Most high schoolers expect to be married by 35, not stuck in hookup culture forever. The speaker argues that despite what parents fear, young people aren't living in a perpetual casual-sex phase. A temporary hookup period doesn't mean that's the endpoint.
What is a hookup culture? A hookup culture is a belief that our culture is built around people hooking up. That's the culture. And in high schools, it is really believed that they live in a hookup culture. And here's the good news: they don't. They don't live in hookup culture. And here's how we can prove it. Because if you say to the average high schooler, by the age of 35 in this country, what do you expect it to be relationship status? Whenever you ask high schoolers that question, they go, well, you're expected to be married. Now, by the way, I'm not judging that or saying that that's right or wrong. We're just saying what our culture does. They'll say you're expected to be married. Oh, so you don't live in hookup culture, because if you did, the answer would have— that would have been nobody gets married because we stay in a hookup culture our whole lives. But you don't. Why this is important for parents to understand is you want to talk to your kids and say, yes, there are people who go through a hookup phase, but most people don't stay in it. And that's the truth.
