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.

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Where did the time go? It’s hard to believe that YouthBeat^® has been keeping a pulse on kids, tweens, teens, and parents for over a decade now and we’re still going strong! We’re amazed at the amount of data we’ve collected over the years, tracking the evolution of youth culture.

Late in 2018, I was presenting to a kids media company, and the inevitable question came at the end: “What do you think will be the next big thing?” I replied, “Did you watch the Bandersnatch episode of Black Mirror? I think it’s only a matter of time before that kind of choose-your-adventure hits the scene more broadly.” Well, it took a couple of years and a pandemic, but we’re almost there. Here’s what we’ve been noticing:

Didn’t get that PS5 you wanted for the holidays (and didn’t want to pay outrageous re-seller prices^*)? Never fear. The gaming world has plenty more to offer for digital entertainment, and the industry has only grown more lucrative as youth and families stayed home during the pandemic.

With much of 2020 in the rearview mirror, and youth looking ahead to a gradually healthier, more normalized 2021, we pause to look back at the milestone events that shaped the past year. Even while many adults say they’d like to forget 2020 and start from scratch, for youth, each year is a lifetime that they can’t forget, and its events deserve to be acknowledged.

Amid the pandemic of 2020, families are getting creative in their ways to maintain festive traditions. They might not be able to snap a selfie with a mall Santa, but they can feast on family favorites and hold responsibly-distanced outdoor Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanza gift exchanges. Food and family are the constants, though the gatherings will be smaller, and the venues are less likely to involve a change of scenery. Some families are even going camping or all the way off the grid. For parents, shopping for and shipping gifts are top of mind.

If you earned a graduate degree in Business in the 2010s or 2020s in the Midwest, chances are you had to sit through one of my guest lectures along the way. Some of you have even taken, or will take, the classes that I teach. Some of my colleagues at C+R are also on the regular rotation for guest lecturing at universities—you may have come across my business partners Paul Metz, Sharon Seidler (retired), Bob Relihan (retired), or others.