Teens are all about their phones these days. Cars and driving? Not so much. According to experts, getting a license isn’t that big a deal for most youth. Twenty years ago, teens needed to have access to a car in order to see and have fun with friends. Today, modern technology makes it much easier to hang out virtually with your peers; seeing them in person seems almost secondary. Evidence shows up in new car sales: In 1985, 500,000 new cars were sold to youth between the ages of 15 and 20. Last year, the demographic bought 300,000. “The Internet has made the freedom that comes with a license anticlimactic,” says Lindsey Kirchoff, a millennial trend marketing consultant. (Los Angeles Times)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.