By Choo Zi Xuan (25S03E)

I’m sure we have all seen the occasional video circulating online—girls aged 10 or younger swarming Sephora stores, pushing and fighting to buy the latest skincare products. When denied by store managers (much for their own good), they kick up a fuss and their parents immediately go to their rescue, staunchly demanding that their kids be allowed to purchase whatever they desire. You may also have noticed a sudden increase of younger users on social media, posting short videos online publicly and actively engaging with more mature content. 

Such scenarios, while somewhat amusing, raises a deeper question about the pace at which today’s youngest generation, Generation Alpha, are navigating their growth from childhood to adolescence. As children are living their lives through a screen at an increasingly younger age, the normalisation of social media in their day-to-day routine is something that previous generations did not encounter until much later in life.

This raises the question about how to strike a balance between the digital and real world, and the impacts of this early exposure to social media on Gen Alpha’s development.

Is Gen Alpha interacting with content that is considered “too mature” for their age, thereby cutting short their childhood? If so, what exactly has shifted in today’s society that has led to this happening?

Generation Alpha: A Definition

First of all, who exactly are Gen Alphas? The term “Generation Alpha” was coined by Mark McCrindle, a social analyst and demographer. He defines Generation Alpha, or Gen Alpha for short, as individuals born from 2010 to 2024. 

Three prominent categories of Gen Alphas came to mind when I was researching for this article— those addicted to watching questionable videos (think “Skibidi Toilet”), the self-centred children and the Sephora kids. Though this is just a generalisation and not all Gen Alphas fall into such extreme categories, exploring these extremes makes it easier to understand how Gen Alphas are growing up at a faster rate than any previous generation. 

Screen Time Over Storytime

Born into a world where technology is ever present, Gen Alphas have the internet at their disposal. They are digital natives—having been immersed in technology since birth, they do not know a world without their mobile devices and the Internet. 

Their toys have long been replaced by tablets and smartphones; parents reading bedtime stories are replaced by watching videos on platforms like Youtube; playing outdoors is replaced by addictive mobile games.

Such a shift in childhood activities has already been noticed since the start of Gen Alpha’s development. A study conducted in October to November 2014, involving 350 children aged 6 months to 4 years, sheds light on the concerning discovery that most three and four year-olds were adept at using devices without any assistance.

In having unrestricted access to the online world, particularly on social media or video platforms such as Instagram and Youtube, Gen Alphas come across a diverse range of content—including those unsuitable for their age. One particular series on Youtube, Skibidi Toilet, has blown up in popularity with Gen Alpha. The series features toilets with human heads waging war against people with CCTV cameras, speakers, and televisions for heads in a dystopian world. 

 A scene from episode 40 of the series, ‘skibidi toilet 40’

A quick glance at IMDb’s parental guide shows that the series includes violence and gore, such as beheadings and disembowelment, and contains strong profanity, with frequent use of offensive language, slurs, and obscene gestures. 

Such content is definitely not age-appropriate for Gen Alpha (as of writing, the oldest Gen Alphas would be 14 this year), and could lead to desensitisation towards inappropriate content, as well as blur their understanding of appropriate behavior and language. 

Parenting or lack thereof?

This heightened awareness of the potential impacts of digital content comes at a time when educators are facing unprecedented challenges in managing Gen Alpha classrooms. Numerous accounts of teachers crying or even quitting their jobs over teaching unmanageable Gen Alpha classes have flooded Tiktok as of late. One user, @teresakayenewman, compiles a few such instances and highlights the urgent need to address this issue.

Parents play a crucial role in shaping the behaviour of their children. Many parents of Gen Alphas are adopting a permissive parenting style—usually having minimal or no expectations of their children’s behaviour. They impose few rules on their children, and rarely discipline them when they act out of line.

Permissive parenting can inadvertently communicate to children that their desires and whims are paramount, leading to a lack of empathy and consideration for others. With parents enabling their actions, Gen Alphas may resort to demanding behaviour or tantrums to get their way when faced with situations that require compromise or cooperation. 

This leads to situations like the one described above, where these children ignore their teachers’ instructions, going so far as to scream at their teachers or throw objects at their classmates. 

Such behaviour extends beyond the classroom—it can be observed in the way kids act at shops such as Sephora.

An Obsession with Trends

Young influencers and Sephora kids—two sides of the same coin, one influencing the other, both caused by the pervasive impact of social media on this generation. Young influencers are posting get-ready-with-me videos, which usually includes a 10 step skincare routine they seem to follow every morning.  

For fellow Gen Alphas, this may seem like the most desirable, aesthetic lifestyle one could lead, making them eager to replicate it. Last year, many parents reported that skincare was a top priority on their children’s Christmas lists—for girls as young as eight. In the meantime, Sephora employees, such as user @sequoiacothran, are sharing anecdotes of children entering the store, wreaking havoc by tampering with samples and insisting on premium skincare products from brands like Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe, and Sol De Janeiro.

Screenshots from a Tiktok by user @peytonxblack, showing the damage Sephora kids have done to tester products in store

This problem is further exacerbated by a combination of peer pressure and commercialisation. Young influencers are often around the same age as their Gen Alpha followers and share similar experiences and interests, making them highly relatable to their audience. When these influencers use certain products, their followers can easily envision themselves using those products too. Hence, companies often use young influencers to market their products, knowing that their target audience is likely to purchase the products used by their favorite influencers. 

With parents enabling such behaviour by giving in to their children’s requests and agreeing to drop hundreds of dollars on such skincare products, it is no surprise that Sephora kids are as big of a problem as they are today.

What does this mean for society?

As Gen Alpha grows up, the influence they have extends far beyond their communities. Their digital outreach is vast, yet they remain susceptible to external influences themselves. 

Though the childhood they experience seems to be shortening at a rapid rate, it is still not too late for us to help them transition from childhood to adolescence. By striking a balance between embracing technology and ensuring Gen Alphas have the space to be children, a supportive environment can be created for them to thrive in the future.