Thornton teenager Chris Brecht knows what makes him happier than anything.
“Her,” he said softly, poking the shoulder of the 18-year-old next to him.
Brecht and his on-and-off girlfriend of three years, Danielle Alvarez, strolled through a field on the Colorado State University campus Saturday morning, hand in hand.
An extensive survey conducted by The Associated Press and MTV on the nature of happiness among the nation’s youth indicates that Brecht may be typical.
It’s not sex, money or other material things that make America’s youth happiest. It’s relationships – with friends, family and significant others.
“Happiness is love,” Alvarez said.
In addition, 65 percent say they are happy with the way things are going for them right now, and slightly less said they believe they’ll be happier in the future than they are now.
“Things can only get better,” said Alvarez, whose first day as a Colorado State University student is today.
Alvarez and Brecht, like 55 percent of respondents, said religion and spirituality are very important parts of their lives.
“You get different outlooks on bad situations,” Brecht said of religion. “It puts things in perspective.”
Young people in this survey had a 10 percent higher stress rate than adults in a 2006 AP-Ipsos poll.
“The culture of high school is a big part of it,” said Allen Haney, an 18-year-old from Casper, Wyo., who was in Denver for a Saturday-night Slayer concert. “When you’re older, high-school cliques are over.”
And when it came to heroes, nearly half named one of their parents.
Denver resident Nate Rakim, 18, said his mom was his hero. As a single mother, she clawed and scraped to make ends meet, doing menial jobs at a hospital and living in studio apartments with Nate.
Today, she’s a clinical-research recruiter, and Nate has his own room.
“She did it by herself, really,” he said. “She never gave up.”
Brandon Davis, 22, of Boston, in Denver with his band, Vanna, said his hero is his youth pastor.
“He inspired me to play music, stay in church and be an overall good person,” he said. “He preaches in a way that gets through to young people.”
Staff writer Vimal Patel can be reached at 303-954-1638 or vpatel@denverpost.com.
