How does the Gen G movement affect Gen Alpha?

 How does the Gen G movement affect Gen Alpha?

The Gen G movement in Nepal has created stress and curiosity among Gen Alpha children, which parents need to address.

Child psychiatrists have suggested that children be explained the events of the movement in simple language and kept away from violent content.

The recent Gen G movement and social unrest in Nepal have affected all levels of society. Especially children aged 12 and below, known as Gen Alpha, who are connected to smartphones, the internet and social media, have also been affected by such events.

Gen Alpha is the latest generation. Born after 2012, Gen Alpha children were born in a completely digital world. They are considered to be more tech-savvy and international-minded than Gen G.

They are seeing violent content on social media, seeing or hearing family members participating in the movement. This raises various questions in their minds.

How to address their curiosity in this situation? Parents need to know how to keep them safe and how to recognize the signs of stress in them.

Current challenges of Gen Alpha children

Gen Alpha children are now studying in the basic level of school. They are the generation that has grown up with smartphones, tablets and the internet. They are already accustomed to using technology at a young age. This is why they have seen violent content, videos of protests and unpleasant incidents.

This has a deep impact on their child's brain, says child psychiatrist Dr. Gunjan Dhujhu.

'Nowadays, even adults are finding it difficult to process such content, and young children are even more affected,' says Dr. Dhujhu. 'It creates stress in them, which they cannot cope with properly.'

Their brothers and sisters have joined the movement. At home, their parents are talking about it. They are seeing scenes of shooting and bloodshed on social media. This naturally raises various questions in their minds, says child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Utkarsh Karki.

Today's four- and five-year-old children are also very understanding, so they may have many questions about the movement, says clinical psychologist Trishna Bista. "Today's children are smarter than our generation," says Bista, "so they may have various questions about the current movement."

Should children's questions be answered or not?

Child psychiatrist Dr. Dhuju says that it is not necessary to ignore children's questions.

Children's questions are often dismissed as 'this is not your concern' or 'you don't need to understand this,' which is wrong," says Dr. Dhuju. "The kind of curiosity that has arisen in their minds should be eliminated."

Dr. Dhuju says that it is important to clearly explain to them what is happening. ‘This is a movement where people express their dissatisfaction, but sometimes unpleasant incidents also happen,’ he says. ‘In doing so, one should pay attention to their level of understanding.’

If the questions are not answered, they will get confused by getting wrong information from social media, says psychologist Bista. ‘You can explain it in a way that they understand through a story or thematic story,’ says Bista. ‘For example, you can give the moral of right and wrong by linking it to the festival that there is victory when fighting against injustice.’

If children ask about the movement, psychiatrist Dr. Karki understands that only the necessary things should be explained in simple language. It should be explained in a positive way and it is not necessary to go into detail about political matters,’ says Dr. Karki.

What happens if you don’t answer?

If children’s questions are not answered or their curiosity is not satisfied, they will get information from the wrong sources and form wrong opinions and will not be able to distinguish between right and wrong, says psychologist Bista.

In such a situation, children may experience the problem of ‘acute stress reaction’ if they do not get proper information, says Dr. Karki. ‘If Gen Alpha does not get answers to their questions, they may become confused, which increases stress,’ says Dr. Karki. ‘This can lead to problems such as children being scared, panicking, not being able to sleep, etc.’

In this situation, Dr. Dhuju believes that children should be kept away from such content as much as possible.

‘Parents should pay attention to what their children watch on social media and only show them age-appropriate content,’ says Dr. Karki. ‘Monitoring should be done or YouTube for Kids or passwords can be set.’

There is a lot of misleading information on social media these days. That is why it is important for parents to guide their children carefully, says Bista.

Identifying and dealing with stress in children

The movement has disrupted children’s routines. There are problems such as school closures, not being able to play outside, or not being able to go anywhere. In such a situation, parents should manage their daily routines, says Dr. Dhuju.

They should be involved in studies, games, creative activities. This reduces stress and makes it easier for them to return to normal.

In such cases, due to stress, children may show emotional symptoms such as fear, crying, anxiety, quarreling, and clinging to family. In addition, physical problems such as stomachache, headache, difficulty breathing, sleep/eating disorders Dr. Dhuju says that symptoms such as: .

In such a situation, Dr. Karki suggests that children should be told about positive possibilities. ‘This will not last forever, we should remind them that it will get better soon,’ he says.

Grief and Counseling

Some children have lost relatives in the Gen G movement. In such a situation, instead of telling them not to cry, psychiatrist Dr. Karki suggests that they should sit next to them, listen to them and show sympathy.

The role of parents

In this situation, parents themselves are stressed, but Dr. Dhuju suggests that they should still prioritize their children and make them feel safe. ‘They should be made to feel safe,’ he says. ‘There is no need to give unnecessary details, but their questions should not be ignored either.’

In such a situation, the parents themselves should be clear, says psychologist Bista. Information should be obtained from the right source and explained in simple language according to their ability to understand,’ says psychologist Bista.