Much of the research on the topic of youth and writing addresses questions of instructional quality and effectiveness from the perspective of administrators, teachers and parents. As noted earlier, this study deliberately focuses on this issue from the perspective of teens themselves in an effort to inform this body of research. To further this objective, we asked teens to share their thoughts on the importance of writing to their future success, as well as their perceptions of the efficacy of current educational strategies. We also asked them to tell us about the distinctions they make between school and non-school writing and the relationship of these two writing styles to their use of technology.  We found that teens strongly see the value of writing for their future and credit school, primarily, as the place that will provide the most instructional guidance for development.