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The
recent survey into teens, their parents and attitudes on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
Teens website has thrown up some interesting results.
Teens
throughout the UK were asked to fill in a questionnaire about life
as a teenager. The questions were about sex, money, drugs, their
relationship with their parents and self-image.
Parents
were also asked to fill in a similar questionnaire and in all more
than 21,000 teens throughout the UK took part in the survey.
Best
in the West?
Parents in the West didn't do particularly well in the latest
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Teen survey with the lowest ratings in the country in some
areas. |
| ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
Teen survey |
Parents
in the West didn't do particularly well in the latest ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Teen survey
with the lowest ratings in the country in some areas.
Teens
in the West rated their parents the lowest for how they showed their
love, behaved with their friends, the money they give them and being
able to communicate their hopes and fears.
However
the West's teens rated the importance of their parents above their
friends higher than anywhere in the country.
SEX
The survey showed that nearly a fifth of teenagers still find
it hard to talk tot heir parents about sex despite four out of ten
parents thinking that they could talk easily about sex with their
teenagers.
In
addition four out of 10 teens also claimed that boyfriends/girlfriend
relationships was one of their biggest worries.
Sex
and drugs andÂ…drinking
Six out of 10 teens claimed they could not talk to their parents
about sex, drugs or drinking but could talk to their friends about
all these subjects.
Depression
Half
of teens surveyed talked about depression with friends rather than
parents and almost a quarter said that them becoming depressed was
something their parents worried about.
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| Teens
are more comfortable talking to their friends about depression |
Nearly
a third of teens felt that death was one of their biggest worries.
Parents
were even more concerned about teenage depression than the teenagers
themselves with 32% expressing concern.
Rows
The results also show that the main reason for arguments between
parents and teens was behaviour.
Money,
money money
One of the best things about parents according to nearly half of
the teenagers was the money they gave them.
35%
of teens claimed that money was one of their biggest worries and
23% of parents worried about their teens‘ spending.
17%
of teens claimed that parents could make them happier by giving
them more money!
Society
It probably won't come as a surprise to anyone that teenagers today
feel undervalued by society with only 13% agreeing that they are
valued.
The hardest thing about being a teenager today was worries about
appearance and peer pressure. This was the claim made by both
teenagers and parents with a fifth of teenagers and 4 out of
10 parents agreeing. |
| ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
Teen survey |
The
hardest thing about being a teenager today was worries about appearance
and peer pressure. This was the claim made by both teenagers and
parents with a fifth of teenagers and 4 out of 10 parents agreeing.
The
best thing about being a teenager today, again, claimed by both
teenagers and parents was more freedom and opportunity.
Best/Worse
things about parents
Half of teenagers agreed that the best things about their parents
were the way they show their love and their sense of humour.
However,
financial matters were almost appreciated as much as nearly 5 out
of 10 teens claimed the money their parents gave them was one of
the best things about them.
The
worse thing about parents today according to teenagers was their
mood (4 out of 10 claiming this) but parents' fashion, or possibly
lack of it, was also a concern for teenagers as 28% claimed their
parents dress sense was one of the worse things about them!
Parents
wish list
- 2
out of 5 parents of teenagers welcomed the idea of flexible working
hours.
- A
quarter of parents wanted easier access to teachers parent advisors
in schools/colleges
-
Better health services - better info on drugs/alcohol/sexual health
(22%) and GPs with specialise expertise in teenage health problems
(24%).
Vanity
Teens were equally worried about their appearance as they were about
their school work/exams.
Religion
Six out of 10 teenagers felt able to talk about faith/religion with
their parents.
Happiness
Just over a fifth of teenagers said that their parents could
make them happier by giving them more freedom and to stop treating
them like a child.
For
parents, the main thing which would make them happier would
be for their teen/s to talk and listen to them more, but equally
for them to do more housework!
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The
highs and lows
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Best
things about their parents
"How they show their love for me"
Average 51%
Highest in the North East (56%)
Lowest in the West (46%)
"The
money they give me"
Average (46%)
Lowest in the West (40%)
"How
they behave with my friends"
Average (43%)
Highest in the West Midlands (48%)
Lowest in the South West (38%)
What
they can talk to their parents about
Racism
Average (63%)
Highest in the North East (67%)
Lowest in the West (58%)
Gossip
Average (54%)
Lowest in the West (49%)
Highest in the North East (62%)
What
they can talk to their friends but canÂ’t tell their parents
What happens at school
Average (67%)
Lowest in the West (62%)
My
hopes and fears
Average (57%)
Lowest in the South and West (53%)
My
feelings
Average (57%)
Lowest in Scotland and the West (53%)
The
way my body has changed
Average (40%)
Lowest in the West (34%)
Biggest
worries
School
work/Exams
Average (48%)
Highest in in Wales (53%)
Lowest in the West (42%)
Money
Average (35%)
Highest in the South West and Yorks/Humber (39%)
Friends
are more important to me than parents
Average (42%)
Lowest in the West (37%)
Highest in Wales (47%)
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If
you would like to comment on this or any other story in this section get in
touch at gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk |
Parents
in the West of England scored pretty low in a recent survey conducted
by the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ into teenagers, their parents and their attitudes.
More
than 21,000 teens took part in the survey
