iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood--and What That Means for the Rest of Us Hardcover – August 22, 2017

If you are reading this review, according to the cornucopia of research offered in this book, you are unlikely to be an iGen’er. “By 2015, one out of three high school seniors admitted they had not read any books for pleasure in the past year, three times as many as in 1976.” While Professor Twenge cautions us not to evaluate some of her findings as good or bad, this, for me, is surely a bit sad.

As a sexagenarian father of two daughters, aged 14 and 16, I desperately needed and wanted to read this book. And I wasn’t disappointed. It is well written and provides a wealth of information and insight. Much of it, I found, reinforced my own observations of my daughters. In some cases, that allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief. At the very least, their habits that are the most different from my own at their age are not unique to them.

Twenge is careful up front to articulate the limitations of this type of statistical analysis. “Because the survey samples are nationally representative, they represent American young people as whole, not just an isolated group.” That larger group, the iGen’ers, are defined as those born from 1995 to 2012, a group of 74 million Americans that currently account for 24% of the population.

One of the things I normally find limiting in this kind of big data statistical analysis is that it chronicles attributes. But if a picture is worth a thousand words, a behavior is worth ten thousand pictures, and Professor Twenge clearly appreciates that. She doesn’t just present the data, she probes it.

A few random thoughts occurred to me as I read it.

I came of age at the height of the Vietnam War. When I was required to register with Selective Service, the draft was still in place and college deferments, for good reason, had been eliminated. I vividly recall standing in my high school cafeteria at the age of 17 listening to the statewide announcement of our lottery draft numbers. The numbers were drawn by birth date and the official reading the numbers started the broadcast noting that the first 123 numbers drawn were almost certain to be drafted, the second 123 numbers may or may not be depending on need, and the last 119 could rest easier. My birthday was drawn 124th. The birthday of my friend, who happened to be standing next to me, was drawn 3rd.

I offer that only to suggest that there are certain historical events that help to define individuals, if not a generation. The risk of being sent to fight in the jungle of Southeast Asia was one for me. That’s not to say that iGen’ers have not endured such historic events. It’s just to remind us that they exist.

The other observation that I had, which isn’t directly explored in the book, is the change not just in how we live, but where we live. I walked to school on my own starting in the fourth grade, road my bicycle everywhere, and spent nearly all of my waking hours with friends—with no adult supervision. People didn’t live in sub-divisions so much in those days. We lived in economically diverse neighborhoods. Urban sprawl and the socio-economic homogeneity of the suburban subdivision have both empowered and demanded certain changes in how our children live.

My final observation has to do with the individualistic versus collective social norm. Professor Twenge writes, “…cultural individualism is connected to slower developmental speeds across both countries and time. Around the world, young adults grow up more slowly in individualistic countries than collectivist ones.”

My family lived in China for nine years. For my daughters, it was during the period from age 5 until age 14, on average. China has a collective culture in the extreme and it was my observation that the children matured very slowly, at least compared to my personal experience as a Boomer. (I found out from this book that this is a global development.) Because of the collectivist culture, however, my wife and I were very lenient with the independence we allowed out daughters. At a restaurant, for example, we never hesitated to let the children go off and play on their own, out of our sight. (A children’s play area is offered at virtually every restaurant.) Violent crime and attacks on children are rare in China, but more importantly, we knew that everyone else at the restaurant, including the staff, would keep a close eye on the safety of the children. It’s just part of the collectivist mentality. They all feel responsible. My point being that I’m not sure the individualistic versus collectivist dimension isn’t a bit counter-intuitive when you get to the social extremes.

The study does reinforce the far-reaching impact of technology. It comes with a lot of baggage. Social media is not social at all. It’s entertainment. And, for the most part, it’s not authentic. Selfies, for example, are always staged. Reminded me of The Jetsons, when they would always hold a mask of perfection in front of their face when talking on the video phone.

In many ways, I consider this book to be a launching pad rather than a conclusion. Professor Twenge has done a great job of starting the conversation. But it needs to continue. What is it about technology that has cast our children in this way? Why do they think and behave the way they do? (Twenge has started that conversation in many areas.) And what, as parents and members of the larger community, can we do to reinforce the good things (e.g., our children are safer) and attack the negatives (e.g., suicide rates are up).

Some of the developments are going to be a little tricky. Twenge points out, for example, that iGen’ers are overwhelmingly inclusive. In terms of the racism that is haunting our society today, that might suggest we just need to wait and the problem will be resolved. I don’t think so, and, to her credit, Twenge apparently agrees. A commitment to inclusion is not enough. We must do more.

I also think it will take the village to address the iGen’ers overwhelming anxiety about their financial future. That is truly a problem for the business community and the government to solve. The implied social contract that existed between employer and employee when I started my career disappeared starting in the 80s. It isn’t coming back but we have to build some form of alternative. Technology and social evolution have taken away the safety net of self-sufficiency (i.e. the Thoreau model) and have left a void in its place. It’s a void that needs to be filled; or bridged, perhaps.

I, therefore, go beyond the parents of iGen’ers and educators in recommending this book. We all need to read it because we all have a role to play, both for our children, our selves, and the future of our society.

Born in 1996 and now in senior year of college at UCSanDiego. And everything in this book has seemed to ring true for me, and of the students around me. For me, I'd say screen time and reliance on texting/messaging instead of real conversations was a big factor in my lack of social skills in high school leading to much social and romantic failure; the sapping of social media; the constant sleep deprivation in high school (constantly felt asleep at the wheel driving to school though never crashed, and often in classes). I have deleted facebook and all that validation-hunting antisocial social media. This book has been very eye-opening to see how my generation is sadly faring. I wish there was something I could do for the students around me and the ones coming in. And their soft, unprepared asses. -Will Sun

The book uses long-term generational surveys (I remember taking the 12th grade survey back in 1986!) to show how the generation born since 1995 have changed. Not only is the information incredibly interesting and compelling, it's vital to helping us understand the children and young adults in our country. I highly recommend the book for parents, educators, and anyone else who works with young people.

I also recommend the book for teens. My 17 year old picked it up and read several pages and plans to read more. I'm also sending the book to my college-aged daughter and hoping she will share it with the Residential Life office where she works.

The book is based on hard data and filled with charts, but there are also anecdotes to humanize the numbers. Quick read and super interesting!!!

Over the weekend, I saw Dr. Twenge's short snippet on CNN. I occasionally keep CNN or some other random TV show on as background noise (usually while I am working). I decided to buy the book and am glad I did.

This book focuses on the new generation, particularly the most recent one that does not know of a world without a screen that you can flip images through with the flick of a finger on a backlit display. Dr. Twenge also compares this to the previous generation, the Millenials as well as GenX. In such a short time period, there have been enormous changes in American culture. Dr. Twenge evaluates these changes and provides significant data from well-known, reliable sources.

Dr. Twenge uses data and real life interviews with those that are part of iGen. I found many of her conversations quite humerous. In particular, many of her interviewees used the word 'like' several times, often in the same sentence. I found this to be quite humerous, but very real from conversations with my nieces and nephews.

Overall, great book. I plan on buying Dr. Twenge's other books. Personally, I like her writing style in that it is clear and unambigous. Mostly, given the contents it describes, it in no way, shape or form reads like a textbook.