What do teens want? The answer may surprise you



Teens are busy.

They have school and extracurricular activities. Socializing, dating and volunteering.

There’s little time left for much else.

But the teens that spoke with Q13 last month at a panel discussion said they want to make time -- for family.

“Something that I wish my family would do more is have family dinners,” said Daniel Lee, a junior at Olympia High School.

It’s Kids Week here at Q13 News, when we hear from kids in our community to spotlight their biggest challenges.

The goal is to help us all be better parents and grandparents, by understanding what are kids are facing.
“Everyone is so busy,” Lee said. “My dad is just like going away, playing golf. I’m like, I have a full schedule. We never get a chance, but when we do, it’s usually when we go out to eat. I think it’s a great thing to observe, but it’s just a beautiful thing.”

Something else the teens we spoke with said they would like to see, is discipline.

“I think nowadays, parents are almost as busy as their kids are,” said Jalen Johnson, a senior from Seattle. “It’s a lot easier to prioritize the things that definitely need to get done than things like family dinners, which are super important, get pushed to the side, but I as a student, or as a child, I do wish my family had more family dinners.”