September 2011
Featured in this insight: Media & publishing, Children & young people
Poll finds 88% of UK teenagers embarrassed by their parents: A poll commissioned by Twentieth Century Fox, to compliment the upcoming release of the Modern Family Season 2 box-set, has found that 88% of the 1,500 UK teenagers who took part admitted to being regularly embarrassed by their parents.
In total, fathers were voted as the worst when it comes to embarrassing behaviour in front of their teenagers at 68%, with cringe-worthy actions such as telling old jokes, over-enthusiastic dancing at family celebrations or public displays of affection cited.
Nearly three-quarters of the teenagers polled said they would not introduce a boyfriend or girlfriend to their parents in case they embarrassed them.
In addition, they claimed they spent only 3.5 hours a week talking with their parents compared to 10.5 hours chatting with friends on social networking sites.
Researchers also surveyed 1,500 parents and discovered that six in 10 mothers and fathers admitted they had lied about their past to seem cooler to their kids, such as saying they had been hippies, punks or mods.
Relationship expert Jenni Trent Hughes commented: “It’s amazing the lengths parents go to try to communicate with their kids.”
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