The conference was co-sponsored by the YMCA of the USA, a major national child and family advocacy group . While families share an average of 80 minutes together each day, young teenagers expressed a desire for more time with their parents. A quarter of all parents report eating no more than four meals a week with their teens. Education and family time are the top teenage concerns, according to the poll. By contrast, the poll found, parents worry most about drug and alcohol abuse.
Parents also seem to have different notions of the way their teenage children spend their time.
Nearly half of all teenagers said they spend their free time with friends, while only about one quarter of parents believe that to be the case. Among the poll s most striking findings is that 71 percent of parents say they frequently monitor their children s Internet use, while only 24 percent of teenagers say their parents supervise them. The YMCA of the USA is the national resource office for the 2,393 independent YMCA associations in the United States. Collectively, America's YMCAs are the nation's largest provider of child care. YMCAs serve nearly 17 million people, including 9 million children during non-school hours.