Parenting Pointers - Hookup Culture Podcast

 "I feel like a big part of hookup culture is pressure from friends and putting pressure on yourself to have hookups. You go meet someone, you're probably drunk, you hook up, and there's not much, like, exchange of, like emotion or feeling, is the way one of the students on The Screenagers Podcast, Valentine's Day episode: Debunking the Myths of Hookup Culture: What Teens and Parents Need to Know, explains it.  

“ The rules are to make sure everybody understands that this isn't romantic, which means I'm not being warm during that hookup. No particularly tender things in the sex itself, so prolonged eye contact, or caressing, or cuddling, or anything like that, and once the sexual encounter is over, it's over.  I might even be a little meaner to you for a little while until the threat of this appearing romantic has passed,” another one explains.

Round-the-clock access and exposure to unrealistic portrayals of relationships and intimacy in porn, shows, social media, and more have pushed the edge of what is commonplace in relationships for young people and is negatively impacting their self-esteem and emotional well-being.

While the expectation and pressure to hook up are prevalent on campuses, most students report dissatisfaction with this atmosphere, saying they prefer connection over callousness.

" Everybody thinks everybody is doing it, that everybody loves it and wants to do it all the time. And that's not true," Dr. Lisa Wade, author of American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus, tells Dr. Ruston on the podcast. "The vast majority of men and women on college campuses are interested in a romantic relationship.

How do we teach teens and young adults about healthy relationships?

 ”Meaningful relationships don’t have to begin with hookups. By talking to our middle and high schoolers about how to build healthy relationships and navigate the challenges of asking someone out, we can help them develop deeper, more intentional connections,” Dr. Ruston, an international expert on adolescents and screen use and filmmaker of four Screenagers documentaries, explains on the podcast.

Click here for a link to the full episode. 

About Dr. Ruston and Screenagers

Dr. Ruston's Screenagers podcast, weekly blog, and movies have reached millions and created impactful, positive changes in how teens and their families live with the influence of social media and stress. 

Screenagers movies have garnered critical acclaim for exploring the effects of digital technology on teenagers and families. Directed by physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston, the films present research-based insights into how screen time is affecting the mental health and development of youth today and what families and communities can do to encourage a healthier balance with technology. For more on Screenagers, check out Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age, Screenagers Next Chapter: Addressing Youth Mental Health in the Digital Age, Screenagers Under the Influence: Vaping, Drugs, and Alcohol in the Digital Age, The Screenagers Podcast, and weekly blog.