Teen Snapshot — October 2024
Young People Want to Feel Safe
I’ve been studying goals and values since 2009. My doctoral dissertation looked at the connection of traditional media and social media to values such as fame and community. This body of research taught me the importance of not making assumptions based on limited data and anecdotes: When I held focus groups with LA tweens, I found that the majority wanted to be famous – but when I expanded my sample to youth from across the country, I found fame was their least important value.
— Dr. Yalda T. Uhls, Founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers
This year, as part of our annual Teens and Screens study, we surveyed 1,644 adolescents, ages 10 to 24, from across the U.S. about their personal priorities. We asked them to rate the importance of 14 goals — ranging from "being kind to others" to "being famous." The findings are both surprising and eye-opening: contrary to common stereotypes, today’s youth are focused not on fame or fortune, but on personal safety and kindness.
Here’s the full ranking of goals, from most to least important, based on adolescents’ responses:
Safety as Priority #1
When asked what was most important to them, young people overwhelmingly reported that safety was their number one priority (not to have fun, not to be rich, not to be popular — to be safe).
This finding makes sense in light of recent data from the CDC released just two months ago, showing increased reports of violence for young people over the last couple of years, including a larger percentage of students reporting being bullied, being threatened or injured with a weapon at school, and even missing school due to safety concerns. It illuminates the effect unregulated, 24/7 access to the news is having on young people’s psyches as they become increasingly aware and anxious about the social, environmental, and personal risks they face. And it further confirms a growing concern that when it comes to the youth mental health crisis, we are certainly not out of the woods yet, as almost half of students still report experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and young adults continue to report elevated levels of stress compared to before the pandemic.
Gender Differences
While girls generally followed the overall trend, boys placed “having fun” as their number one goal. This variation also makes sense in light of recent data from the CDC that showed female and LGBTQ+ high school students reporting higher rates of violence, poor mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors than their peers.
“The results of this survey match what young people across the county have been telling us about the importance of safety in their daily lives. As part of the recent 2023 Center for Disease Control Survey of over 20,000 high school students, 16% of female students reported that they stayed home from school due to safety concerns in the last 30 days, with 1 in 5 LGBTQ+ youth saying the same. Recent policy efforts have focused almost exclusively online safety. However, young people are reminding us that we need to prioritize both online and offline safety, especially for those who are most likely to experience violence and who may be the least likely to be protected by schools and society in the coming years.”
— Dr. Candice L. Odgers, Director of Research and Faculty Development, UC Irvine
Race & Ethnicity
When we broke out the findings by race and ethnicity, we found that young people of color put safety first, while White and Latino youth ranked “be kind” first above safety.
Safety overall surpassing all other goals for young people should serve as a startling wake up call. Young people are not okay; but caring adults can help. It’s up to us to continue meeting them where they’re at with the resources and encouragement they need — at their schools, in their communities, and on their screens.
Kindness Over Popularity
Ranking second was “to be kind to others,” a poignant reminder that despite the pressures of social media, young people are still more inclined to prioritize empathy and compassion over gaining attention. This finding runs in stark contrast to typical clichés about Gen Z just wanting to be famous or become an influencer. In fact, “being rich” and “being famous” were consistently ranked at the bottom.
Age Differences
While safety remained a top concern for young people across age groups, it does seem that as kids get older and enter their young adult years, they actually become more concerned with being kind to others (self-acceptance also edged out having fun in this age group).
Fun, Fitness & Community
Following safety and kindness, the following 3 of their top 5 priorities included “having a lot of fun,” “self-acceptance,” and “being in great shape.” This confirms findings from other studies (Instagram, McKinsey, Lifesum, and more) in the past year showing a general trend of young people caring deeply about their overall wellness – including their physical, social, and mental health. It also explains the popularity of online spaces like #FitTok, a corner of TikTok where people share workouts, food plans and other health-related topics that has amassed more than 64 billion views, and trends like #BratSummer focused on letting loose and having fun.
The large, nationally representative sample gives us a clearer picture of youth priorities than what we might gather from personal anecdotes or smaller groups.
These findings underscore the value of research-driven insights and remind us not to let stereotypes dictate our understanding of youth. Teens today have complex, meaningful aspirations that go beyond social media myths. And their top goals tell us something profound about the world they’re navigating — one where safety, kindness, and well-being matter most.
Authors
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Atlas Burrus
Research Manager
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.
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Alisha J. Hines, PhD
Research Director
As director of research, Dr. Alisha J. Hines leads the research team and oversees all studies conducted at the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA. She earned her PhD in History & African American Studies from Duke University and is a former faculty member of Wake Forest University's History Department.
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Stephanie Rivas-Lara
Consultant
Stephanie Rivas-Lara, ACSW (she/her) is a Child Advocate with UCLA's Stuart House/Rape Treatment Center where she collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to support sexually abused children and their families. Prior to this role, she designed and facilitated CSS's Youth Media Representation program while also contributing to their research efforts. Passionate about amplifying youth voices to create meaningful change, she earned her Master of Social Welfare from UCLA.
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Yalda T. Uhls, MBA, PhD
Founder and CEO
Founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers, Dr. Yalda T. Uhls is an internationally recognized, award-winning research scientist, educator, and author, who specializes in studying how media affects young people. She received her MBA and PhD in developmental psychology from UCLA, is a former movie executive at companies like MGM and Sony, and is a proud Gen Z parent.
Acknowledgements
Thank you so much to the members of the CSS team that made this project possible, including our fantastic intern, Annie Li, our phenomenal graphic designer, Irene Nguyen, and our Senior Researcher, Dr. Elly Pueschel.
To our advisory council, Joy Gorman Wettels, Lauren Glaubach, Jamila Hunter, Amy Glickman, Jasmine Sorgen, and Sarina Marzbani, whose varied perspectives and support played a major role in the design of our survey questions.
And importantly, thank you to every youth participant who took the time to lend us their voice to take this survey and give us their thoughts. We are continuously grateful for your participation and insight.
METHODOLOGY
The 2024 Teens and Screens Report, a comprehensive annual portrait of adolescence and media, built upon last year’s findings by once again surveying 1500 young people ages 10-24 (reflecting the ages of adolescence defined by the National Academy of Sciences) in August 2024, with 100 teens from each age bracket taking part. Respondents closely reflected the US Census in terms of race and gender. Please see here for a full description of methods. The question reported on from this snapshot drew from Kasser and Ryan, 1993 and Uhls and Greenfield, 2012.
The survey was supported by the collection of Funders for Adolescent Science Translation, Roblox and Disney.