Alpha Insights, a report focusing on Generation Alpha, defined as people born from 2010 onward, describes them as a "generation of others’ expectations." It portrays them as more likely to struggle with powerlessness and feeling overwhelmed than with rebellion.
The first members of Generation Alpha are turning 16 this year, the report notes.
Young people who took part in the study, produced by the Półtorej Minuty Foundation, a Polish NGO, identified school pressure, relationship difficulties and a lack of agency as important challenges.
According to the report, some young people, particularly those in difficult circumstances, turn to artificial intelligence for emotional support.
It cites research suggesting that children who ask chatbots about emotions and safety show higher levels of anxiety and depression.
The report also challenges the idea that Generation Alpha are "digital natives." It argues that growing up with technology does not automatically mean being able to understand or critically evaluate it.
Sixty-three percent of Polish teenagers do not know what a deepfake is, although 70 percent have already used AI tools, according to data cited in the report.
"This is a generation that feels that the world is happening around them, rather than with their participation—a generation of others' expectations, learning adulthood in the shadow of AI, the pandemic and the war beyond Poland's eastern border," said Dominik Kuc, head of the Półtorej Minuty Foundation.
The study involved 17 teenagers aged 13 to 16 who took part in three online focus groups held in August.
The report identifies flexibility, critical thinking and communication as the future skills most valued by the teenagers interviewed.
Oliwia Wyrzykowska, the foundation's deputy head and a co-author of the report, said: "What surprised us most was how maturely young people talk about their limitations. They don't want their problems to be reduced to their phones, and they are right, because they are still dealing with being overwhelmed in other areas: at school, in relationships, and with the feeling that decisions about the future have to be made sooner than they know who they are."
The report also highlights parental overprotection, suggesting that attempts to protect children from every possible risk can paradoxically reduce their sense of agency.
(sp/gs)
Source: polskieradio.pl, tvp.info, poltorejminuty.pl