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).

There's quite a few threads on Mumsnet about how young people apparently don't like alcohol. But that definitely doesn't seem the case to me maybe its just the young people you know.

Research shows that alcohol is bad even in small amounts and this message is reaching younger people who are choosing to listen to it. Us older farts will still drink as someone once said red wine is good for you or alcohol helps relieve stress. etc, and we will hold on to those beliefs even in the face of strong evidence to the contrary.

Ketamine.

The older teens I know all drink. Usually cocktails and lager. 🤷‍♀️

I think that too much of our society used to revolve around drink as part of social contact.

Sadly the person who said drugs are preferred may be accurate. Young people who profess to care about the environment but not about the deaths that come from the drugs trade, such as young black men being stabbed.

There's definitely a generational shift. I don't know anyone my age (early 30s) who thinks a glass of wine with dinner most nights a week is normal, but plenty my parents' age who do. And I don't know anyone in their early 20s who drinks much at all - in fact I know plenty who are teetotal. I think it's a combination of being health-conscious and a decline in pub culture generally.

(Having said that, I also know a fair amount of 20-somethings who take far more drugs than I saw as typical at the same age - so YMMV!)

I was a big binge drinker from about 17 to 30.

I don't really drink at all now. I'll occasionally have a glass of fizz if it's offered but must be about 3 times a year!

No secret to it, I just got bored of hangovers and the feeling of doom the day after. I've never enjoyed a glass with dinner, I just used to drink to get smashed so now I'm not interested in that, I'm not interested in alcohol! (Nor am I young but there we go!)

I rarely drink now and do not enjoy it. I find low calorie tonic water just as nice as G and T, and no-alcohol beer just as good as regular beer.

Also worth noting - there’s a trend as well of just drinking water amongst teens. The generation whose parents say no to squash or fizzy drinks just have got used to just having plain water with meals. I do think it’s going to be an issue for the hospitality industry that have relied on drink costs - not just alcoholic but pricy soft drinks - to cover a lot of the costs of running restaurants.

(that’s before how notable the lack of tea drinking is amongst all dc1’s teenage friends- surely by secondary most of us were drinking cups of tea? Seems hot drinks of choice are hot chocolate or very milky coffee)

Shloer do some nice reds. I used to love them til they started adding sweeteners in, those give me headaches.

Personally I think alcohol use has declined along with pub and club culture. It was just the thing to do out and about back in the day. More people seem to use cannabis in a bigger way too I think. Much more focus on clean/ healthy living and body image maybe a factor too.

It’s a rumour I have heard about but my 18 and 21 year olds like a drink. I’ve been for bottomless brunch and am pissed for a bargain price.

I just don't like the taste of alcohol. I have friends who say "Oh I love a glass of wine when I get in from work"

No thanks. I've tried all kinds and hate them all.

Maybe it's an expense that they can do without.

Maybe they see what it does to their parents and very sensibly think 'no thanks'?

Maybe they're more informed of the harms of alcohol than older generations were and decide they won't start with the harmful, addictive substance that can make you act like an idiot.

Maybe they have better ways of relaxing and/or having fun.

Maybe they don't need the 'Dutch courage' (I must google where that phrase comes from).

Maybe it's all of the above.

The more interesting question to me would be why so many people still drink so much alcohol, so frequently.

No thanks. There will always be people of all ages doing stupid shit.

Weed is probably easier to get hold of if you are under 18

I'm a secondary school teacher and lots of things have declined since I started 20 years ago- fewer drink, smoke cigarettes, no teenage pregnancies for years. Fewer go out a lot. More trying to save for uni.

But- more anxiety, more computer time in isolation, more vape use.

The young people I know are more focused on health, they exercise a lot.

I don’t drink, I don’t get the fascination. Wine tastes of vinegar. Horrible stuff.

This.

I've had a love/hate relationship with alcohol (now drink perhaps 0-3 times a year now, which has been my status quo for the past 10 years), but I didn't initially start drinking until halfway through university due to being utterly repelled by growing up with alcoholic parents. (They weren't alcoholics though because they "only drank wine" 🙄).

They are using drugs!!! My DH is a bus driver, brought late teens / early 20s to a concert recently. Usually he goes around with bin bags after collecting cans from whatever they had been drinking. Hardly any cans to be collected at all, but a number of little bags!

An evening meal is so crap without a glass

Why, is your food really bad?

Well done on going sober for a while.

😂😂😂😂😂😂

My son (aged 15) says it's a myth that young people don't like alcohol. He doesn't drink, but lots of his mates do, same as I did with my mates back in the 90s.

An evening meal is so crap without a glass

Maybe you need to start eating meals that aren’t crap.

It pretties it up doesn't it? A glass of wine sounds so elegant. Not so elegant for the liver 5 days a week.