By: David Kleeman 

Millennials, Gen Xers and old-timers like me are constantly discussing Gen Alpha’s habits, how they differ from ours, and how we can entice them to share our particular passions and interests. We offer insights into how to attract children to the sports we follow, the hobbies we love, reading for pleasure, current events and other pursuits. These strategies usually involve deconstructing the old ways in order to make it easier for kids to engage—by offering digital extensions, or creating kid-specific analogues.

Sometimes, though, what was once fundamental to daily life has gone too far down the road to anachronism to be saved. 

RIP to The New York Times for Kids, which said goodbye last weekend. The monthly print section was launched in 2017 as a way to get a younger demo interested in the news. It featured colorfully illustrated covers, 2-page (and sometimes even 4-page) infographics, and a unique editor’s note: “This section should not be read by grown-ups.”

It’s sad, but not surprising, that there simply weren’t enough subscriber households with kids to sustain the special section, which has been ad-free since 2018. The Times‘ print circulation declined by 50,000 in the past year alone, and the generation having children right now is swiftly transitioning from Millennials to born-digital Gen Zs. 

To be honest, I was critical at first of the Times for Kids—the product, not the initiative. In trying to be “lit” and not “lame,” early editions were lightweight and a bit condescending—reminiscent of the too-frequent kids TV shows that don’t trust young people enough to be straightforward, and so dress up news or issues with silliness. (Actually, this is true of mainstream news these days, too.)

To the credit of inaugural editor Caitlin Roper and her successors Amber Williams and Molly Bennet, the quality improved vastly over the special section’s eight-year run. Kids’ voices were brought further forward, more space was given to timely issues of importance to youth, stories found depth at an appropriate developmental and linguistic level, and yet there was still room for fun.

Let’s hope that the Gray Lady still covets some green shoots, and doesn’t give up on Gen Alpha. The paper should meet kids where they are and take to TikTok and YouTube to deliver “all the news that’s fit to stream”. Invite future journalists to immerse themselves in newsgathering inside Roblox, questioning NPC (non-player characters, for my fellow old folks) sources to assemble the facts behind a current story. Partner with augmented-reality developers like Niantic to build a mobile geo-location “News Happened Here” game—helping young people discover that news and storytelling is all around them.

But whatever the Times does, there is one element of the kids print section that should be jettisoned in any future adaptation. The editor’s note—”This section should not be read by grown-ups”—always annoyed me. Globally, media companies are desperate to build co-engagement—watching, playing, reading, building—between kids and parents. Not only is building these shared relationships to properties good for business, but regressing to the 1990s approach of “kids rule, parents drool” is a barrier to very important and informative dinner-table conversations that can reinforce that children aren’t just our future—they’re here and have opinions right now.

DAVID KLEEMAN is a strategist, analyst, author and speaker who has worked in children’s media for more than 35 years. He is SVP of global trends at metaverse studio and research consultancy Dubit.

Image courtesy of Asal Mshk via Unsplash.