School Climate & Safety News in Brief

Survey Finds Teens’ Outlook on the Future Is Optimistic

By Caralee J. Adams — October 01, 2013 1 min read
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While adults tend to think life was better back in the day and the future for their children is uncertain, teenagers have a more optimistic outlook, according to an Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll.

Most American adults polled (79 percent) feel that life was better for children when they were growing up than it is for young people today. Yet, 54 percent of the teens surveyed said it’s better to be a teenager today than it was for their parents.

The Heartland poll, released last month, sampled 1,000 adults by phone and 300 teenagers in a follow-up online survey.

Just 20 percent of the adults surveyed believe that today’s children will have more opportunity to get ahead in their lives when they are grown; 45 percent think they will have less, and 30 percent expect opportunity will be about the same.

A version of this article appeared in the October 02, 2013 edition of Education Week as Survey Finds Teens’ Outlook on the Future Is Optimistic

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