With some exceptions, the 2025 “Teens & & Screens “study likewise stated teen audiences wished to see more nonromantic relationships in their material
Gavin Casalegno, Lola Tung, and Christopher Briney (from left) in ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty,’ an uncommon romance-centric program popular amongst Gen Z © Amazon/Courtesy Everett Collection
There’s yet more information out providing credence to the theory of Gen Z’s supposed prudishness, with almost half the participants to a brand-new study stating there’s “excessive sex and sexual material in television and motion pictures.”
The information originates from the UCLA Center for Scholars and Storytellers’ yearly “Teens & & Screens “report, which goes into the usage routines and predispositions of more youthful Americans. This year’s study was performed in August, with a sample group of 1,500 teenagers and young people, aged 10 to 24, reflective of basic Gen Z demographics in the U.S. “with concerns to race, gender, and geographical area,” the research study stated.
While research studies have actually recommended that the variety of sex scenes in films has actually decreased considerably because 2000 (with in 2015 possibly representing a small uptick), 48.4 percent of participants in the “Teens & & Screens “research study stated there was still excessive sexual material in films and television programs. In addition, 60.9 percent stated they wished to see relationships onscreen that were “more about the relationship in between the couple than sex,” while 59.7 percent stated they desired stories where the “main relationships are relationships.”
Relationship ranked 3rd out of 19 in subjects teenagers wished to see onscreen. Love ranked 3rd to last with just 36.5 percent reporting high interest.
54.1 percent of participants stated they desired to see stories about individuals who were “withdrawn in love,” with that number increasing to 57.1 percent amongst teenagers 18 and under. Majority of participants (54.9 percent) likewise stated they wished to see more mixed-gender relationships where the characters “prioritize their relationship rather of turning it into a romantic relationship.”
The actions to the reward concern, “What is your preferred program or motion picture?” were likewise distinctly unsexy. The leading 3 wereComplete stranger Things,Wednesday,andSpongeBob SquarePants,whileSpider-ManandHousehold Guywere connected for 4th. Connected at 6 were 2 programs where love does play a huge function:The Vampire DiariesandThe Summer I Turned Pretty.
These findings remain in line with those in “Teens & & Screens” research studies from the previous couple years. In last year’s study, 63.5 percent of teenagers highly concurred with desiring to see “material that focuses on platonic relationships/friendships,” up from 51.5 percent in 2023. And in the 2024 study, 62.4 percent of participants concurred with the hate declaration, “I feel that sex and sexual material is not required for the plot of the majority of television programs and films,” up substantially from 47.5 percent in 2023.
From Wanderer United States.