American teens can be easy scapegoats for media outlets looking for simple angles on social problems. A new report by the Casey Journalism Center on Children and Families scrutinized TV and newspaper stories regarding children and teens over a three-month period and found that more than 90% focused on the "quick-hit" stories of crime and violence or abuse and neglect among today's youth. Despite this steady barrage of negative press, the vast majority of teens view themselves in a positive light.
Findings from a 2000 Gallup Youth Survey* paint this optimistic teenage self-portrait. American teens ages 13 to 17 were polled on how well they fit various descriptions. Sixty-eight percent (68%) said the statement "most of your teachers like you" describes them "very well." A similar percentage (63%) felt the statement "you have excellent social skills" fits them "very well."
More general questions are even more likely to be met with positivity by teen-age respondents. Almost nine in 10 (87%) say they are satisfied with the way things are going in their lives. And an even higher percentage -- 95% -- say the statement "there are a lot of things out of school you do very well" describes them "very well" or "somewhat well."
Looking into the future, American teens envision a well-educated and prosperous life for themselves. After high school, most teen-agers expect to pursue a college education, with 64% responding that they will do so on a full-time basis. Nearly all teens consider it "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that they will become well educated (98%), own their own home (97%), and have a good-paying job (96%). Seventy-three percent (73%) of teen-agers polled think teens will "definitely" or "probably" contribute new hope and sense of purpose for our world.
*Findings are based on telephone interviews with a representative national cross section of 500 teen-agers, ages 13 to 17, conducted April through June 2000. For this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±5 percentage points.