Teens Want to Enjoy Life and Relationships, Not Climb The Corporate Ladder.

American teenagers value enjoying life and relationships with family and friends far more than they desire myriad other worldly goals, according to the latest Teenmark data from Mediamark Research Inc. And although teens may often seem celebrity infatuated, only 28% said they want to “be famous” and just 18% have as a goal becoming involved in the arts.

These are among the many findings in the annual MRI Teenmark® survey, which was conducted among teen residents in households interviewed for Mediamark’s Survey of the American Consumer. Questionnaires were mailed to eligible persons in those households from April through July 2002 and again from April through July 2003. 4,577 youths, ages 12-19, responded.

Teens are less focused on dreams of becoming celebrities than they are on enjoying life, pursuing a high-level of education and owning a home, as evidenced by their three top-ranked goals. Of those surveyed, 88% cited going to college, 84% chose obtaining a college education and 84% listed owning a home as a future goal. Nonetheless, 76% of teens still want to make “lots of money,” as opposed to the 42% who indicated a desire to “give back to the community.”

Entering the corporate worlds is a goal of only 16% of teens, while 31% say they would like to have their own business. Girls are 40% less likely to want to join corporate America than boys, 26% less likely to say they would like to have their own business and 23% more likely to want to retire early.

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