The teens have spoken: Bring on SpongeBob SquarePants and platonic relationships
The annual Teens & Screens report suggests today's kids want cartoons, Wednesday Addams, and less mandatory romantic relationships.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge On The Run, Image: Paramount
For the last few years now, UCLA’s Center For Scholars & Storytellers has released its annual “Teens & Screens” report, a wide-ranging survey of 1,500 American youths aged 10 to 24 that attempts to figure out, once and for all, what these odd and mysterious creatures want. The answers for this year’s survey are in, and, wouldn’t you know it: Today’s children are all about SpongeBob SquarePants, Stranger Things, and healthy platonic friendships.
That’s the quick takeaway from this year’s survey, anyway (per Variety), reporting that the most popular properties among kids surveyed were Stranger Things, Wednesday, and SpongeBob—and that, despite what you hear about children being addicted to The YouTubes, they’re still pretty into traditional TV and film. (For instance, 53 percent said they were more likely to talk to friends about movies and shows than something they saw on social media, and they’re basically platform-agnostic when it comes to where they view those programs and films.) Also, nearly half of them prefer animation to live-action, something that runs the gamut from the youngest demographic groups to the oldest. (Does that help explain why Family Guy, of all shows, is still insanely popular amongst this demographic, tying with Spider-Man in fourth place? Don’t ask us, that one has us genuinely baffled.)
