gen alpha uses tumblr now

a gen z/alpha trying to understand who they really are and who everyone else really is...

[thatgenalpha]

pinned :]

hi tumblr! this is a sideblog created by a gen alpha/zalpha that prefers to remain anonymous, but you can call me Arden! I go by any pronouns :)

You might notice my main from my artstyle, however i’d generally prefer i stay anon! so preferably don’t try mentioning my main too often

please note that means that I am a minor, so don’t be weird.

I mainly made this blog to speak up about my own personal experience as a gen alpha and also talk about the issues my other gen alpha peers face! I’m not sure how often I’ll post on here but expect the topic to stay the same :]

Asks are encouraged! I really want to know the questions other people have about gen alpha!

thank you for visiting my blog :>

tags:

#rb ★ - reblogs

#queued ★ - queued posts and reblogs

#askbox - asks

#zalpha.txt - me talking about things, usually original posts

these tags will all be linked below!

[stackslip]

we're moving to an internet where children would be banned from reaching out for help and friendship online but abusive parents can post their children's every second online to humiliate and expose them for money with no pushback

[dragon-in-a-fez]

when a government bans young people from using social media, and then categorises messenger apps like Signal and WhatsApp as "social media", they are pushing those young people toward using text messages, a fundamentally insecure form of communication. texts are not encrypted in transit and can be read by both the sender's mobile carrier and the recipient's. that also means they can be leaked in data breaches, subpoenaed, or just handed over willingly to law enforcement at the carriers' discretion.

hmm. I wonder why governments might want this

[alpaca-clouds]

Something I keep thinking about is how a lot of people consider it a good thing that children cannot by themselves consent (or refuse consent) to medical treatments. Some people do kinda get it that maybe it might be a problem with stuff like kids not being able to access trans healthcare, or kids being refused vaccination by antivaxx parents. But in general I see that most people are actually okay with this idea for the most part.

And like... you do get that that is kinda insane, right?

Because this is something that so often leads to suffering. And I am saying this as someone disabled, who had so many issues due to this in his childhood.

Just three examples: when I was 7, I was supposed to get checked for autism. My mother did not want an autistic child. Since she just could have a "neurotypical" child by refusing diagnosis, she did just that.

When I was 12, my mother had decided I needed a certain plastic surgery (one that had a minor health benefit, but still was largely a beauty thing). I did not want it. I really, really did not want it. We still went through almost the entire process until thankfully there was a doctor who went: "Wait, this is elective. I am refusing to do this on a child that does not want it."

And when I was 14 my mother refused to get me to the hospital when I had severe food poisoning. She refused me hospital treatment for almost two weeks. By the time I got actually taken to the hospital I was almost dead.

And here is the thing: all of this should just not happen. The doctor when I was 12 was cool, but... he refused to do the surgery because he had the right to make a conscience call. Legally my mother was in the right to force me into that elective surgery. And that just should not be the case.

A lot of children die and suffer due to their legal inability to consent - or refuse consent - to medical treatments. And I wish y'all would understand that.

Whenever this is brought up, people will go: "Oh, but parents will decide what is best for the child." And here is the thing: No, they are not. There is so much stuff out there showing that indeed, a lot of parents suck at this. Some out of malice, some because they are religious nuts, and some because they literally treat their kids like some sort of doll or some shit.

[ella-the-ella]

This has probably been done to death and taken as fact by now but... I thought this sums it up well

[lesbianrey]

idk what young person on the internet needs to hear this but you are not obligated to share any personal details about yourself online. in fact im gonna straight-up circle back to 00s era advice and say being anonymous is good actually

[willgrahamscock]

[rubedeckillerofficial]

Drives me genuinely insane that kids-only spaces on the internet like Club Penguin were destroyed because companies realised that there’s only so much profit you can squeeze out of children with no disposable income, so now kids are being forced into adult spaces on the internet where the profit model is to find the most viewers you can passively expose to ads that nobody is clicking on so all online media is slowly turning into Mr Beast Elsagate nightmares, and for adults this means giving your ID to companies owned by businessmen with Epstein connections to keep the kids “safe.” Clown internet.

[dragon-in-a-fez]

keep thinking about how I wrote in my dissertation about how every time a new form of public/social space emerges it's immediately popular with kids and teenagers who see it as a chance at freedom and then adults colonise it and kick them out. this happened with malls in the 80s and diners in the 50s and pool halls in the 20s. my dad was doing research on this trend in like 1975. and I was like "yeah so this is going to happen to the internet" and then five years later every government suddenly decided to ban kids from everywhere online. I hate being right especially when I don't even get paid for it

[thatgenalpha]

heyyy!!! I'm back from the dead

I'm a freshman now!!!!!!! and I've been living on a rock but I digress lol

how have you been? ^_^

CONGRATS! thats’s awesome! good luck on your highschool journey!

I’ve just been sending stuff to the queue if I find it relevant. also playing lots of Minecraft. while it may not look like it I have been online nearly every day :) what about you?

[lesbianrey]

idk what young person on the internet needs to hear this but you are not obligated to share any personal details about yourself online. in fact im gonna straight-up circle back to 00s era advice and say being anonymous is good actually

[pocket-deer-belly]

the older i get the more it's terrifying to me how much child surveillance is normalized. scared for your child's mental health? here's more tools that will make them feel even more watched at all times. child is experimenting with their gender identity while away from you? we made it this other adult's job to surveil them for you. kid is "enjoying" their "free time" instead of doing homework? we've put parental controls on the things that they like so that you can monitor their private time. like can we fucking stop

[prokopetz]

It's striking how much mental health advice directed at kids and teenagers boils down to saying "you have to be okay with people treating you like you're not fully human because they're right, but it's okay because one day you will be human", then being genuinely surprised when it doesn't help.

[iwilleatyourenglish]

i think it's actually really horrifying and detrimental that it's considered socially unacceptable to tell parents when they are making mistakes while raising their kids

[tpwrtrmnky]

"screen time screen time screen time screeeeEEEEEEEE" before the smartphone, kids were so bored they'd play with explosives, vandalize local infrastructure and harass old people for entertainment.

fund libraries. fund makerspaces. fund youth sports. enable kids to actually go places without having to ask someone to drive them everywhere. excessive reliance on digital spaces is a symptom of having nothing else to do.

[simplysebby]

I don't know. I don't get why more people (/rhetorical) aren't, in some way, invested in youth lib. Like, can you listen to what we're saying? Have you seen what's been happening? Why aren't you infuriated?

My mom told me a story today about how, in her last semester of high school, she had 4 study halls, calculus, and PE. She told me she skipped her study halls and just showed up for calculus and PE so she could graduate. She told me on her senior skip day she went to the lake with nearly her entire class.

I'm not saying this is like, incredibly awesome and educationally productive, but she was a teen. And she did teen stuff.

My school doesn't have study halls. Punishments for absences start once you dip below 95% attendence rates. 3 tardies count as an unexcused absence. We got several emails about how senior skip day was not approved and that anyone caught to be participating would get in school suspension. 45 minute lunches are a "privilege". Skipping class is an in school suspension, which are sent along with grades to colleges you apply for. Speaking of which, the majority of my classmates are still spending hours everyday studying, and failing that, doing part-time jobs, clubs, sports, and volunteering -- all in hopes of getting into the college they want.

Everyone is fucking wiped! Barely any of us enjoy school (+or life, to some extent), many of us are actively suicidal because of school. One of us didn't make it to graduation. This is seen as an "us issue", a matter of mindset (don't worry! Today's quote of the day is another variation of "good mindset = good day, bad mindset = bad day"!!) Most places actively bar or discourage teens from being there (hanging out in a mall = loitering, no minors allowed without parent supervision basically everywhere, walking around with no real goal is "suspicious", etc etc). When we stay inside and go on the internet, we are told that we are the problem, we need to stop spending so much time online, and the solution is social media and phone bans. As if excessive use of electronics by younger people isn't a symptom of a much larger issue. As if bans will solve the problem. As if we like spending our teenage years scrolling.

My friends tell me how their mom took their inheritance money and bought a car. How their dad flipped their shit, verbally and physically, when they dyed their hair. I read stories about people getting messages from online friends that say "I think my parents found out I'm queer" and then never hearing from them again. Have you ever read about the troubled teen industry?

And that isn't even, like, the basics!!! That's barely even scratching the surface!!

Aren't you angry? Aren't you? I need more people to be angry, because I'm not allowed to (don't cha know being angry when you're young justifies abuse I mean discipline?).

[clowns-ofthesame-circus]

"This child cannot get this treatment because their parent said no" why is this normal to you!!! "This child, who is begging for treatment, cannot be given lifesaving medical care because their parent said no" is a wild statement!!!

Children should not need parental permission for medical care!! This doesn't just apply to life or death care*! A pregnant teen should be able to get an abortion without parental permission! Let teens go on birth control without parental permission! A kid should be able to see a doctor about a mental condition that is harming them and get it treated, even if their parent "doesn't believe it's real".

KIDS SHOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE MEDICAL AUTONOMY!!!!!

*it should be noted that the reasons I list after this can also be considered life or death, as a lack of access to them can be deadly.