Most teens get along with parents, poll finds

By Ben Feller
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Meet the parents: role models, confidants, weekend buddies.

Not a bad list of labels, especially since it came from the kids.

Almost 75 percent of high school students say they get along very well or even extremely well with their parents or guardians, a new survey finds. Most of the rest call the relationship "just OK," and 3 percent say they and their parents don't get along well.

Overall, teenagers have a lot more admiration than animosity for family members, despite popular notions to the contrary, says the State of Our Nation's Youth survey.

"Even though it's a time when I'm supposed to be going off on my own, I still like the fact that my parents are there to help," said Anya Edun of Pembroke Pines, Fla., who took part in the survey before graduating from high school in June.

"They have experienced so much; they're my No. 1 resource to the real world," Edun said.

The Horatio Alger Association, which provides college scholarships and mentoring to needy students, yesterday issued the annual report on youth attitudes. Conducted in April and May, the phone survey polled 1,055 high school students, most of them 14 to 18 years old.

Consider this family portrait: Asked how they'd like to spend more time, more teens chose being with their families over relaxing with friends, playing sports or anything else.

"Hanging out with your family, that's not a bad thing anymore," said Edun, who is about to start classes at the University of Miami. "When you're with family, you are participating in sports, or playing family games. And honestly, when I call my friends on the weekend, they'll say, 'I, too, am going out to dinner with family.' "

Even the disputes teens have with their parents usually aren't of great consequence, the survey finds. The most common argument, teens say, is over cleaning their rooms. In a boom time for navel rings and tattoos, only 4 percent of fights are about student appearance.

Among other findings from the survey:

• Almost half of students said they have solid or strong confidence in Congress. Only 26 percent said the same about the media.
• Fifty-eight percent of students said they have their own television, and 45 percent have their own cell phone. Almost every student reported access to a computer at home.
• Fewer than 10 percent of students said pressure to do drugs or to have sex before they're ready is a major problem.

The poll had an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.