Teens are beginning to become detached from the importance of family. In the past, family time was very common and seen as a normal outlet for spending your Saturday night. Now, it seems as though spending time with family is considered a waste of time. Students who prefer to spend time with family over time with friends are seen as weird and antisocial.

It’s not certain how this stigma arose, but I suspect the rise of social media has been a prominent factor. Our generation is obsessed with a party culture that makes teens feel they need to be spending their weekends a certain way. They’ve decided getting drunk with friends is the way to live, but those who spend time relaxing with family are considered “lame.”

Even when teens are at home, they spend very little of their time with their family. Some teens genuinely lack good relationships with their family and prefer to spend time apart; however, many others simply ignore their parents due to other commitments and distractions like homework and the internet. A lot of teens would rather watch Netflix by themselves in their bedrooms than spend time with family, leading to families rarely being able to host game nights or watch movies together. 

Hopefully the development of social media and party culture won’t completely separate teens from their families. Many teens tend to solely focus on friends and don’t realize how important it is that they create a relationship with their families.  Family time is important for teens to have a healthy outlet to talk to because while after high school many ties break, family will always be there.