From Walkman to WiFi: Parenting in the Era of Face Filters and AI Friends

Remember when “privacy” meant locking your diary with a tiny padlock and “friends” were the kids on your street, not avatars from six time zones away? Congratulations — you’re likely a millennial parent or teacher trying to raise Gen Alpha or Beta in a world that makes even Gen Z look analog.

We thought raising Gen Z was tough — the era of YouTube, TikTok, and early smartphones. But Gen Alpha and Beta? These kids are negotiating their snack choices with ChatGPT, designing digital avatars by age five, and debating which AI friend to trust more. Meanwhile, you’re still trying to figure out why Roblox has its own currency and what exactly a “core memory” is.

Let’s face it: the game has changed. The kids we’re raising now aren’t just growing up with technology — they’re growing up in it. Their classrooms are digital, their humor is meme-based, and their idea of “outside” is a virtual Minecraft landscape. And while they’re busy navigating an endless stream of content, trends, and opinions, we’re still using Google to check if it’s “cool” to say “lit.”

But here’s the thing — these changes aren’t a threat, they’re a wake-up call. Their world is different, so our parenting and teaching have to be too. We need to swap “because I said so” with conversations about digital boundaries, critical thinking, emotional expression, and yes, even screen time sanity.

Privacy, identity, and intellect look different now. It’s less about control and more about connection, less lecturing, more listening. The future isn’t slowing down — and neither are our kids.

So let’s adapt. Let’s keep up. And maybe — just maybe — learn how to use that new app before our kids explain it to us and finally, learn what “rizz” means.