To think 16 year olds don't go out to clubs and parties anymore?

[Todayisaday]

I was in secondary for the 90s, and at around 16, we were all clubbing and going to raves, pubs, gigs and generally having a whale of a time. I know my parents generation were out a lot too by 16.

I know quite a few 16 year olds children of friends and relatives and they don't seem to go out very much at all like that.
Am I unreasonable to think that this generation are not party people??

Asking as so much culture and new music was created in generations past and fuelled by younger generations pushing boundaries. But either I am old and zi just dont know about these things, or youth culture is genuinly stiffled. They seem to all listen to 90s music atm 😂or mainstream music?
What do you think about it? What do you know that I don't as I am too old 😂

Well technically they are not old enough to go to pubs and clubs, are they?

My daughters went clubbing at 16.. they loved it.. but now they don't ( eldest is 42).they go to friends houses for drinks.
My 20 year old Grandson goes clubbing to alternative clubs..
I went in the 70s and 80s.. Was bloody fantastic.

As PP said they aren't old enough to but I do think it's a shame in a lot of ways. Those were amazing days and you learnt a lot of coping skills along the way. I think this is why a lot of university students struggle because they suddenly hit 'going out' at the age of 18 and haven't learnt the essential skills while living close to parents who could bail them out, pay for a taxi, collect them etc.

Neither were we, I don't think that stopped any generation before this!

My DD doesn’t, but she is ND and has pretty bad anxiety, so probably not typical 16yo. She loves gigs and going to the cinema, but not that often. I’m not concerned - when I think of some of the stuff I got up to aged 14-17 I shudder. My mum would have had conniptions if she’d had an inkling!!

You need gov ID now to get in, so you can no longer use fake “student” ID or blah your way in, unfortunately! Some of the best days of my life!

*blag

Well I was an atypical teenager, pretty sure ND. My secondary school was not “local”, friends didn’t live close enough to go out in the evenings, also had terrible social anxiety. So no I didn’t go out drinking before the age of 18.

Between 16 and 18 I was out every night, had settled down by 18/19, bought a flat with 100 percent mortgage while working on a gap year then went to uni. Everything seems so delayed for this generation.. even moving out.

There has definitely been a massive cultural shift in terms of parental involvement in children’s social lives that seems to last up to age 18 when suddenly parents then lash them in a new city for university and expect them to cope.

Oh yes 😆

My cousin's 16 year old can't get the bus by herself has to be driven everywhere and never stays at home alone. Crazy

I was 16 in the 90s and definitely not going to clubs, raves, gigs. I was going to my friend’s house for sleepovers and getting a takeaway and going to bed early because I had to get up at 5am for sports practice. 😂

My son is 16 and has started going to 16-18 nights at Ministry of Sound, he said it’s great!

I agree OP. I turned 16 in 1988 and was out clubbing every Friday and some Saturdays throughout sixth form. It’s very different now. I do think that “house parties” are still a thing though (I’ve young adult DCs).

They can't round here. The pubs and one club all have a policy that you must have ID and they ask for it if you look under 25.

The club ask anyone who looks under 25, plus every so many people. DH got asked when he went after a family birthday party recently much to the amusement of our adult kids 😂

I have three teens and IME pubs and clubs are a lot stricter about underage admittance, fake IDs etc than they used to be when I was young. So I think you're right that it's much less common for under 18s to go pubbing and clubbing. They drink at house parties though.

No…I wouldn’t imagine many teens are getting mortgages in their Gap Year in 2025. Only those with family wealth.

They don’t go clubbing and to pubs because it’s pretty much impossible to get fake ID, you can’t just borrow someone’s driving license now they have photos 😂 but most sixth formers go out once they’ve turned 18. 16YOs definitely still have parties. Going to Reading Festival post GCSEs is still a right of passage.

Licensing laws are actually enforced now, so under 18s have almost no chance of going out these days.
Its a shame, I'd prefer my DC learnt to drink in pubs where they'd have to behave and couldn't afford more than a few pints, rather than get plastered on cheap vodka at house parties and in parks.

You were asked for ID back in the 90s, only the policy then was 18+ so people had their fake ID designed to say 18. They weren't just letting a wave of underage teenagers into clubs and bars and serving them without a second glance. I know, because I was an extremely baby-faced teenager who was perma-ID'd.

If youngsters were still so inclined today, they could presumably get their fake ID created to say they were 18 (when actually only 16) and show that when asked for proof of age.

I have a young teen. Even if she wanted to go out, there are no clubs around here or gigs. Even for adults. Closest might be in town either 40 or 60 minutes away, but no public transport after about 8pm. Most big gigs at big event spaces at stately homes, definitely not public transport out there. And it’s expensive. She’s mentioned a few times friends going to gigs with their parents, but at easily £100+ a ticket. 😬 Kids hang out at each other’s houses. Ours build dens still in the woods and hang out there.

They need ID for everything these days, and businesses are far more scared of getting prosecuted for serving underaged kids. Pubs and clubs in my day turned a blind eye if you looked vaguely old enough, but now they want proof.

Based on my nieces and nephews - the answer is no they don't really.
Cinema, Coffee shops, the gym, other casual sports things.
Game cafes (ie trading cards, board games, dungeons and dragons) are also popular.
That's more their thing.
It's like the nerds have finally won the "what is cool" argument.
Go Nerds 😂

Gosh you’re right!
End of thread.

My mate loaned her previous year's student ID card (with photo) to a 17 yo friend back in the late 1990s. They looked alike but not THAT alike. Then they went up to the bar to order together.

So bartender was standing at the bar with pal's CURRENT year student ID in one hand and an identical student ID card in the other hand, but for the difference in year. Same name, same face on both cards. Just a different year. And two people standing directly in front of him both claiming to be that person.

Reader, they both got served.