- Sustainability › Teens
- 15 July 2010
- by Erin Gunderson
Only 19 Percent of Teens Report that They Have Meaningful Relationships with Adults
Teen Voice 2010 Study Reveals Value of Adult Support, Impact on Teens’ Success and Ability to Overcome Key Challenges
MINNEAPOLIS, July 15 – Only one in five 15-year-olds in the United States have the kind of meaningful relationships with adults beyond their family that help them succeed in life, according to a study released today by Best Buy and Search Institute. This gap interferes with their development, and suggests concrete, powerful ways that adults in schools, neighborhoods, youth organizations, and other settings can have a positive difference in young people’s lives.
Teen Voice 2010: Relationships That Matter to America’s Teens, the national survey of 1,860 15-year-olds conducted by Search Institute and sponsored by Best Buy, reinforces findings in the inaugural Teen Voice 2009 survey that supported a growing body of research that documents a significant gap between the support teens need and the support they receive. This year’s survey also includes in-depth interviews with 30 15-year-olds in three cities across the United States.
Teen Voice 2010 explores three interlocking concepts:
- SPARKS – teens’ deepest passions and interests
- VOICE – teens’ confidence, skills and opportunities to influence things that matter to them
- RELATIONSHIPS – teens’ access to high-quality resources and relationships that help them nurture their strengths
Teens who scored highly in each of the three areas do better on every academic, psychological, social-emotional and behavioral outcome studied, suggesting that they are also on the path to success in school, work and life. This year, only 7 percent of 15-year-olds scored high in all three areas.
“As parents…as mentors…as caring adults, we need to help teens get the support they need to thrive in a complex and changing world,” said Brian Dunn, Best Buy’s CEO. “Teens play a unique and important role in shaping the world in which we live, and it’s critical that we create or find opportunities to make their voices heard and improve their chances for success.”
As part of this year’s study, Best Buy and Search Institute created a video to visually highlight the key findings of the report and outline steps adults can take to develop more meaningful relationships with teens.
The Teen Voice 2010 survey found:
- Thirty-eight percent of 15-year-olds did not score high on any of the three strength areas;
- Overall, just 22 percent scored high on the voice index, indicating that few teens feel as though they have the confidence, skills and opportunities to voice their opinion and influence the things that matter to most to them;
- Eighty percent of 15-year-olds have at least one “spark,” a passionate interest that gives them meaning, focus, energy and joy; and
- Just 51 percent scored highly on the spark index, indicating a gap in the proportion of teens who are fully engaging with the issues they care about most.
“By connecting directly with teens, we were able to gain valuable insights that help us better understand teens’ perceptions of their individual strengths and identify opportunities to bridge achievement gaps and increase success rates,” said Dr. Peter Benson, President and CEO, Search Institute. “We are thrilled to partner with Best Buy and demonstrate that teens are paying attention and that we must do more to support them.”
The report includes recommendations and advice directly from young people about how adults can tackle the deep and sustained issues that undermine teens’ success. Adults play an important role in forming relationships with teens, listening to them and serving as positive role models – and teens who have these relationships have a significant leg up when it comes to staying, or getting, on a path to success.
For more information about @15 and to view the full report, log on to www.at15.com.
About @15
Best Buy believes in the power of teens, and @15 is a platform to connect with them, give voice to their perspectives, and invest in our resources – including the energy and talents of our employees – to turn their ideas into action and support their efforts to lead social change. Teens bring passion and enthusiasm to tackling tough issues. They’re also important to our business – they shop in our stores, and they’re our future employees. There’s a real opportunity to listen to – and learn from – what teens have to say. And through the @15 Fund, we’re putting the philanthropic power of @15 directly into their hands. To learn more, visit www.at15.com.
About Best Buy Co., Inc.
With operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, Mexico and Turkey, Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services with a commitment to growth and innovation. The Best Buy family of brands and partnerships collectively generates more than $49 billion in annual revenue and includes brands such as Best Buy; Best Buy Mobile; Audiovisions; The Carphone Warehouse; Future Shop; Geek Squad, Jiangsu Five Star; Magnolia Audio Video; Napster; Pacific Sales; and The Phone House. Approximately 180,000 employees apply their talents to help bring the benefits of these brands to life for customers through retail locations, multiple call centers and Web sites, in-home solutions, product delivery and activities in our communities. Community partnership is central to the way we do business at Best Buy. In fiscal 2010, we donated a combined $25.2 million to improve the vitality of the communities where our employees and customers live and work. For more information about Best Buy, visit www.bestbuy.com.
About Search Institute
Search Institute is Best Buy’s research partner in the @15 Program. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the institute is a leading innovator in discovering what children and adolescents need to become caring, healthy, productive, and responsible adults. It applies this knowledge to motivate and equip everyone in society—youth and adults—to take part in creating a world where all young people are valued and thrive. Search Institute is an independent, nonprofit, nonsectarian organization whose mission is to provide leadership, knowledge, and resources to promote healthy children, youth, and communities. It was founded in 1958 and has been promoting positive change on behalf of young people for 50 years. For more information, visit www.search-institute.org.
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