Alpha Generation

Babies born from 2010 to form Generation Alpha | Health & Lifestyle | News.com.au

WE'VE all heard of Gen X, Gen Y, even Gen Z - but in January we go to a whole new alphabet and welcome to the world the next instalment: Generation Alpha.

Social researchers and sociologists claim the babies born into new Generation Alpha - dubbed Gen A - will be the most formally educated generation in history.

Researcher Mark McCrindle said sociologists came up with the name because scientists moved on to the Greek alphabet when they had exhausted the Latin, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

"It's not so much going back to the beginning as starting a brand new page," said Mr McCrindle, the author of a new book about global generations, The ABC Of XYZ.

He said 2010 babies and other Australians born over the next 15 years would begin school earlier and study for longer than those from previous generations.

Gen A members were also expected to be more materialistic and technology-focused.

"As the children of older, wealthier parents with fewer siblings and more entertainment and technological options, it's likely they'll be the most materially supplied generation ever," said the McCrindle Research director.

He said the material aspect was a key issue, with research groups showing one-third of households spent more than $500 per child per year.

"Half of the toys children have are electric or battery-powered, which are more expensive," he said. "These 'Google' kids are really being shaped in a world of technology and consumerism."

Nicole Le Lievre's twin boys will be among the first Australians born into the Gen A demographic next year.

The Wahroonga 33-year-old said she was thrilled her boys, due on January 3, would be part of the next generation.

"It's exciting to think of the types of opportunities that will be open to them," she said.

"We're excited, but also a little bit daunted by that amount of information and the security around that - it's a bit frightening in regard to how they can be protected.

"We don't want them to see too much too young - it's important that they still get to be kids."

This sentiment is echoed by social commentator Neer Korn, who said there could be a backlash against consumerism in Generation Alpha, with some parents going back to basics in the hope their children will hold on to their youth for longer.

"What we can't predict is (whether) the opposite could happen and there could be a backlash," he said. "There are already discussions about kids starting school at six - so a reassessment may be taking place."

Generation Alpha takes the reins from Gen Z - those born since 1995, who will make up 36 per cent of the workforce in 2020.

About 90 per cent of the class of 2020 are expected to complete Year 12, and 40 per cent will go on to further tertiary study.

They are expected to work longer and have an average of five careers and 20 different employers in their lifetimes, according to data from McCrindle Research.

Helensburgh mother-of-three Kathie Upcroft said her youngest son, Harry, 6, was a prime example of Gen Z.

"I've been saying to my children for a few months now, 'You're so fortunate to be going through your generation in this era right now,' " Ms Upcroft said. "And as a parent, seeing it all is pretty special."

Huge rise in birth defects in Falluja, Iraq

guardian.co.uk

Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting.

The extraordinary rise in birth defects has crystallised over recent months as specialists working in Falluja's over-stretched health system have started compiling detailed clinical records of all babies born.

Neurologists and obstetricians in the city interviewed by the Guardian say the rise in birth defects – which include a baby born with two heads, babies with multiple tumours, and others with nervous system problems - are unprecedented and at present unexplainable.

A group of Iraqi and British officials, including the former Iraqi minister for women's affairs, Dr Nawal Majeed a-Sammarai, and the British doctors David Halpin and Chris Burns-Cox, have petitioned the UN general assembly to ask that an independent committee fully investigate the defects and help clean up toxic materials left over decades of war – including the six years since Saddam Hussein was ousted.

"We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies," said Falluja general hospital's director and senior specialist, Dr Ayman Qais. "Before 2003 [the start of the war] I was seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased dramatically."

The rise in frequency is stark – from two admissions a fortnight a year ago to two a day now. "Most are in the head and spinal cord, but there are also many deficiencies in lower limbs," he said. "There is also a very marked increase in the number of cases of less than two years [old] with brain tumours. This is now a focus area of multiple tumours."

After several years of speculation and anecdotal evidence, a picture of a highly disturbing phenomenon in one of Iraq's most battered areas has now taken shape. Previously all miscarried babies, including those with birth defects or infants who were not given ongoing care, were not listed as abnormal cases.

The Guardian asked a paediatrician, Samira Abdul Ghani, to keep precise records over a three-week period. Her records reveal that 37 babies with anomalies, many of them neural tube defects, were born during that period at Falluja general hospital alone.

Dr Bassam Allah, the head of the hospital's children's ward, this week urged international experts to take soil samples across Falluja and for scientists to mount an investigation into the causes of so many ailments, most of which he said had been "acquired" by mothers before or during pregnancy.

Other health officials are also starting to focus on possible reasons, chief among them potential chemical or radiation poisonings. Abnormal clusters of infant tumours have also been repeatedly cited in Basra and Najaf – areas that have in the past also been intense battle zones where modern munitions have been heavily used.

Falluja's frontline doctors are reluctant to draw a direct link with the fighting. They instead cite multiple factors that could be contributors.

"These include air pollution, radiation, chemicals, drug use during pregnancy, malnutrition, or the psychological status of the mother," said Dr Qais. "We simply don't have the answers yet."

The anomalies are evident all through Falluja's newly opened general hospital and in centres for disabled people across the city. On 2 November alone, there were four cases of neuro-tube defects in the neo-natal ward and several more were in the intensive care ward and an outpatient clinic.

Falluja was the scene of the only two setpiece battles that followed the US-led invasion. Twice in 2004, US marines and infantry units were engaged in heavy fighting with Sunni militia groups who had aligned with former Ba'athists and Iraqi army elements.

The first battle was fought to find those responsible for the deaths of four Blackwater private security contractors working for the US. The city was bombarded heavily by American artillery and fighter jets. Controversial weaponry was used, including white phosphorus, which the US government admitted deploying.

Statistics on infant tumours are not considered as reliable as new data about nervous system anomalies, which are usually evident immediately after birth. Dr Abdul Wahid Salah, a neurosurgeon, said: "With neuro-tube defects, their heads are often larger than normal, they can have deficiencies in hearts and eyes and their lower limbs are often listless. There has been no orderly registration here in the period after the war and we have suffered from that. But [in relation to the rise in tumours] I can say with certainty that we have noticed a sharp rise in malignancy of the blood and this is not a congenital anomaly – it is an acquired disease."

Despite fully funding the construction of the new hospital, a well-equipped facility that opened in August, Iraq's health ministry remains largely disfunctional and unable to co-ordinate a response to the city's pressing needs.

The government's lack of capacity has led Falluja officials, who have historically been wary of foreign intervention, to ask for help from the international community. "Even in the scientific field, there has been a reluctance to reach out to the exterior countries," said Dr Salah. "But we have passed that point now. I am doing multiple surgeries every day. I have one assistant and I am obliged to do everything myself."

Awesome Guy

AN AUSTRALIAN academic at Oxford University has decided living like a
student isn't so bad, pledging more than half his career earnings to
charity.

Dr Toby Ord, a 30-year-old ethics researcher with the Future of
Humanity Institute, has agreed to give up 10 per cent of his annual
salary, plus any yearly earnings above £20,000 ($35,631).

Dr Ord says if he lives like a student, he should be able to give away
around £1 million ($1.78 million).

"My student years were not extravagant, but were immensely enjoyable,
with the chief enjoyments such as reading beautiful books and spending
time with my wife and friends costing almost nothing," Dr Ord said.

After completing Science and Arts degrees at the University of
Melbourne, Dr Ord took his Masters and PhD in ethics at Oxford, where
he is in his first year of paid work, expecting to earn about £30,000
($53,447).

He has calculated that on an academic's salary, he should earn about
£1.5 million ($2.67 million) over the course of his career.
"I realised that if I were to continue to live modestly like I have as
a student, I should be able to give away about £1 million ($1.78
million)," he said.
Interactive YOUR SAY: Could you live like a student for the rest of
your life? Tell us below

He says life on his diminished income is "very good".

"If I spent the extra money on myself I could go on holiday more
often, get an iPhone, eat out at expensive restaurants. It would be
nice but not all that much better."

On Saturday, Dr Ord will launch a society called Giving What We Can.

Members take a public pledge to donate at least 10 per cent of their
salary to organisations they believe can best use the money to fight
poverty in the developing world.

At the launch, Professor Alan Fenwick from Imperial College London
will talk about his work fighting neglected tropical diseases through
his organisation, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI).

Dr Ord will give him a cheque for £10,000 ($17,815), an amount he put
aside while he was still a student.

He is also giving money to a tuberculosis charity, the Stop TB Partnership.

"As an undergraduate, I often argued with my friends about political
and ethical matters," Dr Ord said.

"I regularly received the retort: 'If you believe that, why don't you
just give all of your money to people starving in Africa?'

"This was meant to show that my position was absurd, but as time
passed and I thought more about ethics, I found the conclusion
increasingly sensible - why not indeed?"

"More purpose in life"

The society will share information about the most effective charities
and tax-effective ways to give.

Members can choose to give their money wherever they think it will
best help eliminate suffering in the developing world.

"Once you get used to the idea, it is actually not much of a burden,"
Dr Ord said.

"I feel much more purposeful in life. What is difficult is agonising
over whether you can justify each luxury.

"By making a pledge, you don't have to do that anymore - you just live
within your new means."

....I wish I could meet him

wow

News.com.au Top stories | News from Australia and around the world online | News.com.au

IT was animals she loved, so in the end former dentist decided to give them her $3m estate.

The making of an American soldier

There has been no shortage of front-line photography from Iraq. Images of boot camps, training exercises and welcome home parades are familiar, too. But it's unusual and perhaps unique to follow the progress of a single soldier over an extended period – to watch a gung-ho but vulnerable young man in private moments of frustration, euphoria, tiredness and despair. The Denver Post filled that gap when it sent the photographer Craig F Walker, along with several reporters, to chronicle the recruitment, induction, training and deployment of a baby-faced American soldier called Ian Fisher. The journey begins with Fisher graduating from high school in May 2007 and ends, 27 months later, with him returning from combat and setting up home with his new wife. It's a remarkably intimate visual record of a young man's struggles to serve God and nation.

Since the age of 15, Fisher had dreamed of fighting for his country. The speed at which he's pushed through is alarming, nevertheless. Within three weeks of leaving school, he joins up; within three months, he completes his basic training; after a year, still in his teens, he's off to Iraq, where he serves in the Quick Reaction Force and where he remains, apart from a brief trip home, for the best part of a year. We see a drill sergeant use bullying and sleep deprivation to make men of wayward boys. But when Fisher holds a machine gun, it's as if he's a kid with a toy.

Armies are supposed to be well-oiled machines. But Fisher's progress is far from smooth. Here he is on the phone, 36 hours after joining up: an old elbow injury has flared up (an injury he had concealed when signing up) and he is so homesick he hopes they discharge him. Here he is six months later, back in Denver with his dad, having gone awol for a few days (a fine and punishment ensue but he isn't demoted in rank). And here he is, on the verge of going to Iraq, angry with his platoon sergeant and thoroughly demoralised: "I feel like just a number in the Army. That's all I ever was."

He injures his foot. He strains his back. He's on six or seven different kinds of medication ("at least it's not coke, ecstasy, weed"). But it's not his injuries that betray the strain he's under so much as the vacillations in his love life, which he pursues, even in Iraq, via his mobile phone. In June 2007, the day before he joins up, there's a photo of him at a fairground, on the big wheel, kissing his girlfriend Ashley. By December he's engaged to Kayla, who smiles as she shows her ring. Cut to March 2008 and he's with another Ashley after breaking up with Kayla. Then comes Kirsten, who lasts from August till November, when he tears up her photo. In March this year he meets Devin: they marry in a register office three days after his return from Iraq. "Everyone gets counselled in Iraq that life is not going to be like your fantasy when you get back home," Ian says. "Well, I'm checking this off my fantasy list."

The Denver Post blog on which this photographic essay appears is packed with comments. Some see a tale of pride and courage, others a propagandist endorsement of the US war effort. But the real story is the old story, unchanged since Wilfred Owen told it: the use of boys who know no better as cannon fodder. Ian Fisher may have survived but plenty haven't. And even his happy ending is only provisional.