London - Teenagers down the years have typically rebelled by drinking, smoking and taking drugs.
Today they’re more likely to be found in their bedrooms surfing the web and playing video games on their computers, before sitting down to supper with their parents.
Meet the “laptop generation” – the new, more sensible breed of adolescent.
A portrait of 13-year-olds today shows they are more “sober and responsible” than youngsters ten years ago. However, they enjoy fewer friendships, spend less time socialising after school, and are more likely to be at home for a family evening meal.
The research suggests the rise of social media sites such as Facebook is behind the change, explaining why teens today are more like to say they ‘mainly spend time by themselves’.
The Department for Education study, which compared 13-year-olds in 2004 and 2013, found a marked decline in “risky behaviour” among youngsters, such as drinking and taking drugs. Just 32 percent had tried alcohol compared with 52 percent in 2004.
Meanwhile, the proportion saying they mainly spent their spare time going out with friends fell from 50 percent to 42 percent, while the numbers saying they went round to a friend’s house dropped from 20 percent to 13 percent.
At the same time, 22 percent reported “mainly spending time by themselves”, compared with nine percent in 2004. And the proportion who “never went out” doubled, from five to 10 percent. Nearly half of girls – 47 percent – and 30 percent of boys reported using social networking or instant messaging sites “throughout the day”.
And more than a third of youngsters play computer games most days compared with 23 percent in 2004.
However, the study also found evidence that teens are enjoying closer and stronger relationships with their parents.
The traditional family meal appeared to be making a comeback, with 52 percent of children saying they shared a meal with their parents six times in the last week compared with 42 percent in 2004. Overall youngsters were generally found to be more “positive about their school, home and personal lives” than a decade earlier.
The study concluded: “Young people were socialising less in person and spending more time on their own, although spending time with friends remained the most common leisure time activity.
“There was a parallel increase in the proportion of young people playing computer games. There was also a reasonably widespread use of social networking sites.”
“They appear more likely to make responsible choices than ten years ago.
“The findings in this report are in line with other research suggesting this is a more sober, responsible generation of young people.”
Earlier this year, a UK government-backed study showed that the number of schoolchildren who have tried cannabis or other illegal drugs has almost halved over the past ten years.
Smoking, meanwhile, had dwindled to a 30-year low, with just three percent of pupils reporting smoking a weekly cigarette. Drinking habits showed similar a pattern.
However, experts have warned that a decline in personal contact – driven by increasing use of tablets, smartphones and laptops – is affecting the social skills of a generation. - Daily Mail