RAISING GENERATION ALPHA IN A WORLD OF INSTANT EVERYTHING: WHY BOOKS STILL MATTER

Author Annie Kwan

I don’t know about you, but I am petrified about raising my daughters in preparation for the next 50 years.

They are eight and eleven years old, which makes them Generation Alpha and born into the Smartphone/ AI era. 

This is a far cry from the era I grew up in. I rewound videos for return at VideoEzy. I listened to the satisfying “dong dong” sound of the dial-up internet. And I sat next to the radio to wait for my favourite song to come on, so I could record it. 

If you were lucky, your stereo had a double cassette player, and you could dub recorded songs for your friends, and then hand it to them when you met up at Town Hall steps at ten o’clock on Sunday morning.

Too bad if they didn’t show up because there was no way of reaching them once they left the house.

Scroll forward 40 years, where my kids have a meltdown when the WiFi is slightly slow (4G), or when their shows on Netflix take an extra twelve seconds to load. Everything happens so instantly for our kids now. They hardly need to move their little bodies to make things happen. 

Having grown up with this level of efficiency and instantaneousness as the norm, what will this do to their peace and patience as grown-ups? The way I have observed, the more efficient the system, the higher the expectations, and less patience one might have?

When I was growing up, my very Chinese parents decreed three career choices: doctor, architect or lawyer.

Anything else was considered failure and would bring family shame. Now these professions are the first ones AI will replace. So what do I say to my kids about the future? How am I eligible to give them career advice? 

I don’t have the answer, but I have this strong belief. And this is what I’ve been saying to my girls: In whatever work you choose to do, make sure you hone and apply two main skills, attention to detail and critical thinking. And this starts now. 

Around the house, I ask them to complete three chores, but they have to find what needs to be done. When they ask me for a solution, I ask them to propose one first. 

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The thing that I have found to be a grounding force in their childhood is books. The girls love to read. Wings of Fire, the Wylah series, Runt, anything by Anh Do, The Little Wave, Peanuts cartoons and graphic novels. They devour books with hunger and joy. Their favourite bookstore is Books Kinokuniya. We lose time when we're there. 

My elder daughter, Elley, does chores to earn books in the Warrior series. She gives me a Warrior Cat name, which I have forgotten. Elley starts a long conversation, and only halfway in, do I realise she’s talking about book characters. She cries when a main character's cat falls into the gorge and dies.

She finishes her homework after school so she can read more. When Elley is ready, we will read the Hunger Games series together.

My younger daughter has been chosen for a school program called Shadow Judging, where she is given a stack of picture books and she writes her feedback about the books. She recently gave The Alchemist a go and said, “It is interesting”.

In their reading habit and passion for it, they have carved out a small corner of the world and made it into their safe space.

Their imagination can run wild and they can expand the envelopes of themselves by feeling what has been crafted by the writers.

Time slows, the characters build in their minds and hearts and they can find friendship and solace in the art of words. Reading helps them understand multiple perspectives; it helps them feel and think more.

Books are magical. They can educate, heal, inspire, provide escape, and send you to new and crazy places which are not restricted by time and space.

The best stories stay with you for a long time, even imprint on you and become part of your makeup. For example, whose hearts don’t feel a tug when we mention characters Jo and Beth in Little Women? And does Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web still have a special place in your heart, even though you read it decades ago?

And who remembers the Saucepan Man from Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree, specifically how odd he was portrayed when he took off his saucepans in one chapter? 

I don’t even know how I managed some teen years without Judy Blume. And why did no grown-up in my life stop me from reading Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews when I was fifteen? It was equal parts inappropriate and memorable.

So take a trip to your local bookstore, take out that library card and request bookstore vouchers as kids’ birthday presents.

Read aloud together, or read separately and share where your books have taken you. Share with them your favourite childhood book. Make reading books a part of your family life, as much as Saturday sports or travelling; it will be so much fun.

Annie Kwan is the author of The Finch Who Lost Her Wing a cute but powerful story about the importance of self-love.