Gaming is for everyone; all ages, genders, backgrounds, and skillsets. Video gaming is experiencing exponential growth as it becomes a shared pastime for more folks when in-person activities become untenable.
One of our media clients recently reached out to the YouthBeat® team about kids’ perceptions of the diversity in TV programming that is available to them. It’s an interesting topic, and one that we’ve been writing about in our Trendspotters for several years. We’ve been taking note of not just the inclusion of ethnicities and LGBTQ+ characters, but also autism, food-challenged characters, homelessness, and differing abilities that require things like wheelchairs.
Youth are back at it! Summer camps, family reunions, traveling cross country, and sleepovers with their friends top the list of plans young people have for the summer. COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted in most areas, and kids welcome a return to their sports leagues, showing their animals at the county fair, and visiting water parks. Half of parents say life is getting better.* YouthBeat® parents shared that good things are happening, life is returning to normal, and they’re looking forward to seeing friends and family members they’ve missed throughout the pandemic.
Last year there were two elephants in youth’s rooms—the pandemic and social injustice. Youth and their families reckoned with both, and we were with them every step of the way. Our annual Yearbook catalogues the relevant cultural happenings, the minutiae of everyday life, and the trends we see bubbling up that are important for brands to recognize when building strategy for the next several years. Plus, we offer sound advice for investigating young consumers’ needs to build a lifetime of loyalty.
First, the exhale: Have you put on “real” pants after a year of Zoom calls in cut-off sweats? If the answer is “no,” you’re in good company. Our advice is to not worry; and while you’re at it, buy bigger pants. Case in point: Skinny jeans are now “out” and high-waisted, pleated, loose comfy jeans are “in.”
Watch YouthBeat’s Mary McIlrath as she presented to a recent Digital Kids Meetup Group and delved into the methodologies for conducting playtests virtually in the new reality post-covid.
Throughout 2020 and into 2021, restrictions have been in place for many of our youth’s formerly in-person activities and events. Some, like sports, were canceled altogether, and others pivoted to video meetings for clubs or award ceremonies. Now our youth are raring to return to face-to-face interactions.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone’s lives in the past year, we’ve seen interesting trends for youth and how they’re spending their free time.
