PLUS: The problems that didn’t exist half a generation ago.
Raising kids oscillates between being the most inspiring thing that’s ever happened to the most terrifying decision you’ve ever made. And the angst of the parent class is changing faster than ever: A few years ago, it was all about social media and screen time. Today, it’s those same concerns, coupled with existential fears that AI will take our kids’ jobs and serious questions about whether schools can equip students with the necessary skills for our AI-mediated futures.
For our latest special package, WIRED wanted to take a closer look at today’s kids as they prepare to be the adults of tomorrow. As much as possible, we wanted to do it by talking to them, instead of their parents. What we found were a lot of young people, especially teenagers, more prepared than we might think to navigate an uncertain future.
Brendan I. Koerner spoke with the young athletes running faster than ever, and got to the bottom of why they’re able to shatter race records that used to be out of reach even for adults. Ara Rosenthal met with high school journalists who were threatened with legal action after reporting on their own community members showing up in the Epstein files. Suffice it to say, these are the kind of kids I hope are running WIRED one day. At a very different kind of academic institution, Todd Feathers takes you inside Alpha School with his second WIRED investigation into the buzzy educational empire, which uses learning software rather than traditional teachers. In fact, Feathers reveals, the company’s new Manhattan campus isn’t even a school—it’s a “homeschooling support center” … one that costs $65,000 a year.
Elsewhere, Elana Klein dug into the myth that every kid, everywhere, is using AI for everything from homework to companionship. She spoke to seven young people about why they actually can’t stand the technology. TL;DR: The slop is boring, the misinformation is frustrating, and their peers aren’t learning. Speaking of schools, Megan Greenwell visited a small county in Mississippi to find out what happens when a school district excels at improving students’ reading and test-taking abilities but struggles to keep them interested in literacy.
In just a few years, most of the kids in this issue will be entering adulthood. What they know already should offer all of us some solace: Schools don’t have all the answers, and neither does AI. Ultimately, the most valuable life lessons are the ones you teach yourself.
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By Megan Greenwell
Everyone is talking about the reading crisis. But inside the “Mississippi Miracle,” it’s all about comprehension.
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By Brendan I. Koerner
Four-minute miles are almost routine. Middle schoolers are beating college runners. Inside the youth track boom that’s turning kids and teens into speed machines.
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By Elana Klein
“I think it should stand for artificial idiot,” one 9-year-old says. Here’s why kids of all ages are calling AI “disgusting” and “creepy.”
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By Ara Rosenthal
An Instagram post turned one California student newspaper into a free-speech flash point. The students say they were just doing their homework.
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