Quite a lot of us mother and father from the Gen X and Millennial eras have stereotypes in our heads about Gen Z kids (aged about 12 to 24). We image them always on their screens watching 30-second YouTube Shorts and not likely understanding the fantastic thing about an evening on the movie show or anticipating a TV present season finale.
However UCLA’s 2025 Teens and Screens annual report simply dropped, and it comprises some shocking details about our youngsters and their watching habits.
Firstly? Teenagers and tweens nonetheless love TV exhibits and flicks. A full 57% stated that they watch conventional content material than their mother and father assume they do — they usually discuss it to their mates greater than they discuss social media shorts.
And whereas the theater trade continues to battle within the years after the pandemic, Gen Z reported that their prime media exercise for the weekend was going to a movie show with mates.
Gen Z can be sending one other sturdy message within the report: they’re uninterested in compelled romantic storylines between characters and will do with much less intercourse on display. As an alternative, they need to see extra developed platonic friendships between genders. In truth 54% of children surveyed needed different-gendered characters to “prioritize their friendship as an alternative of turning it right into a romantic relationship.”
Virtually half — 48.4% — of contributors stated that there’s “an excessive amount of intercourse and sexual content material in TV and flicks.” And an excellent larger 60.9% expressed a need to see romantic relationships depicted as “extra concerning the friendship between the couple than intercourse.”
It’s half of a bigger development that teenagers simply need to see their actual lives mirrored on the display.
“Teenagers are telling us loud and clear – they’re ‘over’ compelled and unrealistic romantic storylines,” Alisha Hines, Heart for Students & Storytellers vp of analysis and packages said in a press release about the report. “Our findings present that what they actually need is content material, characters and friendships that really feel actual and replicate on a regular basis experiences they’ll authentically relate to.”
The report surveyed 2,000 children between the ages of 10 and 24 and has been monitoring teenagers’ emotions on the media for years.
The UCLA examine displays a couple of issues we already learn about Gen Z. They’re a era that was extra sheltered than the latchkey children that got here earlier than them — and likewise a era extra more likely to have been affected by the isolation of the 2020 pandemic. The result’s a gaggle of children who don’t party like we did, don’t drink like we did, and don’t have sex like we did.
The explanations are advanced, however they’ve extra nervousness and really feel extra alone than generations that got here earlier than. Perhaps that’s why they’re actually craving deep and significant friendships — and portrayals of actuality — on the subject of their TV and flicks.
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