Peer Relationship Trends Among Gen-Y Youth Peer Relationship Trends Among Gen-Y Youth

Peer Relationship Trends Among Gen-Y Youth

Just like young people of previous generations, the youth of Generation Y highly value relationships with their peers. Interaction with playmates aids in the socialization of young children, and as children enter adolescence, friends become increasingly important (“Peer Pressure During Adolescence”). Friends fulfill a young person’s psychological need to be accepted and to belong to a social network outside of his or her family circle.

Relationships with peers factor heavily into the day-to-day life of Gen-Y youth, especially as they mature. Michael Farrell, a sociologist at the State University of New York at Buffalo states, “There’s a point when kids move into adolescence when they start shifting their support network from their family to their friends” (Kowalski 13). Relationships with peers offer adolescents an outlet, allowing them to experience independence from their families in order to mature. As Rey Carr states in his article “Positive Peer Pressure: A Transition Perspective”, peers provide an opportunity for teens “to feel capable …to be respected, and to have fun”.

Many trends are evident upon inspection of Gen-Y peer relationships in America, ranging from electronic communication to the dangers of gang involvement. The following paragraphs will take a closer look at some of these current trends, and how they impact the relationships among peers in Generation Y.

Perhaps the most dominant trend among Gen-Y friends that sets them apart from prior generations is the manner in which they stay in touch. On campuses across the nation, college students can be seen walking along with cell phones virtually glued to their ears. Pagers and beepers tucked into back pockets or clipped to teen waistbands are another familiar sight. PageNet, the largest pager service provider in the USA, reports that teenagers are its “fastest growing group of customers.” (Patterson) Seventeen-year-old Trina Maxwell insists that having a pager is a sign of “hipness” and makes it much easier to “keep track of friends.” (Patterson)

Teens today also stay connected through electronic mail. Referring to Gen-Y youth in his enlightening book Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation, Don Tapscott remarks, “‘Email me’ has become the parting expression of a generation”(5). Not only do most Gen-Y’ers have their own email accounts, many also communicate with peers on the Internet via chat rooms and multi-user domains (MUDs).