Our Voices Matter: Reflections on Teens and Screens 2024 from the Gen Z Author
When people think of adolescents, they usually think of tropes presented by popular media: lazy teenagers resenting their perfectly reasonable parents who are simply trying their best. A shift seemingly occurs overnight — characters go to sleep as children and wake up as hormonal, emotional messes with acne and an extra foot of height. These one-dimensional stereotypes reduce teenagers to their worst moments and fail to recognize the complexity of their emotional experiences.
Young people deserve to see their whole selves represented on screen: occasionally hormonal, occasionally selfish — but also often insightful, scared, powerful, idealistic, and brave. They also deserve to see stories that resonate and accurately reflect their wide-ranging interests.
Luckily, narratives can be changed over time with enough momentum. Each new storyline that captures the nuance of adolescence can bring positive change in representation, setting a new standard for media that follows. The Teens and Screens 2024 report is a first step in this direction. It uplifts the voices of youth who can identify where they see authenticity and where they see room for improvement in the media they consume.
Authentic Perspectives Matter
Entertainment often portrays adolescence as an awkward phase between childhood and being “a real person.” But youth are people just as much as adults are, with equally important thoughts, feelings, and experiences to share.
When storytellers try to create content about youth without youth, it shows. It ends up being cringe-worthy at best and actively harmful at worst. And youth will always see through it.
In the world of digital scams, fake stories, and altered or even artificially generated images we’ve grown up in, we’ve learned to be cautious. We’ve also learned that we don’t have to tolerate hypocrisy. If someone’s actions are not aligning with their espoused values, we don’t have to support them: word travels fast on social media, and there are infinite amounts of other options for content online.
That’s why it’s so important to engage directly with youth and uplift their voices. If storytellers want their content to resonate with young audiences, they have to start by listening. There are no substitutes for real perspectives from current life experiences.
Relief from Reality
As a member of Gen Z myself, I understand the unique challenges that youth and young adults are facing today. Our world can seem daunting and overwhelming — terrifying even. Our adolescence has been defined by global conflict, pandemics, and a political climate that makes things feel more hopeless than ever. It’s no wonder teens in the 2024 Teens and Screens report said they want to see more fantasy and hopeful, uplifting content.
There’s no better feeling than going to a world completely different than ours, and trying on their problems for a change. And when those stories show us that everything can be okay? That even in the darkest of times, good can prevail? It’s refreshing. It’s what is needed.
One of the reasons working on this new research report with the Center for Scholars & Storytellers has been so meaningful to me is because it conveys a message that I've heard time and time again from my peers: we're burnt out from the struggle; we’re tired of crisis.
Focusing on Friendship
Another finding from this research that I didn’t find surprising is that young people want more representation of friendship in the media. As previous authors of this annual report have mentioned, young people today feel lonelier than ever. And as third spaces (places people can’t meet that aren’t their home or workplace) diminish, we often turn to the media for connection.
Playing video games with friends, going to the movies together, or talking about the latest tv show you watched are all activities that can help us feel closer to others and learn more about those around us. Our individual existence can feel small in a world with so many issues, so we cherish our connections, and the connections we get to see on screen.
Adolescence can be a confusing time. It’s filled with great physical, emotional, social, and cognitive change. We’re still figuring out a lot about who we are and what we believe. But when it comes to the media, what we want isn’t a mystery:we’re looking for hope; we’re looking for connection; and we’re looking for authenticity.
These things feel scarce in a world like ours, and media is often the first place we turn to. Storytellers have an opportunity to meet us where we are and positively change not only their content, but the society we are inheriting. I sincerely hope that they will listen.
Atlas Burrus is the lead author of the 2024 Teens and Screens Report and full-time Research Manager at the Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS) at UCLA. In their role at CSS, they oversee data collection, coding and analysis, and they lead regular lab meetings for research fellows and collaborators. Atlas is a passionate advocate for queer representation, friendship, and community, and they received their Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Education Studies at UCLA.