’t go to “a school” but enjoys a curriculum and teaching staff that is customized to her level, interests and ambitions. A private tutor and physical class time with a carefully selected set of children provide Sorry the social stimuli she needs without the risk of being exposed to “bad social influence”.</p> <p>During the late 1990s and the following decades, the South Korean government and venture capitalists aspired to leverage Seoul as a global cultural hub. Through <em>Hallyu</em> the country hopes to attract tourism, innovation and young professionals, and thereby solve the problems associated with top-heavy age demographics and the cultural “copycat syndrome”.</p> <p><a title="Children of North Korea by Joseph A Ferris III, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/josephferris76/6106157652/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft" src="https://i0.wp.com/farm7.staticflickr.com/6082/6106157652_a9a3977bd6.jpg?resize=266%2C400" alt="Children of North Korea" width="266" height="400" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><strong>Imploding North.</strong> Meanwhile the North is quietly imploding. The demise of North Korea is less about what happened to it as what didn’t happen. The propaganda regime is experiencing vexing challenges as cultural influences from the south seep in through the deepening cracks along the political border. Pyongyang’s stubborn military hubris led China to finally dry up its economic support. While not completely without strategic significance, geopolitical considerations have shifted in a world where China has taken over much of the economic dominance. While the U.S.’global influence deceases, China’s attention is turning inward to deal with challenges related to eldercare and productivity. Since China has hegemonic interest in the region there is some interest in allowing North Korea to become a “vassal state” if unification with South Korea does not happen.</p> <p><strong>Musical inspiration.</strong>The band name Saccharine is a mockery on traditional K-pop and how it <a title="The Cyber Ring by Gilderic Photography, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilderic/5432858577/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright" src="https://i0.wp.com/farm5.staticflickr.com/4118/5432858577_83af476125.jpg?resize=350%2C343" alt="The Cyber Ring" width="350" height="343" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a> rose into popularity: artificial, nauseatingly sweet and carcinogenic in large doses. Whereas the boy-bands and the girl-bands of the 1990s and 2000s are now thought of as cheesy pop replicas from the west, Korea is starting to find it’s own sound. Saccarine uses <em>advanced spectral deconvolution</em> algorithms to predict the hits that can keep them afloat, but they also allow themselves some creative freedom and try out less commercially viable melodies for indie audiences. Just like Apple’s popularity submerged under that of Samsung during the mid-2010s, Asian artists are drifting away from the Westernized popculture that once served as an important template for K-pop. Cynics say that this is when the copy started to overtake the original. The movement was partly due to Pan-Asian resurgence and partly to the influx of creative classes from the west who had grown disillusioned with repressive radio formats and stifling copyright laws in the west, particularly in the U.S. Korea pop blended with he 2010s era’s dubstep styles and creative use of autotuners are still influential, but the sound is more eclectic now. The large record labels are less influential in promoting artists in the 2020s and 2030s. Digital technology, DYI and maker movements have just about turned these companies obsolete and useless for anything else but marketing. But in this horisontalized market of artistic hopefuls competition is fierce. Attracting audience, let alone making money, is a daunting task. Despite the head start provided by Sorry’s parents relentless PR building over the years, Saccharine has to build its name by featuring a lot of product commercials. Compromising their musical products with commercial involvement is a fine balance, but necessary in order to stay in business.</p> <p><strong>Holographic Performances.</strong> Since the average global temperature has reached a tipping point of self-reinforcing warming and the airline industry still depends traditional CO2 emitting jet fuels, traveling for leisure is prohibitively expensive and often frowned upon. <a href="photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/illum/1501323025/">illum</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">cc</a>"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1417" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/medium_1501323025/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/medium_1501323025.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1" data-orig-size="500,333" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="medium_1501323025" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/medium_1501323025.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/medium_1501323025.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class=" wp-image-1417 alignleft" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/medium_1501323025.jpg?resize=350%2C233&ssl=1" alt="medium_1501323025" width="350" height="233" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/medium_1501323025.jpg?w=500&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/medium_1501323025.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>Musical performers who want to stay popular among the teens hardly ever go on physical concert tours anymore. On the other hand this generation makes little distinction between the analogue and the digital world anyway. Remote concerts or ‘happenings” featuring holographic projections of the artists can be fully satisfying and even more practical than the real thing. Music loving teens are a pretty orderly, some will say vapid, crowd these days anyway. Moreover, by using digital projection technologies, surprise gigs can be added. Nothing is more surprising than impromptu cameo performances from long dead performers and duets with the artists’ earlier version of themselves.</p> <p>The house parties of the 1990s are back. These are often great mixes of concert experiences and hallucinatory effects. Older generations are gravely concerned that kids forget to turn off the ID markers in all electronic devices and inserts. There is great fear that potentially dangerous individuals capture personal information via device-to-device communication only to victimize whomever fancied their attention at a “happening” or a party. The crime reports can point to some horrible occurrences, but most of the time privacy settings have become second nature for this generation.</p> <p><strong>There is a feeling that change is imminent</strong> (isn’t is always?), and especially the overprotected, “positioned and profiled” Homeland children are turning away from the contrived happiness and zealous ambitions of their parents. They quietly envy their friends who are raised by chill-out parents. This is a parenting style that grew out of fashion in the 1980s and 1990s when childrearing became professionalized. In countries that priced high achievement and competitiveness, chill-out parents thrived only as a fringe movement among the middle class. But as young Millennials and Homelanders are reaching their fertile age, many silently object to their own childhood and yearn for something less competitive.</p> <p><em><span style="line-height: 24px;">The scenario based on my </span><a style="line-height: 24px;" href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/rise-to-fame-by-generation-1930-to-2030/">Rise to Fame Through the Generations</a> slideshow and current trends. This is a baseline forecast of a probable/possible, middle-term future based on existing, known trends. Likely, existing trends will be disrupted by unforeseen, transformational events, but not necessarily within a 17 year time frame. </em></p> <p><em>Images: <strong id="yui_3_7_3_3_1360976286211_1214"><a id="yui_3_7_3_3_1360976286211_1216" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lutykuh/">diannelabora</a>, <strong id="yui_3_7_3_3_1360982847150_1169"><a id="yui_3_7_3_3_1360982847150_1175" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/josephferris76/">Joseph A Ferris III</a>,</strong> <strong id="yui_3_7_3_3_1360982887754_1526"><a id="yui_3_7_3_3_1360982887754_1525" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilderic/">Gilderic Photography</a>, </strong><strong id="yui_3_7_3_3_1360982713478_2072"><a id="yui_3_7_3_3_1360982713478_2084" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/illum/">illum</a></strong></strong></em></p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/young-and-famous-in-2030-a-scenario/">Young and Famous in 2030 – a Scenario</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">1349</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Mirror Mirror, Facebook’s Wall, Who’s the Fairest of them All?</title> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com/mirror-mirror-facebooks-wall-whos-the-fairest-of-them-all/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Anne Boysen]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:08:43 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Generation Z]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homeland generation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Silents]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online privacy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[parenting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[social media]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.afterthemillennials.com/?p=1616</guid> <description><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="225" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?w=1936&ssl=1 1936w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="1617" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/fb-mirror-pic/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=1936%2C1452&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1936,1452" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="fb mirror pic" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p>This article was first published 3/28/2013 by NewSavvyProduction. “Hey guys. I just wanted to ask – just a random question. Uhmm. Am I – like – ugly or pretty?” – You don’t have to dig deep into online archives to find a whole pageantry of kids as young as 10 years old unloading their most personal...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/mirror-mirror-facebooks-wall-whos-the-fairest-of-them-all/">Mirror Mirror, Facebook’s Wall, Who’s the Fairest of them All?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="225" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?w=1936&ssl=1 1936w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="1617" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/fb-mirror-pic/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=1936%2C1452&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1936,1452" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="fb mirror pic" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p><span style="color: #808080;">This article was first published 3/28/2013 by <span style="color: #808080;"><a href="http://nameless-the-movie.com/blog/mirror-mirror-facebook-wall-whos-the-fairest-of-them-all/">NewSavvyProduction</a>.</span></span></p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1617" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/fb-mirror-pic/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=1936%2C1452&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1936,1452" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="fb mirror pic" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class="wp-image-1617 alignleft" style="line-height: 18px;" alt="fb mirror pic" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fb-mirror-pic-1.jpg?resize=450%2C450&ssl=1" width="450" height="450" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p> <p><i>“Hey guys. I just wanted to ask – just a random question. Uhmm. Am I – like – ugly or pretty?”</i></p> <p>– You don’t have to dig deep into online archives to find a whole pageantry of <strong>kids as young as 10 years old</strong> unloading their most personal angst for complete strangers to comment on. And the more insecure they appear, the more likely they seem to attract trolls whose dubious netiquette allows them to filter through comments of this type: “DONT WANT TO SOUND MEAN BUT URE A F***ING DOG.” (censoring added). In other words, the ones who most desperately need reassurance from their faceless peers are the ones who are the most likely get bulldozed by the ‘Haters’. And rarely do any respondents care to unmask the more existential questions that simmer immediately underneath the Snow White narrative: “Am I likeable? Am I loveable?”<span id="more-1616"></span></p> <p><b>Not that adolescents objectifying themselves</b> in their quests to seek outside validation is anything new. Or that the harsh words or painful ostracism that often ensue are new either. Poisoned apples will stick around for as long as our gene code is imprinted with biological competitiveness. The newness lies within the ever-evolving technologies that dissolve the natural obstacles that once stood in between vitriolic gossip and our own feeble minds. And the new cultures that coevolved with it. Reality shows and social networks put forward the idea that any personal matter can, and maybe should, be presented for the unequivocal judgment of the swarm. Facilitated by binary codes and wifi connections, a modern oracle has emerged, providing immediate feedback in the form of sometimes socially distanced, yet globally visible rank scores. Or as <a href="http://www.emoderation.com/am-i-pretty-community-management-for-tweens-and-teens">Bliss Hanlin</a> phrases it: <em>“Who am I?” is a perennial favorite for tweens and teens, but this generation seems to be trading introspection for crowd-sourcing, letting strangers’ comments be the mirror that reflects self. </em></p> <p><b>Facebook ‘likes’.</b> Thought SMO (social media optimization) was a job title confined to the world of business <a ref="magnificPopup" href="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/most-beautiful-teenager-1.jpg?ssl=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1627" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/most-beautiful-teenager/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/most-beautiful-teenager.jpg?fit=413%2C579&ssl=1" data-orig-size="413,579" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="most beautiful teenager" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/most-beautiful-teenager.jpg?fit=214%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/most-beautiful-teenager.jpg?fit=413%2C579&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class="size-full wp-image-1627 alignright" alt="most beautiful teenager" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/most-beautiful-teenager-1.jpg?resize=413%2C579&ssl=1" width="413" height="579" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>marketers? Think again. If there ever were a skill that is the most inversely correlated age it must be social media marketing. (Hmm, maybe I should hire a Gen Z’er to do business outreach for me..) For teens “likes” are directly correlated with social status, and they go through great lengths to optimize it. Beyond pouty mouths and hairdos are shrewd strategies in network building. Some kids will sit up until close to midnight to approach best timing of their profile picture uploads. Others are forming “tagging agreements” with friends (tagging is also timed) to make sure each picture gets maximum exposure on the newsfeed and receive the most likes. Not to mention all the Facebook pages of the type “Prettiest Tween” and “Most Beautiful Teenager” – internet’s unmoderated beauty contests for young users. Good luck keeping your self-confidence intact if all you receive is 28 likes and nasty comments from pubertal misogynists.</p> <p><b>So while we parents may deride Honey Boo Boo’s mom,</b> many of us remain oblivious to our own daughters’ vanity contests online. And the pillory of alpha queens, mean girls and internet trolls. For some of them the road from pageantry to Tumblr’s self-harm chambers might be short.</p> <p><b>It is indeed ironic </b>that these days when children are more sheltered and protected as ever, they are also exposed to some of the most sinister influences of modern technology. Compared to the iPad, maybe roller derby isn’t so dangerous after all.</p> <p><em>Images: Flickr, Facebook (Note: mages have been altered)</em></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/mirror-mirror-facebooks-wall-whos-the-fairest-of-them-all/">Mirror Mirror, Facebook’s Wall, Who’s the Fairest of them All?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">1616</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Why healthcare costs are hijacking childhood</title> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com/why-healthcare-costs-are-hijacking-childhood/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Anne Boysen]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 28 Feb 2013 03:30:25 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[health care]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homeland generation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Silents]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.afterthemillennials.com/?p=1488</guid> <description><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="225" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?w=1936&ssl=1 1936w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="1494" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/cost-of-health-care/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?fit=1936%2C1452&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1936,1452" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cost of health care" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p>Lenore Skenazy, aka “America’s Worst Mom” and creator of the name and movement Free Range Kids is my favorite dispatcher of Onion type (but true!) news stories from Securistan. Yesterday she shared an article about the perceived threat of a sledding hill. “Paxton, a small town in Illinois, where the land is flat as flat...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/why-healthcare-costs-are-hijacking-childhood/">Why healthcare costs are hijacking childhood</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img width="300" height="225" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?w=1936&ssl=1 1936w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-attachment-id="1494" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/cost-of-health-care/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?fit=1936%2C1452&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1936,1452" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cost of health care" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" /><p><strong><br /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft" alt="" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.mamamia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/freerangekids.jpg?resize=275%2C414" width="275" height="414" data-recalc-dims="1" />Lenore Skenazy, aka “America’s Worst Mom”</strong> and creator of the name and movement <a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/">Free Range Kids</a> is my favorite dispatcher of <a href="http://www.theonion.com/">Onion</a> type (but true!) news stories from Securistan. Yesterday she shared an article about the perceived threat of a sledding hill. “Paxton, a small town in Illinois, where the land is flat as flat can be, is about to lose its only sledding hill to the Abominable Insurance Man.”</p> <p><strong>Sledding hills are of course only one of many natural “dangers”</strong> we systematically eliminate from the overprotected lives of our <a title="Generations Timeline" href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/generations-archetype-turnings/">Homelander</a> kids. To quote Skenazy’s sardonic remark: “Yes, and let’s hope kids forget that there was ever a time when they could play outside, walk to school, or meet up at the park, while we’re at it. Let’s hope they forget there was ever anything to childhood except Kumon and cat memes. What a glorious future.“<span id="more-1488"></span></p> <p><strong>So why are we doing this?</strong> We all know that no iPad app or black lighted game arcades can replace the healthy joy of sledding down the hill on a beautiful winter’s day. As I was thinking about this an unfortunate dynamic started to appear: <a ref="magnificPopup" href="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care1.jpg?ssl=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1514" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/cost-of-health-care-2-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care1.jpg?fit=1936%2C1452&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1936,1452" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cost of health care" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care1.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care1.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1514" alt="cost of health care" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care1.jpg?resize=1500%2C1125&ssl=1" width="1500" height="1125" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care1.jpg?w=1936&ssl=1 1936w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care1.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care1.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care1.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cost-of-health-care1.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p> <p><strong>The Abominable Insurance Man</strong> was never a consideration our parents had to worry about when we sledded like devils down the hills back in 1970s Norway. If our well-padded winter overalls or the white powder surrounding us failed to muffle the impact, we knew that a trip to the ER wasn’t going to bankrupt us as we would be covered under the (gasp!) universal, socialized health care system.</p> <p>I have tried to maintain this relaxed attitude toward my own children’s exploration instincts. When my whole body yearned for “rescuing” my toddlers as they climbed the tall structures on the playground, I would remind myself that they need these lessons in risk assessment and dexterity.</p> <p><strong>That is, until my daughter’s preschool called</strong> to tell me my 5-year old had an accident and fallen off the swing. Thinking it couldn’t be too bad, I entered the preschool with a walking cast we happened to have laying around. On the drive down I contemplated the upside of taking the afternoon off and spend some quality time with my daughter. Maybe I could treat her to some frozen yogurt on the way home… But when I got there and saw that her lower leg had taken the shape of a rounded L (both tibia and fibula were broken right above the ankle) there was no doubt that an ER visit was in store – and fast since the pre-school hadn’t given her any sort of pain remedy for fear it would interact with the pending treatment.</p> <p><em>Suddenly a new chapter in my otherwise carefree parenting career started, and here is why.</em></p> <p><b>Overcrowded, inattentive ER.</b> When your child is screaming with pain from the top of her lungs and her shinbone is shaped like an L, the last thing on your mind is haggling with hospitals about their charges or your insurance coverage. You want pain medicine and a qualified doctor. Right.Now. So after waiting for an eternity at the mercy of blasé hospital staff who have all “seen it all” she was taken back, given pain medicines and x-rays. After spending about three hours in the ER the radiologist tells me matter of factly that since the fracture went through her growth plate my Tinkerbell-sized daughter now had a sizeable possibility of experiencing permanent stumped growth. Oh, and by the way, we can’t treat her here.</p> <p>So after transportation on stretcher ($$$) and yet another 3-4 hours at another hospital($$$), my daughter is ready to come home in a cast.<a ref="magnificPopup" href="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lunapic_136201639646861_56.jpg?ssl=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1499" data-permalink="https://afterthemillennials.com/lunapic_136201639646861_56/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lunapic_136201639646861_56.jpg?fit=1570%2C1017&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1570,1017" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 4","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1330880995","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.85","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.066666666666667","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="lunapic_136201639646861_56" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lunapic_136201639646861_56.jpg?fit=300%2C194&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lunapic_136201639646861_56.jpg?fit=1024%2C663&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" class=" wp-image-1499 alignright" alt="lunapic_136201639646861_56" src="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/newsite20/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lunapic_136201639646861_56.jpg?resize=482%2C312&ssl=1" width="482" height="312" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lunapic_136201639646861_56.jpg?w=1570&ssl=1 1570w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lunapic_136201639646861_56.jpg?resize=300%2C194&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lunapic_136201639646861_56.jpg?resize=768%2C497&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lunapic_136201639646861_56.jpg?resize=1024%2C663&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/afterthemillennials.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lunapic_136201639646861_56.jpg?resize=600%2C389&ssl=1 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 482px) 100vw, 482px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p> <p><b>Google.</b> Have you ever been told not to “self-diagnose” with Dr. Google? How did that work for you? My experience is that it’s amazing how much information on physeal growth retardation you can consume at 2 a.m. if you’re only motivated enough. Motivated as in driven nuts by pesky fears about years of invasive, painful and expensive leg lengthening procedures. And at 2 a.m. the glass is never half full, only half empty.</p> <p><b>The Insurance Company.</b> Did you ever read the fine print in your insurance policy? If you wait until after the fact, you will become painfully aware. I, for one found out that in any situation, no matter what happens – cancer, heart attack or just bone fractures as in this case, our insurance company will stop paying what-so-ever after $14,000. During the 6 months we waited for Tinkerbell’s growth plate verdict, I found significant comfort in learning that thanks to the recent health care reform, my young child’s healthcare future will at least not be tattooed with the “preexisting condition” stigma.</p> <p><b>The Bills. </b>Isn’t it ironic that bills for the co-pays always start trickling in only after recovery? I guess it’s the unlucky man’s comfort that he doesn’t go both crippled and indebted at the same time. Only in this case, we didn’t know if there would be a series of expensive treatments in the future. In any case, the hospital bills for the 6-hour long room occupation and the significantly shorter duration of care conjured up a significant price tag; albeit not in the ballpark of those whose misfortunes are more serious. For one thing we learned that “not-for-profit” hospitals feel entitled to $2-3000 admissions fees even when the triage nurse fails to notify you that they can’t treat you. So when they send you to the next hospital, with the next overpopulated waiting room, you will be charged for the next insidious admissions fee on top, even when both hospitals are in the same “system”. Not to mention the ridiculous charges that every x-ray, every drop of pain medication, every band aid and every dollop of Vaseline around your IV insertion amount to. The cost problem in American health care is so hot these days that this topic is currently featuring as the longest article ever published in Time Magazine: <a href="http://upload.democraticunderground.com/101656537">Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us</a>.</p> <p><b></b><b>To put the inflated healthcare costs in perspective.</b> My father did a cost comparison between treatments received in affordable Texas and similar treatment if received in Norway, a country with one of the highest living expenses in the world. Yes, Norway has public health care and most treatments are paid over the tax bill. But this comparison is with <em>private</em> hospitals (yes, they do have private alternatives over there.) In other words we are comparing apples to apples here. Equivalent treatment at Oslo’s private hospital would be 15 times <em>less</em> expensive than the one performed in Austin! At least, because I still don’t have a full idea of how much the hospital charged our insurance.</p> <p>And oh, I didn’t even mention the <strong>lawyers</strong> who suggested we legally pursue nearly every person who had been at the site of the accident. Or the fact that we as parents could be held liable if we don’t, as it could be seen as neglect not to seek adequate funds to cover our child’s future treatment should it be needed.</p> <p><strong>So there you have it in a nutshell.</strong> A society arrested by lawsuits, healthcare costs and the agonizing headaches of trying to figure it all out is producing a generation of bubblewrapped, underchallenged kids who lose their sledding privileges. And we’re all worse off for it.</p> <p><strong>The good news:</strong> Tinkerbell has fully recovered with no lasting ailment, and is currently testing her bike with training wheels in our backyard. All is bliss. And oh, she forgot to put on her helmet.</p> <p><strong><em>Images: <a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/">freerangekids.com</a>, <a href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/">afterthemillennials.com</a> </em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/why-healthcare-costs-are-hijacking-childhood/">Why healthcare costs are hijacking childhood</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">1488</post-id> </item> <item> <title>What’s the skinny on the childhood obesity trend?</title> <link>https://afterthemillennials.com/whats-the-skinny-on-childhood-obesity-trends/</link> <comments>https://afterthemillennials.com/whats-the-skinny-on-childhood-obesity-trends/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Anne Boysen]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 24 Feb 2013 16:37:43 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Nutrition]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[forecasts]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homeland generation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Silents]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.afterthemillennials.com/?p=1457</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>A little over a year ago American Heart Association made the a projection that the obesity epidemic would reach a level where 83% of American men and 72 % of women will be overweight or obese in 2020. The percentage today is 72 and 63 percent respectively. But recent news suggest that general obesity levels...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/whats-the-skinny-on-childhood-obesity-trends/">What’s the skinny on the childhood obesity trend?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a title="Mr America by robad0b, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/robadob/88894048/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright" alt="Mr America" src="https://i0.wp.com/farm1.staticflickr.com/27/88894048_4405b66e8e.jpg?resize=420%2C297" width="420" height="297" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a> A little over a year ago American Heart Association made the <a href="http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2011/11/heart-health-fatter.html">a projection </a>that the obesity epidemic would reach a level where 83% of American men and 72 % of women will be overweight or obese in 2020. The percentage today is 72 and 63 percent respectively. But recent news suggest that general obesity levels have stagnated. So has <a href="http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/us-kids-consuming-fewer-calories">childhood obesity</a>.</p> <p>I think the key here is the word projection. Many forecasts are simply extrapolations of current trends, overlooking the possibility that trends may discontinue. Ironically gloomy extrapolations can actually in themselves prevent their own prophecy from materializing when they foster enough motivation to counteract the projected tendencies.</p> <p>When I wrote the piece <a href="http://www.afterthemillennials.com/2011/05/12/mapping-generation-z-forecasts-and-formulas/">Generation Z – Forecasts and Formula</a> in May of 2011 I predicted that the children of tomorrow are not automatically going to be plagued by higher obesity rates than the childhood generation or today and yesteryears. The reason is because with increasing attention to the problem, unhealthy foods and lifestyle patterns are on track to go the same way cigarettes did. Maybe even in spite of the powerful lobbyists and stakeholders who may lose from such a shift.</p> <p><span id="more-1457"></span></p> <p>The only thing I didn’t foresee is how soon we would start to see these changes. When I saw that CDC reported that obesity has stagnated in the general population a few weeks ago, I wasn’t sure if this signaled a true trend reversal or just coincidence. I’m still not sure, but seeing that obesity stagnation coincides with lower calorie intake among children gives me the hunch that maybe a structural shift is on the way.</p> <p><a title="Donuts by Salim Virji, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/salim/5917694470/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft" alt="Donuts" src="https://i0.wp.com/farm7.staticflickr.com/6132/5917694470_a3f52ea57c.jpg?resize=299%2C400" width="299" height="400" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>Don’t get me wrong. Stagnation at a level where 17% of all children are obese is far from ideal. Hopefully this trend will follow a pendulum pattern where not only fewer people become overweight, but where also those who have pounds to lose can successfully drop some.</p> <p>What are the changes that may contribute to the trend stagnation and possible future reversal?</p> <p><strong>Public Awareness.</strong> University of Tennessee professor Michael Zemel says that “it was fairly uncommon, even taboo, for <a href="http://www.fitnesshealth101.com/news/2012/01/18/cdc-study-obesity-rates-remain-stagnant-in-u-s/">doctors to openly discuss obesity</a> with their patients just 20 years ago. This has now changed.” <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/21/white-house-claims-first-lady-has-reduced-obesity-rates-with-lets-move-program/">First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign</a> has motivated a wide spectrum of parents, business leaders, educators, elected officials, military leaders, chefs, physicians, athletes, childcare providers, community and faith leaders to improve the health of our nation’s children. Maybe we are starting to see some effects?</p> <p><strong>Sugar.</strong> If the villain of the 1990s was fat, the villain the past decade or so has been sugar. From the more extreme diet plans like Atkins to the more easily adopted ‘common sense’ approaches, sugar is now associated not only with it’s superflous calories, but it’s propensity to disrupt the insulin system and set off vicious cycles that result in weight gain when consumed in large doses. Some scientists claim sugar have <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-science-willpower/200912/sugar-addiction-in-your-body-not-just-your-mind">addictive properties</a>. It is interesting to see how <a ref="magnificPopup" href="http://www.communicatingfoodforhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/sugarconsumption_imagelarge.png">consumption of sugar and corn based sweeteners have stagnated</a> similar to that of obesity rates.</p> <p><strong>Schools.</strong> Cities that have taken drastic steps to improve healthy lifestyle choices in schools can report not only stagnating, but <a href="http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/3349-childhood-obesity-rates-decline.html">declining levels of childhood obesity</a>. Banning sugary drinks in soda machines, healthier school lunch menues and more physical activity at school <a href="http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2012/rwjf401163">can go a long way</a>.</p> <p><strong>Restaurants.</strong> Not only are we eating less out, but when we eat out we expect more nutritional information. The reduction in restaurant visits are particularly seen among Millennials, and reflects their lacking funds as much as healthful choices. Precisely because people show increased nutritional awareness they would rather dine in than go for low-cost, unhealthy alternatives. In other words McDonalds is not Chipotle’s main competitor, the local farmer’s market is.</p> <p><strong>In the future</strong> we will probably see more physically immersive video games that are both mentally and physically more strenuous than passively grazing in front of the TV. Mobile apps and self monitoring of health via “Lab-on-a-chip” technologies make it more difficult to lie to yourself – especially when combined with social media bragging rights for vain health nuts. Nutritional trends, e.g. locavore trends, various vegetarian and/ or organic trends etc. play on social identify and keep disciples in line via peer pressure and symbolic consumer behaviors. If food and water supply grows scarcer or continue to be tied to agricultural and food industry of questionable ethics, belonging to the “right side” will only grow in importance. I can only see this trend continue with the Homelanders, particularly in progressive, urban areas.</p> <p>What do you think? Will AHA’s 2020 projections come to fruition after all. If not, are there other observations that will affect obesity levels in the future?</p> <p><em>Images: <strong id="yui_3_7_3_3_1361659951880_1053"><a id="yui_3_7_3_3_1361659951880_1059" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/robadob/">robad0b</a>, </strong> <strong id="yui_3_7_3_3_1361658335901_1204"><a id="yui_3_7_3_3_1361658335901_1208" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/salim/">Salim Virji</a></strong></em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com/whats-the-skinny-on-childhood-obesity-trends/">What’s the skinny on the childhood obesity trend?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://afterthemillennials.com">After The Millennials</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://afterthemillennials.com/whats-the-skinny-on-childhood-obesity-trends/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>4</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">1457</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss>