Main finding:
When teens and preteens were asked to vote for their 'top 3' issues with their parents (from many possible choices),

• Parents worry about me too much came in first,
• Boyfriend/Girlfriend issues came in second, and
• Parents don't respect me, treat me like a child came in third.

--so these are the TOP 3 ISSUES among teens/preteens responding to this poll.

"Rules are unfair" came in fourth.

These results are ALMOST identical to those of the Teen Poll for the prior quarter.

See the results of the "Good Stuff" poll--the areas parents are happiest with in their relationships with their teens/preteens.

For a list of all the issues teens/preteens could select from, see the Poll.

Compare results this quarter with prior quarter's results.

To continue, scroll down....

Who responded to the poll?
By far the largest group (130) of respondents were GIRLS (mostly teenage), followed distantly by 34 BOYS. Because of the small number of boys participating, results are more reliable for girls; results are also more reliable for teens than for preteens.

Interpreting the colored bars: Girls vs. Boys, Teens vs. Preteens

All Respondents:
this bar shows what proportion of the total number of votes cast by the entire group of poll respondents went to a particular issue as one of the "top 3" in their relationships with parents. When you look at the blue bars in the chart, you see that most votes (from the entire group of teens and preteens who voted) went for

• "parents worry about me too much," the second most went to
• "boyfriend/girlfriend issues," the third most went to
• "parents don't respect me, treat me like a child," and the fourth most to
• "rules are unfair."

votes by GIRLS:
this bar shows what proportion of the total number of votes cast by ALL GIRLS (both teenage and preteen-age) went to a particular issue as one of the "top 3" in their relationships with parents. When you look at the lime-colored bars in the chart, you see that most votes from girls went for

• "boyfriend/girlfriend issues"; the second most went to
• "parents worry about me too much," the third most went to
• "parents don't respect me, treat me like a child," and the fourth most to
• "rules are unfair."

votes by BOYS:
this bar shows what proportion of the total number of votes cast by ALL BOYS (teenage and preteen-age) went to a particular issue as one of the "top 3" in their relationships with parents.When you look at the yellow bars in the chart, you see that most votes from boys went for

• "parents worry about me too much," followed by
• "rules are unfair" [this is a striking difference, since "rules are unfair" came in only FOURTH for girls], and
• "boyfriend/girlfriend issues" and "parents don't respect me, treat me like a child" tied for third place.

Because fewer boys participated in the poll, the results for boys are less reliable than those for girls.

votes by PRETEENS:
this bar shows what proportion of the total number of votes cast by PRETEENS (boys and girls aged 9-12 years) went to a particular issue as one of the "top 3" in their relationships with parents. When you look at the dark green bars in the chart, you see that most votes from preteens went for

• "boyfriend/girlfriend issues," followed by
• "rules are unfair" [this is a striking difference, since "rules are unfair" came in only FOURTH for teens], and
• "parents don't respect me, treat me like a child" came in third, while
• "parents worry about me too much" was in only fourth place.

Because fewer preteens participated in the poll, the results for this group are less reliable than those for teens.

votes by TEENS:
this bar shows what proportion of the total number of votes cast by ALL TEENS (boys and girls aged 13-20) went to a particular issue as one of the "top 3" in their relationships with parents.When you look at the brown bars in the chart, you see that most votes from teens went for

• "parents worry about me too much"; the second most went to
• "boyfriend/girlfriend issues," the third most went to
• "parents don't respect me, treat me like a child," and the fourth most to
• "rules are unfair."

In other words, the profile for "Teens" follows the overall profile for all respondents.

Main finding:
When teens and preteens were asked to vote for the 'top 3' things they feel best about in their relationships with their parents, the three areas most voted for were, in order,

• "discussions we have"
• "my achievements"
• "my progress toward adulthood"

"Moral values I stand for" came in fourth.

These results are ALMOST identical to those of the Teen Poll for the prior quarter.

See the results of the Issues poll--the areas parents are happiest with in their relationships with their teens/preteens.

For a list of all the issues teens/preteens could select from, see the Poll.

See results of the PARENTS' POLL

For more, scroll down....

Who responded to the poll?
By far the largest group (130) of respondents were GIRLS (mostly teenage), followed distantly by 34 BOYS. Because of the small number of boys participating, results are more reliable for girls; results are also more reliable for teens than for preteens.

Interpreting the colored bars:

All Respondents:
this bar shows what proportion of the total number of votes cast by the entire group of poll respondents went to a particular issue as one of the "top 3" in their relationships with parents.

votes by GIRLS:
this bar shows what proportion of the total number of votes cast by ALL GIRLS (both teenage and preteen-age) went to a particular issue as one of the "top 3" in their relationships with parents.

votes by BOYS:
this bar shows what proportion of the total number of votes cast by ALL BOYS (teenage and preteen-age) went to a particular issue as one of the "top 3" in their relationships with parents.

votes by PRETEENS:
this bar shows what proportion of the total number of votes cast by PRETEENS (boys and girls aged 9-12 years) went to a particular issue as one of the "top 3" in their relationships with parents.

votes by TEENS:
this bar shows what proportion of the total number of votes cast by ALL TEENS (boys and girls aged 13-20) went to a particular issue as one of the "top 3" in their relationships with parents.

Age and gender differences:
You'll notice that on the chart the red bars do not follow the same profile as the brown (overall) bars. The red bars stand for votes by PRETEEENS, for whom

• "discussions" was less an area of satisfaction than "my achievements," and for whom
• "my morals" was not such an important area of satisfaction as it was for teens/the overall group.

The aqua-colored bars also show a slightly different trend from the overall (brown bar) votes, indicating that for BOYS,

• "my progress toward adulthood" was THE outstanding area of satisfaction, followed by
• "my morals" and "discussions we have."

[As indicated above, the boy and preteen votes were small in number and therefore less reliable than the girl and teen votes.]

See results of PARENT POLL.

Questions about the poll? Write to us!