April 30, 1998
American Teen-Agers Are Both Worldly
and Devoid of Cynicism, Poll Indicates
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN with MARJORIE CONNELLY
The New York Times
They carry beepers, prefer permanent tattoos to body piercing and are just
about as likely to take lessons in shooting guns as they are to play musical
instruments. Four in 10 personally know someone who is gay or lesbian, and
6 in 10 say distributing condoms in schools is a good idea.
Teen-agers today are worldly, shaped by exposure to a culture that has dropped
many of its inhibitions, according to a nationwide poll of 13- to 17-year-olds
conducted by The New York Times and CBS News.
Yet, the same poll suggests, in some ways they are as wholesome and devoid
of cynicism as the generation that wore saddle shoes. They trust their government,
admire their parents and believe it is possible to start out poor and become
rich. Ninety-four percent say they believe in God. Strong majorities say
they never drink alcohol and never smoke cigarettes or marijuana.
On sexual matters, too, they display a notable conservatism. Almost half
say sex before marriage is "always wrong" (53 percent of girls
agree, and 41 percent of boys). Fifty-eight percent of boys and 47 percent
of girls say homosexuality is "always wrong."
Fewer than one in four say they have ever had sex, but 71 percent say "a
lot" or "some" of the other students at their schools are
having sex. And almost half of the same teen-agers who say they disapprove
of premarital sex favor condom distribution in schools.
"People are going to have sex, and they should have protected sex,"
said Brett Adam Abel, a 15-year-old from Apopka, Fla., who participated
in the poll and agreed to a follow-up interview. "They should have
the chance to prevent herpes, AIDS and stuff."
When asked to name the biggest problem faced by teen-agers today, 39 percent
said drugs, about the same percentage as in a poll of teen-agers conducted
by The Times and CBS News four years ago. The number who said that violence
or crime was the biggest problem facing their generation has dropped dramatically
-- to 7 percent, from 22 percent in 1994. The drop may reflect an actual
decrease in crime nationally, as documented by federal statistics.
Still, when the youths were asked what they considered the biggest problem
in their schools, 16 percent said violence, the most frequent response.
The survey followed a wave of shootings at schools in recent months, most
notably the killing of four students and a teacher in Jonesboro, Ark., in
late March.
"Fights mainly, nothing with guns or anything," said Alison Brown,
14, who attends a public school in Cincinnati. "They don't happen as
much as they used to; now it's about once a week. There's less of it because
our school has taken tighter control."
Guns are a part of many teen-agers' lives, the poll found. Nearly 4 in 10
say a member of their household owns a gun, and 15 percent say they themselves
own one. Thirty-one percent have had instruction in shooting.
Only 2 percent said abortion or pregnancy was the biggest problem facing
teen-agers. Only 1 percent said it was AIDS. Yet 18 percent said they personally
knew someone who had tested positive for HIV, had AIDS or had died of AIDS.
The poll, of 1,048 teen-agers, was conducted by telephone from April 2 through
April 7 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage
points. Many of the responses concerning behavior -- on smoking, drinking
and sex, for instance -- varied widely between younger and older teen-agers.
Only 13 percent of 13- to 15-year-olds said they had ever had sex, for example,
as against 38 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds.
The poll makes clear that the post-cold-war generation is coming of age
free of preoccupation about nuclear weapons and the survival of the planet.
When asked to think about their future, 28 percent said that what worried
them most was getting a good job. Eleven percent said it was having enough
money, and 9 percent said being successful. Only 3 percent said that what
worried them most was the environment.
Defying a stereotype, these teen-agers were short on criticism of their
parents. Fifty-one percent said they got along with their parents "very
well," and 46 percent said "fairly well." Nearly two-thirds
said their parents were "in touch with what life is like" for
today's teen-agers. And 48 percent said they even enjoyed the same types
of music as their parents.
But 55 percent agreed that there were times when they had something they
wanted to talk to their parents about, but did not. Of these, four out of
five said the reason was that their parents "won't understand,"
and most of the rest said their parents were simply too busy.
When they go out, 89 percent said, they have to tell their parents where
they are going.
"She's very protective, and sometimes that's a problem," Mary
Spivey, 17, a high school junior in Jacksonville, Fla., said of her mother,
"but I know that it's really for the best. I'm glad I can't get away
with what some of my friends do. She is in touch with what's going on with
me, because I tell her a lot of what's going on. So she doesn't automatically
say no on everything. She really weighs the consequences."
When asked whom they admired most, 44 percent of girls and 18 percent of
boys named their mother. Fathers did not rank as highly; 26 percent of boys
and 8 percent of girls said their father was the person they admired most.
Some named grandmothers or grandfathers. Five percent said they admired
both parents. Nine percent of boys named a sports figure. Five percent of
girls named a celebrity.
Girls have a lower self-image than boys: 39 percent of girls and 54 percent
of boys said they felt very positive about themselves over all. When they
were asked the one thing they would like to change about themselves, the
most frequent answer from boys and girls alike was "my looks"
or "my body" (36 percent of girls, 28 percent of boys). The percentage
of teen-agers who wanted to change their looks or body was significantly
higher than four years ago.
Steven Pyszka, a hockey-playing 17-year-old from Warrenville Ill., said
he would like "to be more physically fit, muscular-wise."
"I'm not the world's strongest person," Steve said. "I would
like to be more built in a way."
On some political issues, teen-agers' views diverged sharply from those
of their parents. Six in 10 teen-agers said that "when there has been
discrimination against blacks in the past," blacks should be given
preference in the workplace and in college admissions. Only 35 percent of
adults held that view in a Times/CBS News Poll in December.
Fifty percent of teen-agers said you could trust the government to do what
is right always or most of the time; only 26 percent of adults agreed with
that in January.
A majority of the teen-agers approve of the way President Clinton is doing
his job, and consider the Lewinsky episode a "private matter"
for the president. Those opinions almost mirror those of adults.