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What makes teens happy?
July 8, 2010 Updated Jul 8, 2010 at 4:03 PM EDT

Many parents may know that buying their children new clothes, dvds, cell phones and running shoes isn't really the way to make kids happy. But, they do it anyway. It turns out their parenting instincts were right: helping your kids to be happy isn't necessarily easy but it sure is cheap. So, what really makes kids happy? According to an Associated Press/MTV poll, it's actually spending time with your family. Dr. Peter Whybrow, a Psychiatrist and Neuroscientist says "If you go outside the U.S. you'll find a lot of children in very impoverished places who are pretty happy because they spend a lot of time with other children and a lot of time with their parents. And so it's not material goods that makes for a happy childhood, and we haven't figured that out yet."
When asked about what makes them happy, almost no one in the poll mentioned money or material goods.

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