I spent last Sunday evening doing what many 30 year olds do. Watching the Teen Choice Awards of course. I set the DVR (to fast forward through the commercials), grabbed my laptop (to Google any teen heart-throb whom I did not recognize) and snagged some cookies and milk to enjoy with the show.

Why did I choose to spend my Sunday evening watching a show designed for a much younger audience?  Because 134 Million teens voted for their favorite Movies, Music, Actors and much more. They literally were saying, “Hey check out what we like.” And for someone who works with teens, follows teen trends and pays attention to teen culture, this is a great snapshot into what teens like all packed into a nice 2 hour show with some laughs and entertainment mixed in.

What did I learn you ask?

• The Twilight Series and its cast are still very hot collecting several awards brining their total to 41 Surfboards (No silly little men trophies here) since 2008.
• Teens still love Taylor Swift who picked up her 20th award, the most ever by a female. I have to think teens enjoy Taylor Swift as much as they do because she comes across very down to earth and relatable. Every time the cameras showed her in her seat she was laughing or jamming to the music. Other celebrities seemed to always know when the camera was pointed in their direction and would try to look cool.  Taylor seemed as though she was oblivious to the cameras and just being herself. Teens crave authenticity and that is what she gives them.
• In the past few months I have seen several tweets and heard teens mention that teens getting tattoos is on the rise. The fact that the hosts Demi Lovato (Singer and X Factor Judge) and Kevin McHale (Glee) spent several minutes talking about and sharing their various tattoos signified that this may in-deed be a rising teen trend.
• Teens just want to have fun! This was seen by teens in the audience singing and dancing to the music performances and intro music. There were videos of teens singing along to “Call Me Maybe” by Carley Rae Jepsen were shown during her closing performance. And by their votes for songs with poppy feel good beats that  everyone can sing along too.
• Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street) is as popular with the teens as he is with older generations. This was proven by his award in the Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Category and by the fact that my wife wants to see almost any movie he is in.

For a full recap of the evenings winners head over to the Teen Choice Awards website. 

Here is your youthworker and parent tip of the day, if you don’t know who one of the winners is or what the show/movie is, Google it.