Most of today's teenagers can't vote. Some can't drive yet (and some don't even want to). But with the back edge of the Millennial generation finally coming of age, it is today's teenagers, the kids who come after Millennials, who are now in the spotlight. (MTV is trying to call them "The Founders," but I'd venture there's still time to come up with something better.)
And a new study out this week of American teenagers has some fascinating insights about where the next generation might be taking us.
As a member of the oldest slice of the Millennial generation, my teenage years spanned the late 1990s through the start of the new millennium. I spent that time watching a lot of MTV's "Total Request Live", "Dawson's Creek", and wearing out a dual VHS tape of "Titanic" (still hanging on to that dual record of most nominations and most Oscar wins – sorry, "La La Land"!). And it was during those teenage years that I cared about my very first presidential election: the infamous Bush vs. Gore showdown that turned the spotlight onto my home state of Florida.
Not all teenagers care about politics, and our views at that time are often shaped by our parents in some way. I remember fancying myself a junior "McCainiac" in 2000, though politics were rarely discussed in our household. For some in my generation, Sept. 11th was a moment of political awakening. For others, the Iraq War or the financial crisis or the rise of Obama were the major events of their teenage years that began to lay the foundation for their views.
My slice of the millennial generation, as we grew up, became — to the dismay of the GOP — a bloc of fairly consistently Democratic voters. In 2004, Gallup asked American teenagers about their political views, Kerry held a wide margin over Bush with teenagers, and only 30 percent said that they expected they'd become Republicans when they grew up, with more saying they expected to become Democrats. And it turns out that prediction wasn't half bad; in 2014, Gallup found that you get about a third of late twenty-somethings — the teenagers of 2004 — calling themselves at least a little bit Republican, with a big party identification advantage for the Democrats.
And a new study out this week of American teenagers has some fascinating insights about where the next generation might be taking us.
As a member of the oldest slice of the Millennial generation, my teenage years spanned the late 1990s through the start of the new millennium. I spent that time watching a lot of MTV's "Total Request Live", "Dawson's Creek", and wearing out a dual VHS tape of "Titanic" (still hanging on to that dual record of most nominations and most Oscar wins – sorry, "La La Land"!). And it was during those teenage years that I cared about my very first presidential election: the infamous Bush vs. Gore showdown that turned the spotlight onto my home state of Florida.
Not all teenagers care about politics, and our views at that time are often shaped by our parents in some way. I remember fancying myself a junior "McCainiac" in 2000, though politics were rarely discussed in our household. For some in my generation, Sept. 11th was a moment of political awakening. For others, the Iraq War or the financial crisis or the rise of Obama were the major events of their teenage years that began to lay the foundation for their views.
My slice of the millennial generation, as we grew up, became — to the dismay of the GOP — a bloc of fairly consistently Democratic voters. In 2004, Gallup asked American teenagers about their political views, Kerry held a wide margin over Bush with teenagers, and only 30 percent said that they expected they'd become Republicans when they grew up, with more saying they expected to become Democrats. And it turns out that prediction wasn't half bad; in 2014, Gallup found that you get about a third of late twenty-somethings — the teenagers of 2004 — calling themselves at least a little bit Republican, with a big party identification advantage for the Democrats.