The Cincinnati Post is running an article on recent America's Promise survey results from American teenagers:American Dream alive but elusive. There is optimism in much of the report. There is also a touch of cynicism regarding the interpretation of the survey results:
In terms of education and job skills, only 37 percent said they most needed "technology skills" in order to succeed, as compared to 64 percent who rated "financial skills." Survey evaluators interpreted this result as indicating that American youngsters feel technologically proficient. A more likely interpretation is that they don't know how poorly their technology skills lag behind children in other countries.A bottom-line finding which America's Promise labeled a "dream gap" showed that while 95 percent of children had goals they want to achieve in life, 42 percent doubt that they'll be able to achieve the goals. Unless American kids get help from adults, this pessimism may be all too realistic.
"This spring, 1,278 young people aged 10-17 were polled with appropriate representation from urban, suburban and rural neighborhoods. The entire “Voices Study” is available at the America’s Promise home page at www.americaspromise.org. The poll has a margin for error of +/- 2 percent." The full 46 page PDF is here.