Tuesday is the last day of summer. The same teens who, just a few short weeks ago, were swimming, reading, going to camp, listening to music, or hanging with friends, are now back in school, with the memory of summer 2004 growing dimmer by the minute. How did America's teens spend those golden days?
An August 2004 Gallup Youth Survey* asked teens an open-ended question, "How are you spending your summer vacation?" Health advocates will be gratified to hear that 1 in 6 teens said playing sports (or sports training), while working (14%) and hanging out with friends (12%) were also common responses. Teens also mentioned relaxing or having fun (10%), spending time with family (8%), and taking a trip or a vacation (7%), among others.
Aspiring Athletes
Slightly more boys (19%) than girls (12%) said they were playing sports over the summer, and twice as many white teens as nonwhite teens gave that response, 19% to 9%, respectively. More often than not, sports have been transformed from the stuff of pick-up games on a vacant lot, to more organized team activities, requiring both parental input and money. This scenario may affect minority teens who come from lower-income families -- especially during the summer when public school-financed sports are unavailable.
It makes sense that summer temperatures and teens' unfettered schedules spell more time spent outdoors and more time playing sports. While some teens may just be in it for the fun, some teens Gallup interviewed show a slightly more competitive impetus behind their summer sports activities.
- "I am playing competitive water polo … I went to basketball camp … and I did conditioning for basketball." -- 14-year-old boy
- "I'm training five days a week at the ice rink for figure skating." -- 17-year-old boy
- "Going to field hockey and lacrosse camps, going to field hockey practices three times a week." -- 13-year-old girl
Working Teens
Boys and girls are about equally likely to say they worked over the summer. But, as expected, there are large differences between the percentages of younger and older teens who held summer jobs. Just 7% of 13- to15-year-olds said they were working, compared with 24% of 16- and 17-year-old teens. There are legal reasons that likely explain this disparity.
The U.S. Department of Labor has specific guidelines about the kinds of jobs teens can hold at different ages. Children aged 13 and under may only deliver newspapers, baby sit, or work as an actor or performer. Options expand for 14- and 15-year-olds -- work is permissible in an office, grocery or retail store, restaurant, movie theater, baseball or amusement park, or in a gas station. Once a teen turns 16, he or she may work in any job that hasn't been declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor, and there are no restrictions on hours of employment. States also may have additional regulations on when and where teens work.
Top performers, teens who describe themselves as "near the top" or "above average" in academic standing, were twice as likely to work this summer than those who say their academic performance is "average" or "below average" -- 18% to 9%, respectively. High academic achievers, who are used to working at peak capacity during the school year, may bring that same work ethic to summer vacations. It is also no secret that the cost of college has skyrocketed in recent years, and high-achieving teens may be working jobs and internships to help defray those costs. In fact, one teen told Gallup she was "working two jobs to save for college" this summer.
Bottom Line
Even teens who were not training for sports or working managed to fill their days in interesting ways this summer. A busy girl said her summer activities included: "vacation to Colorado, film camp, acting class, improv class, singing lessons, riding horses, watching movies, going out with friends, French tutoring, SAT tutoring, and going to horse shows." At the opposite end of the spectrum is a respondent who says she was just letting her "brain turn to mush."
One teen took the idea that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" to heart by "sleeping in, going on vacation, spending time with family and friends" this summer.
Dream on, kids. Summer 2005 is just 273 days away.
*The Gallup Youth Survey is conducted via an Internet methodology provided by Knowledge Networks, using an online research panel that is designed to be representative of the entire U.S. population. The current questionnaire was completed by 439 respondents, aged 13 to 17, Aug. 8-19, 2004. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±5 percentage points.