Changes in Tweens' and Teens' Attitudes and Views

The results of a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the Girl Scouts of the USA, Good Intentions: The Beliefs and Values of Teens and Tweens Today, show that many more teens and preteens are accepting of homosexual relationships and far fewer find them unacceptable than was the case in 1989.
The research revealed that:

• Fifty-nine percent of teens and preteens now feel that "gay or lesbian relations are OK if that is the person's choice." In 1989, only 31 percent believed that "homosexual relations are OK if that is the person's choice."
• Only 30 percent of 7th-12th graders now believe that homosexual relationships are never acceptable because it is unnatural, compared to 56 percent who felt this way about homosexual relations twenty years ago.
• Twenty-five percent of teens and preteens believe that "abortion is all right if having the baby will change your life plans in a way that you will find hard to live with." In 1989, 33 percent felt this way.

The survey was based on a nationwide sample of 3,263 students in grades 3 through 12, of whom 1,833 are in grades 7 through 12. Click here for the complete report, which also deals with attitudes about such topics as smoking, sex before marriage and suicide.