Young Adults in the U.S.A.

:
A Demographic Snapshot

Created and presented by:

Kim Rose
Jessica Witt
Laurel Johnson

LIS722 Spring 2014 Janice Del Negro

January 27, 2014

LIBRARY HABITS
According to the Pew Research Center, Teens
reading levels match/exceed adults. (Teens and
Libraries, slide 15)

Average books read in the past year

16-17
18-24
25-29
30-39

18 books
17 books
17 books
14 books

LIBRARY HABITS
Teens use libraries and librarians more than others, but dont
necessarily love libraries as much
(Teens and Libraries, slide 20)
Used a library in the past year:
16-17 - 72%
18-24 - 58%
25-29 - 54%
30-39 - 57%

Felt that the library is very

important
16-17 - 54%
18-24 - 63%
25-29 - 74%
30-39 - 72%

Asked for help from a librarian in

the past year (of those who used
the library in the past year)
16-17 - 43%
18-24 - 27%
25-29 - 19%
30-39 - 17%

What teens want for the future:

Classes on how to use an e-book
reader or tablet

Library kiosks throughout

the community to check out
books, movies, and music

E-readers loaded with books they

want to read

Online services with

recommendations based on
past activity

Cell phone GPS app that

helps locate materials within
the library

Cell phone app that allows

you to use library services

WHAT TEENS LOVE NOW

Librarians!!
- 80% say were important
Free Databases
Free access to the Internet
Books to borrow
Quiet Study Spaces
Programs and Classes
Job or career resources

The Chicago Public Library has the

following educational programs

Homework help
Book club
Live help
Writing lab
Live tutors
Language help

The Berwyn Public Library has

spaces for kids to come and
use the library
The Oak Park Public Library
has a homework help program

EDUCATION
According to the National Center for Education
Statistics:
In 2011, 50.1 million kids started the school year
in a school
14.8 million were in grades 9 through 12
4.1 million were new 9th graders
3.3 million graduated this in 2012
62.8% enrolled in a two or four year college
72.2% female
64.7% male

EDUCATION
In 1970:

15% of high school

students dropped out

In 2011:
7.1% of high school students
dropped out
7.7% were male
6.5% were female
5.0% were
Caucasian
7.3% were African
American
13.6% were Hispanic

BOOKS DEALING WITH DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL

For Parents:

For Students:

DISABILITIES
In the 2009-2010 school year:
6,418 students had disabilities
2,431 (4.9%) had specific learning
disabilities
1,416 (2.9%) students had a speech or
language impairment
407 (0.8%) students had some sort of
emotional impairment
(National Center for Education Statistics)

The 3 most often diagnosed learning disorders:

Dyslexia difficulties in reading

Dysgraphia difficulties in writing
Dyscalculia difficulties in math
(National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities)

BOOKS ABOUT STUDENTS

WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

BULLYING

28% of students

excluded

reported being bullied in

school.
Of those:

18% were the

8% were pushed,

18% were made

shoved, tripped, or spit on

fun of, called names,

or insulted

6% were purposely

subject of rumors

3% were forced to do
something that they
didnt want to do by
someone else

5% were
21% of these students were
injured

(National Center for Educational Statistics, 2011)

threatened with harm

9% of students reported cyberbullying.

Of those students:
4% had harmful information written about
them in the Internet
4% received harassing text messages

3% received harassing instant messages

2% received harassing e-mails
1% had private information shared online,
were harassed while gaming, or were
purposely excluded online
26% of cyberbullying was reported to an authority figure,
versus 40% of in-school bullying

BOOKS ABOUT
BULLYING

TEENS AND DRUGS

What do we know?
Lets test our drug IQ!

TEENS AND DRUGS

More teens die from
prescription drugs than
heroin/cocaine
combined.

In 2012, 15% of high

school seniors used
prescription drugs.
However, 35% feel regular
use is risky.

Adderall use (often

prescribed to treat
ADHD) has increased
among high school
seniors from 5.4% in

2009 to 7.6%

DoSomething.org

Only 35% of 12th

graders believe that
using Adderall
occasionally is risky.

TEENS AND DRUGS

In 2013, 15% of high-school seniors used a prescription

drug non-medically in the past year. The survey shows
continued abuse of Adderall, commonly used to treat
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, with

7.4% of seniors reporting taking it for non-medical

reasons in the past year.

NIDA

TEENS AND DRUGS

By the 8th grade, 29.5% of
adolescents have consumed
alcohol, 15.5% have smoked
cigarettes, and 15% have
used marijuana.

In 2013, 22.1% of high school seniors reported binge drinking

(defined as 5 or more drinks in a row in the past 2 weeks)a drop of
almost 1/3 since the late 1990s.

DoSomething.org

TEENS AND DRUGS

On par with the national sentiment, teens perceive
less risk in using marijuana and therefore there is a
rise in use:

9.6% of students surveyed by MTF were current

(past-month) cigarette smokers. By comparison,
15.6% were current marijuana smokers.

DoSomething.org

TEENS AND DRUGS

TEENS AND SEX

In 2011, among U.S. high

school students:
More than 1/3 of adolescents say they
have sent or posted sexually suggestive
messages by text, IM, or e-mail

47.4% had never

had sexual
intercourse

33.7% had sexual

intercourse during the 3
months prior to the study

The likelihood of sex increases with

each school grade level, from 32%
in ninth grade to 62% in 12th grade.

Nearly 1/2 of the 19 million new

STDs each year are among young
people aged 1524 years

More than 400,000 teen girls

aged 1519 years gave birth in
2009

CDC and Office of Adolescent Health

TEENS, SELF-ESTEEM AND DEPRESSION

About 11% of adolescents have a

depressive disorder by age 18

In 2007 suicide was the

third leading cause of
death for youth ages 15 to
24.

Depressed teens with coexisting

disorders, such as substance abuse
problems, are less likely to respond
to treatment for depression. Studies
focusing on conditions that
frequently co-occur and how they
affect one another may lead to more
targeted screening tools and
interventions.

National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A)

TEENS, SELF-ESTEEM AND DEPRESSION

Among high school

students, 44% of girls and
15% of guys
are attempting to lose
weight.

75% of girls with low self-esteem reported

engaging in negative activities like cutting,
bullying, smoking, drinking, or disordered
eating. This compares to 25% of girls with
high self-esteem.

38% of boys in middle school and high school

reported using protein supplements and nearly
6% admitted to experimenting with steroids.

TECH AND SOCIAL MEDIA

93% of teens have
computer access at home

95% of youth ages 12-17

use the Internet

75% are mobile Internet

users

25% mostly access the

Internet from a smartphone

80% of online teens use social

media

24% of online teens use Twitter (an

increase from 2011s 16%)
-> just 16% of online adults use
Twitter

77% of online teens use Facebook

TECH AND SOCIAL MEDIA

TECH AND SOCIAL MEDIA

YOUNG ADULT GENERATED CONTENT:

BY TEENS, FOR TEENS

YOUNG ADULT GENERATED CONTENT:

BY TEENS, FOR TEENS

YOUNG ADULTS
AND RACIAL IDENTITY

The multiracial adolescent

population in the U.S:

Up nearly 50% from 2000

In North Carolina, 99%
increase
Most rapidly growing
population of youth

Racial/ethnic diversity
is greater in the YA
population than the
adult population

BOOKS INVOLVING ISSUES

OF RACIAL IDENTITY