To wonder why the young people don't enjoy drinking alcohol

[OptimismvsRealism]

I mean I know some people have always not really liked it but why as a generation do they feel differently about it?

(Come to mind because I've decided to go sober for a few weeks and it's NO FUN and I want to know their secret).

This. They don’t drink but they do take far more drugs than I ever did. Drinking isn’t seen as “cool” because their parents do it. Pills etc? They believe they are the first generation to do that 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I don't know about the young young people, but in my 30s and I don't like it. Never enjoyed being drunk, don't like the taste of it except in very fruity cocktails. So don't bother. Neither does DH.

I also wonder why people rely so heavily on it to have fun. There's so much to do in the world that's fun, and doesn't require being squiffy or drunk.

My adult children don’t drink ( or do drugs) , the eldest doesn’t like the taste of any he's tried and the younger one isn’t interested. They’ve been bought up in a non drinking house and they’ve been raised to know that you don’t need to drink to have fun . My Nan was an alcoholic pub landlady , I saw enough booze by the time I was 18 to last me a life time and then as a nurse I worked on a liver unit , it really is enough to put you off .

Lack of pubs and clubs, so there’s no rights of passage and normalised drinking culture, that older generations experienced.

Yep! This..

Because they’ve realised it’s the work of the devil 😂
No seriously, they’ve been educated more on the downside of alcohol.

So does weed, which 'young people' seem to much prefer!

Dd 15 is far far more health conscious than I was. Single ingredient items only as a rule. Wouldn't dream, yet - might change but she's already a year or two older than I was - of 'poisoning' her body with alcohol. This, I thank tike tok for.

Cost - £1 a pint nights are a thing of the past.

Greater appreciation of well-being, health and fitness.

The sight of older people
embarrassing themselves by being absolutely shitfaced, and an understandable desire not to follow their example.

More emphasis on quality of what they’re drinking over quantity.

And the majority still do drink. I was out on Thursday after work and the beer garden was full of people 20-30 who were all drinking what looked like alcohol (I accept some might have been alcohol-free alternatives).

Judgey McJudgepants

If you can't have fun without it, you're a boring person.

If you feel you need it to relax, you've got a problem.

If you try to justify altering your perceptions of reality, you may be struggling to accept reality.

Alcoholism isnt just getting blind drunk regularly and falling over, and it sounds OP, that you've got a problem

I don’t drink, I don’t really like the taste which helps! I did drink in my 20s but slowly just stopped. I don’t like the cost or the affect on my body.

I’ve seen too many drunk people off their faces and it never looks fun.

By the same coin, why are my parents generation (DM in 60s) so fucking obsessed with it? Why do you need wine? Don't any of you understand how unhealthy it is to rely on what is effectively a drug to get through life?

Have you ever seen drunk people passing out falling asleep through booze and not been disgusted?

It's weird.

I'm in my mid thirties. I don't drink. I'm not boring: if you think anybody who isn't drinking alcohol is boring, maybe you're the problem? Needing alcohol to have fun is beyond tragic.

Alcoholic parents?

Probably one reason is the price.

It seems so much more expensive then it was when I was that age (1990's). We would regularly go to pubs and clubs. Although I never drank my friend did.

Also I think the lockdowns have a lot to do with it. My 20 year old and all her friends both sexes seem to prefer to 'talk' over playing computer games. They learnt to keep in contact via the computer rather then meeting up in real life when at 16 - 18 where as we socialised in person.

google drunken teen videos, some don't seem to have got the memo about not letting go.

I think it's cost.

When I was 16 there were places I could go and a.) actually get served, and b.) actually get pissed for £4. (Pound a pint and I was a massive lightweight!)

As a student not much changed, aside from being able to get in places without worrying about it! Even on my meagre earnings and loan I could go out most nights, and go clubbing a couple of times a week. I was an absolute piss head and yet probably only spent about £25 a week on booze.

These days students end up spending that on a quiet night in the pub. And they have far less disposable income than I did, with rent cost etc.

So they don't drink as much just to get pissed, and so they never really get the taste for it. And do the entire culture around drinking changes. An entire generation has grown up being able to socialise without liquid lubrication. They learn to chat, and dance, and shag each other without needing a beer first.

They're freaks if you ask me, but they're freaks with healthy livers and fewer embarrassing memories! Good on them!

I think the point about getting served is a good one.

When I was 16, you could get served in most places, shops and pubs, without any trouble. I also worked in pubs between 18 and 23 and we only very occasionally asked for ID.

The penalties for serving underage are much heavier now and the person doing the serving is personally responsible too.

I'm 35 and don't drink, not because I'm health conscious or anything but I'm just not that bothered about alcohol, I drank a bit as a teenager but the novelty soon wore off.

I'd rather have a cup of tea or hot chocolate tbh. I'm honestly glad I don't care about alcohol with the price of it these days, I waste my money on other stuff instead. 🤣

Or the opposite ? I don’t drink, dh doesn’t drink, 23yo dd doesn’t drink. I wouldn’t have minded or judged if she did. She got a bit tipsy at a party when she was 17yo once and i haven’t known her drink since.

I reckon it’s because when they want to start going a bit wilder and grown up (like 16ish), as a society we’ve made it much easier (and often cheaper) for teens to get hold of drugs than alcohol.

we’ve made them wait until 18 to get drunk, by which point they’ve been finding their own ways of socialising, waiting for the youngest in their friendship groups to be 18 means many have got to 19 before “going down the pub” becomes an option for a friends meet up.

Why do you need alcohol to have fun? maybe you are addicted, but you won't know until you try and stop.
Maybe the younger generation are better educated than you about how harmful alcohol is. Do some research?

For your issues OP - you need some nice soft drinks. Posh cloudy lemonade with the sort of meals you’d have crisp whites with, I’m still struggling for a good drink to have with steak that’s not red wine. I usually end up having water as I don’t want anything too sweet or fruit flavoured.

Cannabis is so much better than alcohol.

It’s expensive, going “down the local” isn’t a cultural thing any more, they have seen their parents drink every evening to “unwind”, better education so we now know alcohol can be carcinogenic, stricter venues so they can’t get into pubs or clubs at 15/16 like we did. But I think many more young people vape than smoked when I was a teenager/early 20s

I’m 32 and have almost given up alcohol as have a few of my friends, either for their health, not wanting to waste free time feeling hungover or it worsens their MH. I stopped gradually and organically because drinking started to give me headaches. I now feel like if I can’t have fun, relax or celebrate without alcohol then I should probably either do something I find more fun or find better coping strategies