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).

They’re just bullying and harassing people online instead which is just as damaging, really.

Because so many of us have grown up around it, with parents who overdo it on the booze on the regular, and find the culture surrounding drinking to be incredibly weird. If you can't have fun without drinking, you're probably an incredibly boring person or so full of insecurities you don't know how to let loose without substances.

Additionally, I know the older generation didn't have their every move papped and put online - so getting drunk probably felt safer. Now, younger people are more image conscious because they're much more likely to be in the background of someones photo - and if you're too drunk, you're probably going to get caught in a bad way. (I know this bit is very ironic when I mention alcohol and insecurities in previous paragraph - I think insecurities manifest different between generations tbh)

It's literally a poison, it has no real health benefits, and we are more than aware that the health system is is falling to parts so we are trying to look after our health a bit more. Links in with the rise of run clubs and popularity of gyms with younger people and things like hyrox etc. Again, probably many of us have seen our parents health fall to pieces through excessive drinking and want to preserve us for longer.

The cost of it - I live in a big city centre, its £6 for a pint or £9 for a glass of wine. Many of us just do not earn enough money to regularly pay that out - the friends of mine who do drink are significantly worse off financially than those that do not drink (but still regularly socialise) - despite earning similar amounts.

I'm not anti-alcohol btw, I have the odd drink here and there (it flares up my endometriosis so I don't drink much tho), but these are the main thought processes I here when talking to my friends and peers about this stuff (I'm late 20s, but friends from early 20s to mid-30s).

It's not though, is it? Because if you read MN, a huge number of people drink daily, or 4-5 nights a week. They can't go out for meals without a drink, can't watch TV without a glass of wine in their hands, and according to many on here, can't even cope seeing friends without having alcohol to make it enjoyable

My father in law is a binge drinker. An upbringing with an alcoholic had different effects on both his sons. My DH binge drinks and has now stopped drinking completely due to the effect on his mental health, and his brother is teetotal.

The British drinking culture is horrendous. My fil comes stumbling in at least twice a week, falls asleep on the floor in the sitting room in his pants with kebab dribbling down his front.
when my DH was very young, mil used to put him on the phone to ask daddy to come home so they could eat dinner when he was out getting wasted after work and missed dinner time. Both Mil and Fil think this is normal, horrendous role models for children.

They couldn’t understand why I don’t want to go to their family Christmases, they push so much alcohol onto guests, the men go off to the pub while the women cook the roast. Grim. Was a hard no after my daughter was born.

Same.

What does your last sentence mean?

I don't think anyone here gives a shit whether you drink or not.

Yet here you are interacting with my thread.

Anyway the point is to distance myself from the kinds of people who judge it (who would want to spend time with them, drunk or sober).

I think pub and club culture isn't what it was like in the 90s/00s (and I'm told also the 70s and 80s from older siblings) could be why it seems that they don't like it like we did.

It seems to be a controversial thing to say (on MN) but I enjoy drinking alcohol, from time to time. I never drink in the house and never drink to falling over / throwing up excess, but I do, once or twice a month, like to have three or four drinks with friends. I find relaxing and fun. I also have nights without alcohol and really enjoy them too but I do, occasionally, like a social drink.

Not convinced of the cost argument, really. If you really, really, really, really, really wanted alcohol, it is embarrassingly easy to brew beer or wine. Even for todays mayflower attention youth. One of my hobbies on and off these past 40 years. Don't do it much now as we have a bottle of wine a week - and I can't be arsed to work the calories off.

I have to take issue with the idea that countries with little or no alcohol are somehow less violent or more peaceful than the UK though. Especially for women.

I definitely think the younger generations drink a lot less than I did when I was younger

One of mine is teetotal and the other two only drink if its an occasion

Myself and my friends still enjoy a cold drink at home .Something my lot would never do.
It's actually a good thing.

Each to their own! Sounds like you know your vice, consume it in moderation and enjoy it a lot - I don’t really drink but it definitely sounds like me and vanilla latte Oreos 😁.

When you look at the stats (NHS: Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England), there a clear downward trend from the peak of my heyday in the early Nineties for the first two (even vaping isn’t as ubiquitous as smoking was back then), but the drug use has gone up massively. Getting their kicks through different ways.

Hope you had a lovely glass of red tonight with your dinner, OP!

I'd say it's a hell of a lot easier for younger people (and others too) to never drink or give up alcohol than it is to be without a smart phone and all that entails.

Social media is the drug of the day now, with a bit of weed thrown in.

No one is stopping you from pouring yourself a glass of wine. We don’t know you in real life so we won’t know if you do.

It’s a divisive subject because people can be very anti alcohol because there are a lot of serious negatives to it. I’m not for it or anti it, I’m just glad I don’t really like it.

Well yes, because it's a discussion forum and you asked a question?

Most of my family drink and so do my friends - it has no impact on our friendships or relationships. I just have a coke or a mocktail while they have wine or beer. It's really not a big deal.

The tide is turning thank goodness and yes, younger people do still drink but they dont seem to go out and get smashed, falling out of clubs like we used to. I think there are several reasons for that:

1. Everything is photographed and filmed now. I thank the Lord that wasnt the case when I was young as I'd have to emigrate if my young drunken shenanigans ended up for the world to see
2. Focus on health/appearances. SM is all about health and wellness now, doing yoga on mountain tops in sports gear etc - thats what people want to see, not people with their mascara half way down their face whilst they vomit kebab onto the pavement because that just looks rubbish
3. Nightclubs are on the way out. I live in a popular nightclub town and half of them have closed since the 90s/00s and are now shops or boarded up. I suspect people use dating apps to meet people now rather than club nights and you can hardly turn up to a first date off your head.
4. Culture. The culture has changed- I grew up in the 90s with ladette culture where getting shit faced was considered "cool"- it's not now, it's just a bit sad. Most of the cultural icons I grew up with are now sober because they developed alcoholism and serious health issues from it.
5. Safety reasons - far more aware of personal safety now and drink spiking etc

I think its great things are changing - its really dysfunctional to think anyone has to drink to have a good time and we are now seeing the quite serious health consequences in my age group (40s) of people who succumbed to that idea back then.

I don't know whether I'd be classed as a young person for the purposes of this discussion, but I'm 28 and from my perspective, and looking back to my teens/early twenties, I'd say it's for a few reasons.

We're more aware, possibly, of the negative effects of alcohol these days. Campaigns, documentaries, social media, etc. I think that has stopped alcohol from feeling like just a natural normal part of life in the same way it maybe did in years past.

Social trends do tend to come in waves. I think for a lot of us, our parents were more hard drinking in their youth and at uni, and maybe tended to drink habitually at social events and on an evening. The response to that, as a trend, is that the next generation/s veer the other way and question the role of alcohol in their life. Maybe the next few generations who are parented by us will swing back more the other way.

Money. Nights out are fucking expensive. It's always been thus, I suppose, but it seems harder and harder to have a genuinely cheap and cheerful night out. EVERYTHING is expensive, even when you're trying to stick to cheaper drinks. The expense kind of takes the shine off what used to feel like fun and freedom.

Drugs are cheaper?

Drugs. Lots of young people now taking psychedelics (mdma, lsd, mushrooms) etc and either staying home watching the walls warp or going out and loving on everyone. No hangover the next day and much cheaper than buying drinks all night.

It’s interesting that all the alternative drink suggestions are sweet drinks - all those who don’t like alcohol seem to have a sweet tooth, perhaps that’s why they never really liked the more bitter/savoury flavours of wine/beer in the first place.

i can drink sweet drinks with lighter meals that I’d normally have white wine with (and increasingly am the driver so do) but do find myself struggling for red wine alternatives.

There’s possibly a gap in the market there!

@velvetcoat makes SUCH a good point about everything being photographed and filmed nowadays!! So many factors like this go into stopping nights out from feeling like an escape.

You aren't scottish I'm guessing 😂

Not sure if I'm 'young' anymore... but 2 parents with booze issues put me off for life. Nothing positive comes from being drunk, most people just embarrass themselves. Once you've stood up to the peer pressure 2 or 3 times then it becomes easier and people accept it eventually.

Sparkling water is hardly a sweet drink, lol.