Generation Alpha’s Special Report Card

Welcome to another episode of Based News Network. Welcome to a very special episode of Based News Network. A special report card on Gen Alpha, the Alpha Nomegas, Gen Alpha, Gen Alpha, why not Gen Alpha? I feel like Gen Z rolls off the tongue while I feel like Gen Alpha doesn't as much, and I prefer Generation Alpha. To me, well, you know, so for you and I, we're the podcasters, we make the culture. We determine. I feel like Generation Alpha, to me, sounds like, Generation Alpha, to me, sounds like a secret military weapon. It sounds like they are the like last generation, which they might be just kidding. So you know, it's going to be really funny, because like I bet the next generation after Generation Alpha is going to be Generation Beta. They're going to get owned so hard. Yeah, I was just going to agree that's the worst generation. If you thought Gen Alpha was bad after listening to this podcast, so I tell you see Generation Beta. Yes, so Sophie, tell me they're going to have Omega's, which, and then they can do Alpha Omega Beta, A, B, O, Dynamics and the fanfiction. Okay, sorry. Well, well, there's boomers, there's baby boomers, so it doesn't have to be a letter. I know. I was making a joke about like Omegaverse, like ships, you know, fanfiction. But that is, you've been reading too much of that, so I made that joke because we have talked about this specifically on the show before. So I thought it was a little fun callback anyway. Okay, so I guess so, so all right, let's, so Sophie, tell me why you wanted, or we wanted to do a report on Generation Alpha. Well, I feel like in the past two months, I've seen a, maybe even earlier, honestly, now I'm thinking about it, but I've recently, within the last six months, I've seen a, an avalanche of content that has seemingly came out of nowhere about Gen Alpha, a lot of news stories and lots of videos kind of announcing the arrival of Gen Alpha, their memes, their vibes, like the issues that are affecting them, their values, suddenly, it seems like Gen Alpha is coming of age because the oldest of Gen Alpha is now 13 and they're sort of like old enough to enter the culture a little more with like, they're, you know, they have entered the discourse. They have entered the discourse officially and I feel like we're at a pivotal time and I think it should, it will be fun to just, you know, like, it gives you all the rundown. We got to give Generation Alpha a little bit of love, a little bit of attention, they are the future. Yeah, they are the future and we believe the children are the future, teach them well not them. We love, we love children on our podcast. That's true. We do. So, and also, I thought it would be, you know, relevant too because believe it or not, we probably have a lot of Gen Alpha fans and that's really strange for me to think about, but it's probably true. It's probably true. Yeah, because I just feel like the idea of a 13-year-old listening to a podcast just seems off the table, but in reality, like, if you're born in 2010, you're absolutely listening to podcasts because what else are you going to do with your life? Well, true. And also, like, as a lot of these reports we're seeing kind of argue is that because they're, they're not just, I mean, they call Gen Z, like the digital natives, but these are like, I don't know, these are like mobile natives, you know what I mean? Like, these people, like, iPad babies, which we're going to get into, these people literally had an iPad in front of them at, like, birth, you know what I mean? Gen Z didn't have, I was like, you know, most of Gen Z, like, I didn't have, I mean, there was no such thing as an iPad when I was born, you know what I mean? So, or an iPhone. So I feel like, yes, Gen Z is, are there digital natives we had, like, computers at birth. But now, like, I feel like mobile technology has definitely changed the game. So, Gen Alpha, like entering this, like, the online discourse, it makes sense that, like, that they're doing all this so young that they're having this influence at such a young age because they could use the internet, like, very well at a very young age, you know what I mean? Even more than Gen Z. Well, let's get into it. Let's open the bottle, let's open the baby bottle, the Gen Alpha baby bottle. Yes. Um, it's crazy because I guess babies being born right now are still generation Alpha, so we're kind of talking about babies. That's right. So yeah, so yeah, because this is what we could, we could, by the way, the Wikipedia page for generation Alpha is quite darn good, but we, the podcast, the podcast episode we're about to do is even better than this Wikipedia page, but it looks like it's people who are born between 2010 and 2025, so yeah, people being born right now are kind of on the cusp. Anyways, let's, well, we'll get into this. I just, it's just, it's really interesting that even the Wikipedia page and the second paragraph points out that generation Alpha are notable, notable for being born into experiencing the effects of COVID-19. And like, that's a big question mark how that's going to impact generation Alpha. We can get into that. Let's save the, let's save the socio economic kind of analysis, blah, blah, blah COVID, blah, blah, blah. Let's save that for later. Let's start by talking about the Skibidi toilet, Skibidi toilet, yay. What do you think about Skibidi toilet? So I think the thing with Skibidi toilet is, so first off, just a real quick aside, a lot of people are saying that Skibidi toilet is generation Alpha's first meme. Yes. And I think it actually would be that song, it's corn. I feel like that's, I feel like the corn song is generation Alpha's first meme. Do you think, do you think it depends on the boy himself or what I just remember who made the meme? Well, I think it matters, I think it matters amongst who it goes viral amongst. You know, like, I feel like that went viral with like millennials in Gen X, though, like, I think I saw so many millennials going into that meme and Gen Z, I feel like because a lot of people who are freaking like millennials have the brains of like toddlers. That's true. There's a lot of similarities between millennials and Gen Alpha, probably because it's the millennials who are raising Gen Alpha for the most part. Oh. Isn't that interesting? Wow. That's cool. I like that. So that means Gen Z is going to be raising generation beta. Oh my God. Oh, that's. We got it. So Gen Z is the, like Gen Z and Gen beta, that's like the bad generations and then millennials in Gen Alpha are the good generations. I think. I don't know, I just, I'm just, I'm just, no, I agree, I agree, I'm just having a galaxy brain moment. Yeah. I think so. But okay. So I think that's okay. All right. That's fair. The corn thing is debatable. I just remember being on the airplane and there was like this little five-year-old kid behind me swinging his legs on the plane, singing, it's corn. That's true. And I'm like, oh my God. It's kind of like a universal meme. That's true. But I don't know. I still feel like if you have to categorize that meme into a generation, like because it was who's created by given that like the kids were singing along, like I feel like it's a meme for toddlers that like a bunch of like toddler-brained millennials also like were a little bit too into. That's very well put. Okay. But okay. That's contentious. But we can all agree for sure that Skibidi toilet or Skibidi was it? Skibidi. Skibidi. Skibidi. That's how the song goes. All right. So what do you think of Skibidi toilet? I've been waiting to talk about this publicly for a while because of thoughts. As far as the quality of a meme, I really don't think it's the worst meme I've ever seen [BLANK_AUDIO] life, like other people are saying, you know what I mean? I really have seen worse memes than this, and I kind of applaud it for like, it's kind of transcended meme status and like it's literally like a series, you know what I mean? Like they do, like the guy who makes it, it's like, it has a narrative to it, they're like short videos and like, now there's lore and stuff like that, so blah, blah, blah, kind of like gets into a new territory, but I mean, the concept of like, do you know what video game they have, like they took the head from? Yes, and this is what I want to talk about. So, okay, so I don't know exactly what video game is from, but I can tell you that it's created with source filmmaker, which is what Valve uses, which is what Valve uses for creating their animations. And it's like, I, that's like, that's a millennial thing, like millennials grew up playing Valve games. So, I thought about that too. So, it's so funny, because like, SkiBD Toilet is being presented as like a brand new era of memes, and it certainly is, but it's literally using like the same like animations as like Team Fortress 2 and Portal, and like, you know, Half-Life, it's the same, it's Valve, it's Valve animation. Yeah, that's, I was, yeah, that's, that's true, and Valve doesn't even release video games anymore. And that's, that's why I feel like this encapsulates Gen Alpha so well. It's because they're, so they're born into like a, like, Renaissance of like, online content. You know what I mean? Like, they have access to everything. They've learned how to do it at a very young age. I feel like, because of that, do you, have you noticed how like, because of the internet, people, like, especially young people, they're able to access everything, so they get into like older things, you know what I mean? Like, older music, older, um, fashion, stuff like, you know, vintage fashion, um, like, like, for example, like, don't you feel like most people, like, people are into new music, but a lot of people are like, young, Gen Z people are like, oh yeah, I'm really into like, 90s memes, you know what I mean? Like, even if they weren't alive during the 90s, like, I feel like the internet, like, it's been like streaming services, give you access to like, everything. So people are able to research and learn more about things that aren't even of their time, you know what I mean? And what Gen Alpha does so well is it synthesizes all of these different influences from different time periods into like their own unique thing. Because also, this song in it, like, da da da da da da da da da, is like, it was like a popular song on TikTok and TikTok is basically like, I would like, deem it like, Gen Z, like, mostly a, I know there are other generations on there, but it's like, kind of a Gen Z phenomenon, right? So it's combining the millennial stuff with the Gen Z stuff and then making its own thing. And I feel like that's very apt. Yeah. And that's exactly what Gen Alpha is all about. Yeah. Because, you know, like, you and I Gen Z, we, we, we all have access to everything on our fingertips to make anything. But never before have we ever seen, like, a generation literally born into that capability. You know, it's kind of like, it's kind of like, they're being born into a whole different dimension, you know? Yeah. And because of that, they become so skilled at certain things, so young, you know? Like, people can just like, I feel like, because of this, like, I can imagine like, and this might be like an exaggeration. But I don't know. I feel like people are probably learning how to like, use Photoshop really young or like, they're learning how to use like, like 3D animation, which is relevant to this meme. But, you know, I mean, like, they, they can do all these things at such a young age, they're learning like, very valuable skills. And I know we're going to get into the lack, like, the effect COVID has had on like, socialization and, like, on education. But at the same time, I feel like growing up in, like, with this access, probably is producing a lot of creative and, like, skilled people in some respects. Yeah. I don't want to be entirely critical of Gen Alpha. Oh, no. I don't want to be entirely, I think so. Like, I think it's very exciting. I'm pretty like generally like optimistic about, like, technology's impacts. Yeah. But it's definitely a little, it's definitely, it's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. That's all I'm going to say. It's a lot. It's hard to say objectively if it's good or bad, but it's definitely a lot. And I'm overall excited. I feel like Generation Alpha is our little science experiment. What happens if you take a generation and you make them miss a bunch of school because of COVID-19? And they're also being born into a world where Trump is president. And also they have access to literally all the information in the universe. Yeah. I mean, that's a pretty cool, that sounds like a science fiction book, but it's real life. Right. Like, they're simultaneously receiving a very poor education through no fall to their own. But then also being educated like in more like guerrilla ways. Like more maybe not guerrillas, not the right word, but like that. What's the word for this? Like, you know what I mean? Like amateur. Yeah. They're just sort of like figuring it out through like and they're doing it low five. They're doing it low five, but they're learning it super young, which is impressive. We shall see. Yeah. It's honestly, I feel like this could be a huge debate. Like, it's a very abstract debate. Like, is Generation Alpha smart? That's actually a really hard question to answer, you know? I feel like I'll go ahead. I was just gonna say I just feel like it's like not even a thing you can answer like as a binary yes or no. It's just like there are just a unique like their brains are unique. You know that their brains are unique. And people tend to I don't know as we know make broad generalizations about generations like even the like time periods that encapsulate a generation aren't always explicit. Like they they they aren't the same for every source. So, I don't know. We're making like these big guesses and we're kind of generalizing about a certain like a generation. And also because they're so young like it's really hard to know. It's like a little too early to say like what the true consequences of the genophas development is going to be, you know what I mean? So, I don't want to make any like super broad statements because it's it's early on. But there is like actual data that we will discuss that make some suggestions. Well one thing that's kind of funny Sophie is that on the Skibidi toilet Wikipedia page there's like a section where it says like genre. And it says surreal humor and toilet humor. We all know that toilet humor is a tale as old as time. So, it's just well okay so this is kind of what I'm talking about and we're gonna get into this too. It's just like like let's talk a little bit more like let's broaden the conversation to just like generation alpha slaying in general. You know where it's like it's both very like juvenile as you'd expect. But also very but also very like Mimi, you know. Yeah. Yeah. So like with like with gott. That means big butt. So we literally have like a like a toilet joke and then we have a joke about a butt. I mean like these are these are things that like 11 year olds find funny big butts and toilets. And then Riz. So this is kind of interesting because like Riz means like charisma but it means like kind of like flirt. Like a Riz a Rizler is a flirty person. I actually didn't know that it was charisma but until I read this thing but yeah it is used in like a more it's like you can pull, you know. Like that's good. Yeah. Well this is interesting because like Riz and Gya like especially in combination is like actually a pretty like sexual kind of like thing. Oh right. I mean the oldest one is 13. So this could be a whole conversation about hyper sexualized internet and like porn maybe so maybe so but to be entirely afraid they're like that's what 12 year olds. That's true. At least boys. At least boys. Yeah, boys. But yeah, yeah. And I mean these are boy slangs mostly, you know. That's true. We haven't really gotten into like as usual. No one cares about the girl. Oh my goodness. Yo. Mind blown. Where is the generation out? I literally don't know. Oh my goodness. This is such a male centric conversation. I am there's no judgment here because unfortunately I feel like most of the as usual like I feel I don't know like women and girls is like slaying and memes aren't really taken seriously or like acknowledged until later. Oh my goodness. So if we we need to investigate of journalism to figure out what the heck. Heck is going on with girls instead of alpha. - You know what, that's a great point. I will enlist my gen alpha fans. And if any gen alpha girls are listening to this, please DM me about some of the slang that you and your friends are encountering or using. - Yeah. - Because I'm interested. - Because I feel like it's with the girls, it's kind of more on the DL, it's more in these niche areas where even I might not see. - And what books are you reading? What books are you reading? 'Cause we just didn't think for an episode of talking about horror games, and we're like, - Speaking of reading books, I mean, I don't know if they can read the books. - Yeah, they don't know how to read. That's right, okay, don't mind. All right, well, so bringing it back, and I don't know, maybe now things are super progressive and gender doesn't matter. And maybe all the girls in Generation Alpha are saying. - That's true. - Rizzie got. - I know. - Well, I'm sure gen alpha girls are. Gen alpha girls are definitely, sorry, that character. Gen alpha girls are definitely saying these things. Well, it's like, again, I think I talk about this on Patreon too, but again, a tale is oldest time. The girls always know about the boy stuff, and they're forced or pressured to appreciate the boy stuff because they're deemed classics, you know what I mean? - Like Skibidi toilet, isn't it? - Yeah, well, it applies to memes and slang and pop culture as well, right? So again, girls are always familiar with the guy stuff. Like as far as like, not always, there's still like hyper masculine, like, you know, the guy's always got some secret memes up their sleeves that girls don't know. But in general, girls are very aware of like, boys is humor and memes and slang, and they use it themselves because it's considered wider culture, you know what I mean? Whereas like a girl, meme or like slang is more insular, is that make sense? It's not deemed, it's not deemed means, like, as mainstreaming. - Yeah, because girls are other, the other. - Yeah, yeah. - They're othered by society. - It's true. - Well, anyways, enough of that girl stuff. Let's talk about Skibidi toilet more. So one thing that's kind of cool about Skibidi toilet is, well, I guess this is not new, it's not super new, but I still think it's kind of an interesting thing, it's just like, it's such an international meme, you know? - Yeah. - Like language is not a big part of the story, and it's like, it was made in Georgia, like the country Georgia. - The country Georgia, yeah. - Yeah. And like, it's like very, like I'm re, okay, let me redo this. And this is off the Wikipedia page of Skibidi toilet. In July 2023, several Indonesian newspapers and netizens claimed that Skibidi toilet had a harmful effect on very young children, dubbing it Skibidi toilet syndrome. The term later spilled into neighboring Malaysia, where one kindergarten teacher stated that the series contained an incomprehensible storyline, promotes violence and has creepy and grotesque visuals, unsuitable for viewing by children under seven years old. - Oh my God, you explaining this is actually making me happy. I thought this would be more of a depressing conversation, but actually I feel very optimistic about it, and I'll fall in a way, because I love how international this is. Like the fact that it kind of transcends like location, and that like everyone can be in on the joke, just speaks to like the effect of like, the internet on like interconnectedness and stuff like that. - It's the most wholesome liberal generation. - I know, I know, it's like the epic effects of globalism. - Well, I think, okay, so I think generation alpha is gonna be the nicest, most wholesome, well-meaning generation, but they're just not gonna be smart enough to execute on their well-meaning goals, you know. Well, I feel like Gen Z is the opposite. I feel like Gen Z is really smart, but really mean. - That is, I completely agree. I completely agree. - We got Gen Z smart, but mean. We've got millennials and general flow. - We were jaded by, we got jaded by 9/11. We grew up in like, post 9/11 America. - Yeah, and now like. - And super jaded. - And then Gen Alpha is born into like a pandemic and Trump is president, which is like- - Oh, wait, that's worse. - It's worse, but it's more abstract. You know, it's kind of like being born into a psychedelic drug trip, you know what I mean? Like being born after 9/11 and going into Iraq war, it's like being born into a dystopia. - Right. - Being born in 2011, it's like being born into like. - Yeah, we're in a pretty bad drug trip, but yeah, it's still a dystopia, but it's like a psychedelic dystopia. - Yeah, it's post dystopia. Like where it's post modern, it's post post post modern or whatever. - Yeah. - Like, yeah, yeah, no, that's a great point. And also, like speaking to the psychedelic kind of craziness of it too, I do think like Skibbity Toilets, Origin, and popularity is probably affected by the iPad baby stuff, you know what I mean? Like you know YouTube kids and like how crazy YouTube kids is. - Oh yeah, oh yeah. - What was it called again? ELSAGATE. - Coco Mellon? - Well, Coco Mellon, yes. But do you know what else, what's ELSAGATE? Like I don't want to get into it 'cause I think it's gross, but like. - Oh. - Basically the fan, Taylor Lorenz talked about it in her book. Basically the phenomenon of YouTube kids becoming like, like showing like super like graphic or sexual or disturbing content with like insane like visuals and like either they were like inappropriate content or it was just like brain rotting like insane like cartoons. Like going crazy, like colors and do you remember the Johnny du du du du du du Johnny? Did you mean like, it sounds familiar. - Like kind of Coco Mellon, but also like, like it'll be, it'll be like, they're created by like, foreign, like usually Indian or Chinese like content farms, you know what I mean? And they're generally like, the goal is to produce as much content as possible and the goal is to like, keep kids watching as much as possible to like make money. What's that ad revenue? So YouTube kids is just like a hellscape and I think they probably, YouTube has probably fixed some of this, but it's kind of like known for being a hellscape and I feel like iPad babies just like being forced to watch, not forced, but like iPad babies like watching the stuff for hours, like, oh yeah. - Must have had an effect on the sense of humor, I feel like. - Yeah, and also like yacht and Riz came from the Twitch streamer Kai Sanat. So like their entire media diet is like completely different. It's like, it's just completely just internet stuff, like a hundred percent. - Like it's sort of story books, they're reading, they're watching you. - Or there's no PBS kids, you know, there's just, YouTube kids. - Yeah, and I just can, yeah, I mean, and that's cool. I mean, it seems like fun. I've watched some of it, you know, it seems a little crazy, but it's, well, anyway, I just, okay, so just a little bit of a side thing. I feel like someone who's smarter than me could write a really good book or paper or some academic thing tracing, like, like using Skibiti Toilet as like the icon of Georgia becoming like, oh, like a liberal democracy after the fall of the Soviet Union. - Oh my God. - That's so fun. - And like, and like Russia, like, so I don't, so Russia right now, like, kind of like what they rush is doing to Ukraine right now. Russia, like, went to war with Georgia and like, occupies Georgia right now, you know? - Yeah. - And Russia is scared of Skibiti Toilet. - Really? Oh, that, I mean, it makes sense. I didn't know that though. - No, no, no, I mean, they're not actually scared of it, but I'm saying, like, Skibiti Toilet. - They probably are. - If they probably are, 'cause it represents, like, an interconnected, like, Western world, outside of Russia. Well, actually, I don't know. Maybe Russia, like, Skibiti Toilet, so. - It's, no, well, I mean, it's citizens, like, it's kids probably do. I feel like Skibiti Toilet's probably censored in Russia. It's too liberal. - It's too liberal. - It's too liberal. - It's too liberal. - Can you use VPN in Russia? I know you people do in China, but. - I think you can, I don't even know if you, I don't even know if you need to use a VPN. I think you can just use whatever, maybe you do. I don't know what Russia's, 'cause I go on root tracker, which is, you know, and that's like. - Oh, we love root tracker. - You know what I mean? But maybe they have to use the, I don't really know how Russia's, like, Russia's always the, big question mark. - But I'm guessing Skibiti Toilet is censored. Let's just, I think that's safe to say, Skibiti Toilet is censored, and Georgia made Skibiti Toilet, and that's why Russia hates Georgia. - Yeah, and also with Russia too, like, Skibiti Toilet, like, depicts war, you know what I mean? And, like, rebellion and stuff like that, which is also kind of-- - Oh, damn. - See, I haven't even watched it. - We need something smarter than me to, - Someone write a thesis on this. - Someone's probably on it right now. It's like almost on the teacher. - Keep me toilet, you know, like, I don't know. Like. Let's keep me toilet is the face of the world. - I mean, honestly, it's the lingua franca for everyone. I'm in support of it. I like it. Like, there are far worse memes. I like what it stands for, and I find it amusing. Like, more about, like, I just find, like, I see it as like, the consequences of gen alpha growing up the way they did. - So, I know it's really funny and cute. Is in that New York Times article, you sent me about generation alpha. Like, the eight-year-old said that, like, they didn't like, skippity toilet, because it made them scared of using the bathroom. - I know, that was so cute. - And I bet there's a lot of, like, little kids who, like, really scared of the skippity toilet. - That's so cute. - It's really cute, yeah. - It's like, kids are always scared of the bathroom for different reasons. Like, for me, it was Bloody Mary. But now, for, for these kids, it's a. - Skippity toilet. - Skippity toilet. (laughs) - Yeah. Yeah, and another thing too is, like, so I feel like, with the millennial generation, like, the millennial generation, I feel, is where, like, the genre of, like, post-ironic humor kind of was, like, born? - Yeah, definitely. - And I feel like, millennials were always a little pretentious, like, oh, we've invented this form of humor that's so abstract and weird and no one gets it besides us, you know? And now, millennials need to get off their damn high horse, because literal eight-year-olds are, like, engaging with post-ironic humor, and, like, as, like, the most mainstream form of humor amongst eight-year-olds. - They're, like, yeah, eight-year-olds. - Like, they, they're just, they're not special. - Like, yeah, yeah. - And they say the gen alphas are stupid, but they, they've just transcended, like, knowledge at this point, you know? - Yeah. All right, so do you think maybe we should, any, maybe we should talk a little bit about, like, the, like, the data on-- - Yeah. - Let's, let's do it. - So there's been a number of reports that have come out on generation alpha, which, you know, I don't think it's generation, it's not, it's not generation's alpha's fault. But just, it's just high school, in middle school, in elementary school, students in general, their test scores are down, quite a lot. There's been a lot of learning setbacks, and this is just kind of measured looking at, like, math, and reading, like, standardized test scores, and just, you know, just lots of reporting that, like, I mean, I don't really, I don't know, like, how to exactly, like, quantify it, but basically everything I'm reading is seeing that, is saying that their math and reading scores are down quite significantly, which is not that. I mean, that's not, like, that surprising, given that, like, a lot of the kids maybe missed a year of school and then maybe missed, or like, you know, the pandemic screwed up the learning process. And the thing is, is that, like, you know, we can save the debate for later of, like, where the lockdowns worth it, you know, it's a whole conversation. Some people say, no, like, the lockdowns for the kids weren't worth it because the learning losses were so deep and heavy. And they say, the lockdowns were worth it because they needed the lockdowns or more people would die. We're not gonna have that debate on this podcast, but what we are gonna talk about is that, you know, I think this is kind of a scary thing because when you look at, like, test scores and, like, education over time, like, it goes, like, in the United States, it goes up, like, really, really slowly, you know? Like, it's actually, like, it's actually kind of hard to figure out what, like, helps students become smarter. And like, we know, like, obviously, one thing is if you invest more money in education, like, the kids are gonna get, like, better educated and get smarter, like, we know that. And we've been, like, gradually over time increasing more and more money, more and more money going into education. But, like, if you look at, like, the grades, like, the standardized test scores, it goes up, it's pretty stable. It goes up really slowly over time. And what we're seeing now is, like, these scores have, like, dropped down to where they were in, like, the '90s. So, the concern is, like, do we just, do we just lose, like, literally 20 years of progress of education? - Jam. - Like, is it gonna take another 20 years for the scores to get back to? - More proof, more proof that they're millennials 'cause their scores are 90s scores. - The scores are back in the 1990s. - So, that's a pretty, you know, it's gonna get scary. You know, maybe it's just a COVID blip and maybe five years from now, everything will be back to normal and it's just gonna be specifically generation alpha who's screwed for a little bit there. Or maybe the entire education system is, like, actually has, like, a major wrench thrown in it that's gonna be, like, you know, permanently, like, a huge step back. And this is awful, you know, we can go on and talk about how, you know, a lot, you know, having a worse education means less income in your lifetime over the long run and just worse life outcomes, blah, blah, blah. I'm not trying to scare a generation alpha, but another thing, another data point two here is that, like absentees, like kids missing schools, missing attendance at schools, like, way, way, way higher. Like, more than a quarter of students missed at least 10% of classes during the 22 school year while before it was only 15%. So it's a pretty significant increase. And again, like, obviously the COVID stuff, like that plays a big role and is like, maybe kids got into the habit of like, not going to school during COVID. And then once like, school starts up again, it's like hard to get back into that habit. I don't know, oh, Remy's going crazy. Remy, hey, Remy, hey, baby. Yeah, I hear her. I don't know if the listener's well, but I hear Remy only. Anyway, so that's just the sad stuff. That's the sad stuff. But I have a theory and my, 'cause we were also talking earlier about how like at the same time though, like generation alpha, like clearly are going to be really smart because they like, have access to the entire internet and are like learning how to use Photoshop and stuff at an early age and everything like that. So my theory is basically that like the like, well-educated, high-income generation alpha is going to be like a really, really, really well-off generation 'cause I feel like that, like that cohort of people is probably more likely to like, productively engage with the internet. Wow, I think. So like, they want, they want, they be in high demand too, like, educated, like. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, definitely. Yeah, like, especially, you know, giving that like this, like, it's gonna be easier for you guys to get a job, guys. Just kidding. Well, yeah, no, seriously, there's gonna be low for, there's gonna be low for till it. There is low fertility right now amongst this generation that they're being born into. So there's gonna be like a need for workers. So like, I think basically what I'm trying to say is like, high-income generation alpha people are gonna be well-off relatively. But maybe low-income generation alpha is gonna be worse off because that's probably the-- That's horrible. Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, it's what you'd expect is usually things how play off play out that way. And that's true. But, you know, I'm just thinking like, if you're in a rich family and you're like 13 and you're missing school, maybe you're in a better home environment, so you have more time to like engage in the internet with the internet in a more productive way. Yeah. But I don't know. Like, I also wanted to like not only are there adverse effects on like testing and attendance and stuff like that, but a lot of teachers and parents too, but mostly teachers, have been talking about how like the children that they're teaching like are read, either can read, or they are like reading at a like two years behind, you know what I mean? Like, they're reading at a younger level than they should. And that like kind of alarmed me. Like, I was just surprised by that. Like, when I thought about it, I was like, OK, that makes sense of the pandemic, but that is like, and I see a lot of people too like criticizing the parents for not like teaching them better or like teaching them how to read at a young age or helping them socialize, but again, like, it's not their fault that the pandemic happened and it's not, and it's not, you can't like put the responsibility of educating children completely on the parents because the parents have to work. Yes, parents should contribute, but they have to work too, you know? So it's not all on the. parents and it's just an unfortunate situation where I don't think a lot of people are at fall and I don't think like parents are completely to millennial parents are completely to blame for gen alpha and like gen alpha's deficiencies. Again, another thing I saw too from teachers, a lot of teachers like are saying that they either are in the process of quitting or want to quit because the kids are so poorly behaved and rude and speak inappropriately and like have broken their spirit and that was really sad to see. Oh my god, this is awful. Oh my goodness. There's so many videos, I've seen so many videos about teachers like crying about it. So there's a couple of things. So one, there's three points I want to make. One is remember how I said, like if you look at like standardized test scores over time, they increase really like slowly, you know, and it's kind of like a it's kind of a big debate in like academia, like how do we improve education quality and like make kids smarter. And so, you know, obviously, like I said, investing more in schools helps, but there's like obviously diminishing returns to that and it's not like you just can just keep funneling money into schools and kids will just get smarter and smarter because of exactly what you said where like a big factor, a big factor that determines like how well a kid does in school is literally their life at home, which has literally nothing to do with like how much money a school gets. You know, there's probably a correlation there, you know, but, um, right. And also like the morale of the teachers and the students too, but the morale of the teachers is probably important and they're not getting paid enough to deal with stuff. So it's just what we have here is just like a very clear, like economic inequality problem. We're like, where kids who are forced to stay home because of the pandemic, like if they have a poor, like a poor household, that's going to affect them, even if there's no pandemic, but it's probably going to affect them even more during a pandemic. And if teachers aren't getting enough money, you know, like it's just like, it's just like bad. It's like, it's just like a lack of a welfare state layered on to a lack of a welfare state, making the problem doubly bad is basically what I'm trying to get at. Very well put, very well put. And also, like if morale is low among teachers, like that's more, I think it's like it's sort of symbiotic because I think morale is low among the kids because of the pandemic and be, you know, rising anxiety and depression and the adverse effects of social media, you can get into all of that. Maybe they're concerned about like climate change and politics. I don't, you know, I mean, like there's all these kind of external things that are probably affecting their morale. And then also at the same time, the teachers seeing that low morale gives them low morale. But then they have low morale because of that. And they also have low morale because of the lack of safety in schools, whether it's COVID or school shootings and their low salary. It's a feedback loop where they kind of like teachers have low morale, which doesn't motivate the students and the students lack of motivation contributes to the teachers low morale. Like it is just, there's so many issues that just make the other issues worse. Yeah. And also, I think like another interesting point in this debate that is also kind of a big question mark is what role does TikTok play in all of this? You know, because like obviously we can, we can look at all these social issues that are like serious and obviously playing a role in kids not getting as good of an education. And it might sound like like a, you know, like a boomer, like an old person, like, oh, the, it's the damn phones fault. These kids are not learning. And I, you know, I think it's a, like, it's kind of unfair to completely blame TikTok obviously for like kids not reading as much. But, you know, TikTok really is built different. It really is like different than the other social media apps. You know, like it is extremely addictive. And like, you know, if you're someone who, like I know for a fact is someone in my life who's gone through phases where I'm reading a lot and phases where I don't read it all, when I'm reading a lot, I'm a better writer. I'm better at articulating myself. I'm better at reading. Like the more I read, the better I get at reading, you know? And if I'm having too much fun on TikTok to read, it's not, that means I'm not going to be as good of a reader. It's like simple as that, you know? I love how you said that, like, implying that you're addicted to TikTok, which you aren't at all. But like, you're in hypothetically, yeah. Yeah. Right. No, it's true. And, and you could even get into like how TikTok spreads a lot of misinformation and it's becoming like the new Google for a lot of people. And it's where people get their news now. Oh, my God. Yo, we are on, we are on track to social collapse. Oh, my God. That's what I'm saying. Like, that's what I think. Like, general for us, the next generation, they're simultaneously hosts, like they're, they're wholesome, but they're also like kind of scary and maybe unruly because of the pandemic. Like, I don't know. There's so many bad things. Maybe they're not awesome. Maybe not. I don't know. We don't know. We don't, we don't know. They're so yo, we're like, we don't know. It's not their fault. It's not their fault at all. It's just, they are the future and there's also been like a little bit, just a little bit of data we've seen. It's like, take it with us. It's a great assault that like, it seems like the younger generation might also be a little bit more, especially amongst boys, a little bit more conservative a little bit. Yeah. Well, then you could, you could even talk about like, okay, they're very young at a very young age that are being exposed to like a bunch of extremist content, you know? Yeah, it seems like the girls are becoming more, becoming more liberal and the boys are becoming more conservative, which is really bad. And it's probably like reactionary too because I think like a lot of boys feel left behind and then they see like girls like being quote-lifted up, but that's because like, you know why that, you know, like, you know, I mean, like it makes sense, but to like boys and even men now, like they feel like they're being neglected and they feel like they're that women are like taking over. So there's probably a lot of resentment too. I remember my mom told me this at a very young age that like, a very young age, she told me that like, as women become more powerful with women gain more rights in some ways, like men are only going to grow more and more resentful and it's going to become even more, in some ways more dangerous for women. So. Well, generation alpha, if you're listening, don't do that. I think I fear it's too late. I don't know. Hopefully not. Well, I don't know. It's just really hard. You know, it's really hard because Sophie, we, okay, we live. It's like, it's really, it's just like, there's so many things about this podcast. It's just pure speculation, you know, like we do have some data points. We've got some data points. We've got the skippity toilet. We've got the bad test scores. But, you know, your truth is, is that like, it really is still up in the air and we might be pleasantly surprised. And I think right now, well, just right now, I think given with Elon Musk owning Twitter and just like every day you and I are just exposed to like the dumbest, most toxic content on the internet, like blared at like a thousand miles per hour all the time in our eyes. And like an awful, like multiple, awful wars going on right now. I just feel like right now it's like, yeah, everything just looks really, really, really bad. And maybe it's not, maybe it's not, you know, maybe it's not so bad. Right, there's always some hysteria, you know, maybe the vibes are really bad. There was a, I think the COVID definitely ushered in a, a vibe shift, a bad vibe shift, a really bad vibe shift. So we need to, I think, as, so I think, I think a take away from this conversation is like, none of the stuff that's happened to generation alpha has been their fault. Obviously, like the bad scores, the pandemic, none of us, they're fault. So it's like, I feel like we should try our best to like give generation alpha like a lot of love and like positivity. So they, so they like, you know, like, that's all they, that's all they really have at this point. We got to just give them some love and positivity. Cause like, if we just like say, Oh, screw generation alpha, they're dumb generation that skips class and just mean to their teacher, or they're going to be like messed up for the rest of the lives and they have no hope. That's just going to like make them do that more. Yeah, yeah. Like, I think that's the hope. It's just the dumbest reaction ever is to blame, like, ten-year-olds for how they exist, you know, like they don't have a long time. It's the millennial. The takeaway here is it's the Millennials fault. Just getting. Millennials fault. Generation Alpha is going to be the generation that brings Roe versus Wade back. I hope so. Or it could be the one that takes it. Or it's going to be Generation Beta. Or it makes. I feel like a Gen Alpha could either go. I feel like it's going to be even more polarized than it is now, like politically. Probably, probably. I just understand how anyone could be more conservative, but I guess you could. But I would say. It's like imagine watching Andrew Tate at like five years old. Instead of reading your book. Okay. Instead of reading. Instead of reading like. The whole Beta pillar. Yeah, instead of reading. I don't think I have a filler here. I'm like watching an Andrew Tate video about like how women are like bitches. And like, you know what I mean? Like, or like Ben Shapiro, like. Like, liberal gets owned. But you know, like if you're watching that, instead of reading your book, like what the hell is going to happen? That's a bad combination of like uneducated and like conservative reactionary politics. Like, that's a horrible, horrible combination. Well, yeah. While we are reading Hungry Catapillar, they're watching liberal matrix. By Andrew Tate. Oh god. They're letting it break out of the liberal matrix. And I feel like this brings up a conversation to like, when are we going to find the like, left wing equivalent, not only like, okay, yes, they're left wing, but they also have to be like popular with like, young people, especially like boys. You know? Like, there needs to be those people. And I feel like the left has been trying really hard to do that. With like, I don't know. What's that called? The op. What's the like, prieger you alternative? Like, I forgot. Oh, that, that, that, that, that completely crashing burned. Like, they try. I didn't even exist anymore. What is it called again? Do you remember? I don't even remember. I really, and honestly, the videos were bad. They were. Like, but like, I'm saying, like, they tried so, they, they keep trying so hard, like, in flopping. Like, Hassan, I's probably like the closest thing we have. And that's still like, you know, like, we need more than just a songpeaker. To like, yeah. I think, um, honestly, I just, I'm pessimistic about that. I'm pessimistic about that. I know, it's like, like, it is like, if we try hard to do that, then it's like, we're, like, we obviously come across as like, try hard, you know? I think, well, okay, so I think, well, here's the thing. Yeah, we're, I don't think we should try. But I think, I think it's a little bit of an unfair thing because to be like, oh, like a really like good, thoughtful, left-wing commentator kind of requires being a little bit boring. That is so true. And I forgot about that. Very important. Like, you gotta, like, you have to like, stop and like, take a breath and like, think, you know? And you gotta be like, well, actually, according to the ball, ball, ball, ball, ball. And then if you actually have to like, use reputable. Yeah. And if you want to be a popular, if you want to be a popular online figure, you have to be like, bombastic and crazy. And like, you got to find a way to marry the two. Like, can someone do it? I wonder. Well, I mean, Hassan. That's you, Kaya. Let's see. Okay, well, no, I mean, should I start playing video games? Should I start playing, what should I start playing video games on Twitch and just like talking about, like, so I'm hearing about the, the lack of education funding is actually really screwing your generation. You should focus more on that than hating women or whatever, like, that's so fun. I think we're gonna be like, concretely just for, you are the closest thing, Kaya, to a left wing and routine. I, that is really mixed. That is, that is a, that is not a, I don't think so. I mean it in a positive way, because I mean it in a good way. I'm, because you're influential and charismatic. You're funny. Well, like, I don't know if people think he's fun. Like, you know, I mean, like, you have charisma, right? To some people, like, like, well, I am saying, Android Tate has a lot of appeal and charisma to some people, not to me. But I feel like you have charisma. You're very, like, your videos are very, like, crazy and, like, energetic, but you're also, like, spitting facts and logic. I, I get, you know, I think, thank you, thank you, Sophie. I love you. I love you too. You're like, I love you, but. I'm just kidding. I love you, but I'm not going to put on a leather jacket and sunglasses and be like, y'all, so here's the deal. You know, you don't need to be treated equally. No, you don't even need to do that. You just throw on the fedora. Sophie, I have, I have 8,000 subscribers, all right? I'm not, I'm not. Android Tate has like 80 million. So I know, but you have a way to go. You have a way to go, sure, but you have influence on other platforms. Like, you're combined influences, like, pretty good. I think you, I think you're just slightly overestimating how much influence I have. Well, obviously I'm joking. Like, you're not the liberal, like, Android Tate. I just say, I will, you have the qualities of someone who could I understand. I understand. I will say this. I will use the influence I have to try to make generation alpha better. And I think, I think it goes beyond that. I think every person who is a good, meaning, well-meaning person should really try. Like, they should all make an active effort to like make sure we're positively influencing generation alpha. Yeah. Because like, they are a highly impressionable generation because they're literally young kids. And all they do is spend time on the internet. So like, we should make sure, like, we as in like, everyone who's a reasonable good person should make sure, like, you are putting good ideas in front of them, and like, and not letting bad ideas be the only thing they see. I think it's an active effort. I, I, I completely agree. And not I am nothing, but yeah, yeah, we have to, we have to, we have to, because the thing is like, we're up against a lot. We're up against a bunch of algorithms that want to put toxic stuff in front of them. So we literally have to outcompete an algorithm. You know, like, that's, that's like a hard thing to do, but we gotta, we gotta, we gotta try. True. Maybe the solution isn't like coming up with like, a liberal, like, a left-wing entertain, but rather just like, individuals, like, face-to-face, or like, not maybe not face-to-face, but like, on a more individual level, like, trying to help Gen Alpha and, and some way or another. We need, we need. Gandhi. We need a, we need a TikTok Gandhi. Oh god. To come and get spread love to, to Generation Alpha. That's just Ringo's star, just kidding. Oh wait, didn't, didn't Gandhi sleep with, nevermind. Oh god. No, no, no, no. Anyways, I love that. I, I will give Gandhi a pass. He did good stuff. Oh, I don't know. Okay, man. Okay, he's, we, we, he doesn't get passed. Okay. All right, so that's definitely a bad way to end a podcast with Generation Alpha. But, so we did a really good Patreon episode on the Hunger Games. Yeah, wait, we discussed some. The new one. The prequel. The prequel, and we also go into, like, some Hunger Games lore extended, and we have some really fun conversations about, like, girls, like, media, and, like, books for girls and stuff like that, and how they're kind of, in movies and how they're kind of pushed to the side, but they're actually quite appealing to both, you know, like, all genders. So, um, this is a really fun conversation. So, definitely, like, hop over to Patreon and check it out. Yeah, wait, well, it's, I, I haven't uploaded to Patreon yet. But, hopefully by the time it's done, we'll just check it, just check if you, if you see it on Patreon, listen to it. If you don't see it on Patreon, wait a few days and it'll be up. It'll be up. You have to pay us on Patreon to be able to see it at all. Yeah, but you'll get a preview. So, you'll see, you'll see if you like it. Yeah. Or we do, we do a service. And, anyways. So true. Okay. Based news. Anything else, Sophie? Um, I don't think so. All right. This, this, this, I want to put this, this AP news website, this AP news report is so good. It has like an interactive map on kids missing school. I'll put it in the, in the school. All right. Cool. All right. Bye. Bye. Based news. Never buy.