Why your teen prefers to watch TV with subtitles on (and 4 reasons why it's actually good for them)

Having your babies turn into teens opens up a modern world to you that you might not have been privy to if you didn't have them... in this case, it's subtitles on the TV. Okay, so not 'modern' as such but using them on every programme is new.

Last year my (then) sixteen-year-old daughter and I sat down to watch a film together on a streaming platform. As we settled down with our popcorn, the film started and so did the subtitles. As a hearing person, I can’t remember ever watching anything with subtitles deliberately. I find they take my attention away from what’s happening on the screen and so I asked my daughter to turn them off, she was very reluctant to do so. It turns out that her default mode of watching anything was with subtitles turned on. She is not alone.

A recent survey of 18–25-year-olds has found that a whopping 80% watch TV and films with the subtitles turned on. In comparison, adults aged between 46 and 55 only use subtitles 37% of the time and of these, many do so because of hearing issues. Gen Z would likely score even higher than 80% if they were surveyed; I haven’t met any of my daughter’s friends who don’t watch with subtitles and don’t think I’m strange for commenting on it. Subtitles, it appears, are the norm for today’s tweens and teens.

While this may initially seem weird to us, there are several logical reasons for the rising popularity of subtitles today.

Reasons why young people are using subtitles

1. The impact of social media videos
2. Translating different languages
3. They are more used to seeing words on a screen
4. The impact of online schooling during Covid

1. The impact of social media videos

Think about the last time you watched an Instagram reel, or a TikTok video, chances are it contained captions. The exposure to these short videos, alongside what are effectively subtitles has become the norm for teens today, so it makes sense they want the same experience when watching long-form content.

2. Translating different languages

Netflix has opened the doors to content from all around the world. Gone are the days of not watching anything in your native language because you couldn’t cope with the painful overdubbing. Some of the most popular films and series of the last couple of years have been in Korean (Squid Game), German (Dark), Norwegian (Troll) and French (Lupin).

3. They are more used to seeing words on a screen

For those of us who grew up either before, or just at the dawn of, the internet we were used to seeing words only in printed materials. Today’s teens have grown up with seeing words on screens from their very earliest years, from electronic toddler toys to smart speakers, electronic words are their norm.

4. The impact of online schooling during Covid

2020 saw today’s tweens and teens move online for their schooling, entertainment and socialising. Their education took place via subtitled Microsoft Teams presentations and instead of meeting up with friends, or phoning them as we would have done, everything took place online. It’s understandable that subtitles feel natural to them given this.

The favouring of subtitles by today’s tweens and teens is not only understandable, but also beneficial in several different ways too.

How subtitles can benefit young people

1. They can improve reading
2. They can improve vocabulary
3. They can broaden cultural and foreign language exposure
4. They can help neurodivergent tweens and teens

1. They can improve reading

For tweens and teens who are reluctant to read books, frequent exposure to words on screen, particularly on a show or film that they enjoy and want to watch, can boost reading ability, particularly the speed at which they read. It can also boost a love of reading too; tweens and teens who view with subtitles are also more likely to read books than those who don’t.

2. They can improve vocabulary

It can be easy to miss a word in a show or a film if it is not a word that is familiar to us or spoken in an accent that we struggle to understand, but if the word is also there in writing it can prompt tweens and teens to look it up and ultimately add it to their vocabulary.

3. They can broaden cultural and foreign language exposure

Tweens and teens today are much more likely than our generation to watch shows and films made in different countries and when they do watch them they tend to leave the original language playing, translating with the subtitles. Not only is this brilliant for cultural reasons, but it can also encourage them to learn another language and help with languages they may already be learning at school.

4. They can help neurodivergent tweens and teens

For those tweens and teens who find it difficult to concentrate on what is happening on screen visually and also tuning in to a conversation, especially those with ADD and ADHD, having subtitles makes viewing a much easier and more relaxing experience for them.

As well as these benefits, normalising the presence of subtitles can help tweens and teens to be more inclusive of those who are deaf or blind, especially when they lobby or campaign for subtitles or sign language during theatre productions, webinars and lectures and use and call for others to use alternative text (a written description of an image) on social media posts.

With all of this in mind, perhaps we should be positively encouraging our children, of all ages, to view with subtitles, as well as considering switching them on ourselves!

For more on teenagers, here are 10 things a teen coach wishes all teenagers knew, and 11 expert-led tips on how to talk to a teenager (even when they don’t want to listen). Don't forget that parenting teenagers is as difficult as raising a baby, according to experts, while giving teens ‘space and opportunity’ to be independent helps them thrive.