These are unusual times!

Parents, teachers, and caregivers can understandably feel overwhelmed by 21st-century children and adolescents, with the unsettling feeling of facing a locked door with a new code. This obstacle can become insurmountable at an age when the therapeutic relationship demands mutual trust and empathy.

Children born since 2000 are forcing previous generations to adapt. They don't occupy the same space, and they impose new ways of eating, dressing, negotiating with adults, and managing social relationships. Not to mention their particular interest in screens, with their own image, of course, at the center of all their concerns.

Understanding the specific characteristics of this generation thus becomes a necessary, exciting, but complex challenge. Addressing the importance of healthy lifestyles, schoolwork, and risky behaviors requires prior awareness of the new codes of adolescence. Over-informed and hyper-connected, they seek immediate gratification and struggle to envision a future made uncertain by a series of unsettling events (AIDS, unemployment, terrorist attacks, tsunamis, pandemics, wars in Europe and the Middle East, etc.).

And when our young patient presents a cognitive peculiarity, the situation becomes even more delicate! The existence of ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder or High Intellectual Potential encourages us to adapt the caregiving approach to facilitate the encounter and optimize care.

For healthcare professionals, the challenge is significant. Providing close support to millennials requires understanding the incredible sociological shifts that have occurred over the past 30 years and a better understanding of neurodiversity. This necessitates adapting to establish a therapeutic alliance that is not always guaranteed, avoiding intergenerational misunderstandings, and preparing new generations for the challenges of the 21st century.

Boulé F. Generation Y: Highly Different, a Major Challenge for Medical Education. Medical Pedagogy, 13 (1), 9-25, 2012

Dr. Olivier Revol, 66, is the author of numerous scientific publications concerning intellectual precocity, hyperactivity, and learning difficulties.

He heads a child neuropsychiatry department at the University Hospital of Lyon. He teaches at Lyon 1 University and has been campaigning for 30 years for every child, regardless of their abilities, to discover the joy of learning at school.

He has published three books with JC Lattès: "It's not a big deal! School failure can be treated" in 2006, "I have a teenager, but I'm taking care of myself..." in 2010, and "Let's calm down" in 2013. He co-authored "100 ideas to support gifted children" (Tom Pousse) in 2015, and "The Philocognitives" in 2019 with Odile Jacob.

He currently helps parents and professionals understand the new codes of children and adolescents, with a particular interest in siblings of children with different needs.

Academic qualifications

DEA (Master 2) in neuropsychology

CES in Psychiatry (specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry: with highest honors)