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Every generation is shaped by their socio-political, cultural, and economic environment. This is also what creates the gap between generations, as these factors influence the thinking patterns, goals, and general lifestyle of that generation. This generation of teenagers was born to mobile phones and social media. This makes the generational changes more unique as social media plays a huge role in the daily life of today’s teens. According to a report by Common Sense Media, the average time spent on social media by 13 to 18 year old is nine hours! Understanding what drives today’s teenagers is important as they are the face of youth. Listed below are ten ways teenagers today differ from their past generations.
Communication and its forms:
The previous generations of teens did not get access to mobile phones as easily as this generation; for one, they were new and expensive and used mostly by their parents. Letters and postcards, other than of course ye old face to face talking was a way of communication.
Today 95% of the teenage population of the U.S. has the access to a smartphone; over 45% of them are always using the internet. Today there are various forms of communications have evolved due to digitalization that includes text messaging, snap chatting (sending photos with a small caption), exchanging memes, emailing (at least teens of 1999 did that), video calls, and chatting.
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Understanding Differences and Prejudices:
The previous generations and their idea of ‘normal’ were inspired by the people around them, there were still a lot of tensions around different races, and teens main source of information was their parents, the news which was again biased, and the people around them so empathy, tolerance, and understanding towards people of the different racial and social background were lacking.
In comparison to them, today’s teenagers are more sensitive and empathetic towards people of different racial backgrounds. They get to see all the sides of an issue using the internet and have an open mind since they interact with people worldwide on the internet. They reject any kind of culturally offensive slurs and symbols used and strongly oppose its use.
Obesity:
A typical 16-year-old teenage boy weighted around 145 pounds or 66kg. And the average weight of a 16-year-old teenage girl was 123.8 pounds or 56 kgs. The percentage of obese teens was 13.7% in 1994.
Now the average weight of a boy aged 16 weighs 155.5 pounds or 70 kgs, and for a girl, it is 129.1 pounds or 58 kgs. The current rate of obesity in teenagers is 20.6%
Most of the rise in obesity can be attributed to fast-food culture and sedentary lifestyle, teens now have gaming consoles and app games they do not need to go out much.
Also Read: COVID-19 lockdown loneliness leads to depressive symptoms in adults: Study
Mental Health:
The National Institute of Mental Health estimated that there are 3.2 million teenagers in the United States who have experiences at least a major depressive incident in 2017. Most of these are due to factors like cyberbullying or peer pressure and feelings of insecurity. Higher hours spent on social media have been linked to increases in depressive episodes.
Social Awareness:
Teenagers today are more aware and initiative towards social issues, many times they use social media to become a part of a campaign and raise their voice to join an issue. These issues might be happening at the other end of the globe, but donations and support initiatives would be led by teenagers. Social media gives them a sense of empowerment.
Teenage Pregnancy:
Teenage pregnancies have in the US have fallen sharply in the past three decades; it has fallen by 42% as compared to 1990. Most of it is due to awareness about contraception options and access to better healthcare.
Alcohol and Drugs:
In 1993, 34.8% of students in high school smoked and 81.6% tried alcohol. Today only 10.8 % of teenagers have tried cigarettes and 63.2% have tried alcohol in fact as teens are educated about alcohol and drug abuse the rate continues declining.
Fashion:
Back in the 1980s and 90s teenagers usually wore what was vogue or socially acceptable.
Teenagers these days are more daring with their wardrobe, their fashion preferences have more to do with their personality than trends.
Religious Beliefs:
Teenagers are more open about not sharing the same religious beliefs as their parents and they are more independent in choosing their religious affiliations or disassociating from them.
Social Interactions:
The current generation of teenagers is more comfortable with meeting and interacting with people online than having a face-to-face interaction. Much of it can be attributed to insecurity as in the digital age the beauty standards have arisen to impossible levels and the use of photoshop and beauty apps have become more rampant which makes them insecure about the physical appearance.
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