A new study into younger generations argues that teens are going on fewer dates because of increased time spent on their mobile phones.
This argument is made in a new book by Jean Twenge, a professor at San Diego State University, called “iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood–and What That Means for the Rest of Us”.
Twenge says that teenagers spend more time socialising via technology rather than in person, and claims this has resulted in less sexual activity amongst this age group.
The professor’s research brings together data from both surveys of 11m young people and in-depth interviews.
The book claims that 56% of 14-18-year-olds went on dates in 2015, but for previous generations like Baby Boomers and Generation X this figure was at 85%.
People born between 1946 and 1964 are known as Baby Boomers, whereas those born between 1965 and 1980 are called Generation X.
The San Diego State University professor told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “Teens are spending an enormous amount of time, primarily on their smart phones and communicating with their friends electronically.
“What that’s meant is they are spending less time interacting with their friends in person, hanging out with their friends.”
And this has driven a decline in sexual activity, Twenge claims, the professor saying that since 1991, sexual activity in 14 and 15-year-olds has dropped by almost 40%.
The book says that the average teenager these days has sex for the first time at 17, a year later than Generation X.