Is it harder being a teen today? Or do they have it easier than those of past generations? We asked parents and teens who say being a teenager has gotten harder or easier to explain in their own words why they think so.
85% of U.S. teens say they play video games. They see both positive and negative sides, from making friends to harassment and sleep loss.
Most teens at least sometimes feel happy and peaceful when they don’t have their phone, but 44% say this makes them anxious. Half of parents say they have looked through their teen’s phone.
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A majority of teens say a welcoming, safe online environment is more important than people being able to speak their minds freely online.
The landscape of social media is ever-changing, especially among teens who often are on the leading edge of this space. A new survey of American teenagers ages 13 to 17 finds that TikTok has established itself as one of the top online platforms for U.S. teens, while the share of teens who use Facebook has fallen sharply.
A majority of teens prefer in-person over virtual or hybrid learning. Hispanic and lower-income teens are particularly likely to fear they’ve fallen behind in school due to COVID-19 disruptions.
Over the years, we have studied how U.S. adults – as well as teens and children – use and engage with Instagram. Here are seven key takeaways.
Two-thirds of parents in the U.S. say parenting is harder today than it was 20 years ago, with many citing technologies – like social media or smartphones – as a reason.
As schools close and classes and assignments shift online, some students do not have reliable access to the internet at home.
Most cellphone-using teens say their phone is a way to pass time. Similarly large shares use their phone to connect with others or learn new things.
A majority of parents are concerned about the experiences their teen might encounter online. Parents take various actions to monitor and police their teen’s online behavior.
Teens are spending their time differently than they did a decade ago, but gender differences remain in time spent on leisure, grooming, homework, housework and errands.
Close to half of U.S. teens say they are on the internet “almost constantly.” Yet highly plugged-in youth in America are just as likely as their less-connected peers to socialize regularly with their friends in person.
© 2024 Pew Research Center
