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 😂

Pubs and clubs are much stricter on ID now which isn’t a bad thing. I was in clubs at 15 in situations that I wasn’t really equipped to deal with. My parents just didn’t parent and neither did many of my friends parents. Looking back on feral childhoods with rose tinted glasses isn’t a good thing.

My son is in his early 20s now but he went to festivals from 16, pubs/clubs/holidays with friends from 18. He and his friends also socialise by online gaming. They all have involved parents and seem to be far more well rounded than a lot of people I knew back in the 90s. I think things are better now in general with kids being looked after and having involved parents.

They Definitely aren’t too young. I was out every night during school. Gigs, clubs, parties, the pub. We had a great time!

It was the only way to socialise, back then. You had to go out to see your friends, to chance by your crush, to experience life.

Nowadays, they’re in 24 hour contact on Smartphones. A little different to hogging the landline to your BF after school.

ID wasn't checked as stringently as it is now.
Your ID is electronically scanned and checked and it comes up as yes/no. No establishment is risking their license to let in someone who is under age.

16 year olds in the 90s were not checked or getting in with a bad photocopy of their friend's sister's driving license. Not a thing now.

Yes I was out clubbing in the 90s too - they were the best of times - I have a 17 year old now who doesn’t go anywhere other than the odd house party. Although I’m partly glad he’s safe and I know where he is which is more than could be said for my parents when I was his age! Having said that, I do worry for him when he gets to university. Generally the teens I know I hat my friends aren’t interested in pub / club culture. They are all so sensible. Which I suppose is a good thing but I do feel they are missing out on so much.

maybe they won't be as messed up as us...

DD prefers an afternoon bottomless brunch with close friends rather than out clubbing all night.

I was 16 ten years ago and we definitely were still doing all that. Obviously yes it was illegal but it was also really fun. My niece is 16 and I strongly suspect she’s doing it too. I don’t think she goes clubbing though, she isn’t keen on cramped spaces. I am aware her and her friends have been to the pubs though, as they tried the pub me, my DP and her dad used to work at and got recognised on the spot… rooky mistake. Kids these days don’t know how to play the game.

A lot of 18 year olds don't go clubbing round here either, let alone 16 year olds. The nightclub in my town actually shut and turned into a sports pub/venue because they were not making any money on it. The ques to get in used to be crazy when I was 18.

I think part of it is affordability, part of it is post pandemic, part of it is they socialize a lot online nowadays and part of it being this generation seems a lot more health conscious.

I read something recently that in YouGov survery of 18-24 year olds, 39 percent said they did not drink alcohol at all.

Apart from the above, venues are a lot stricter now (as PPs have all said) about checking ID.

My nephew who is 16 soon to be 17 doesn’t drink alcohol, doesn’t seem interested in pubs. He socialises with his mates at each other’s houses and goes to gigs occasionally, but that’s about it.

Did you not go out just to dance as young adults? (genuine question).

Financially that wouldn't happen now. Uni fees cost thousands, and no about-to-be student is getting a mortgage, 100% or otherwise. The past is a foreign country.

No I did not. But I did play a lot of sport. I did tennis and swimming.

From the age of about 13 I was out every night and all weekend hanging around with my friends. Sometimes just hanging about on the streets. My dd is 17, and she barely leaves the house. I put it down to the fact that so much of their interactions dn relationship building is on line. They don’t need to spend time with people as they can do this ‘virtually’

I do wonder how it will impact the next generation of adults, how this will pan out in a work environment and wether pubs and clubs will become a thing of the past

There are no nightclubs locally they all shut down. The pubs are either scene or “old man” pubs. There isn’t really nightlife for teens be that 16 or 18 in our area anyway.

But no teens these days don’t seem as into booze and nights out. Maybe all those phones with cameras to record the shenanigans puts them off.

I think this relates to the other thread about over-scheduled children.

Kids don't know how to socialize or organize their own activities. If they are bored, they use tech rather than playing an instrument, listening to music, or taking a bus or bike to meet up with friends. A lot also don't know many friends in walking distance.

They are scared to tey new things.

One of my younger employees was telling me about her sister who is in university. We are in quite a small wc town about two hours away from the city the university is in. Her sister has them come pick her up every weekend to come home. She refuses to take the bus around town. She doesn't even want to go out of her comfort zone to go to the university library. (which is really common according to my friends working in universities.)

This young woman is probably more affected than many but from what I can see not that unusual, she isn't considered to be ill or not coping. She was highly involved in activities in her teens going most weekends to dance events and music events in other towns with her parents or team.

Maybe a bit, but I do see young people who have not been to university buying houses by about 25. When I sold my house in a smallish city about five years ago the guy that bought it was 24, a carpenter or something like that.

So somebody with a trade then ,and probably on very good money unlike a student who.is likely to have very little money.

Tradies are raking it in, theyre the ones still left in the pubs too!!

You need actual legal ID now so Provisional driving licence, passport or cards with a PASS logo, not just a doctored NUS card like we had

I’ve not read all the threads but from my kids (16 & 18) it’s a real mix

• cost
• not drinking that much (older one!)
• city centre not feeling particularly safe, lot of knife crime
• very unlikely to get in to anything without ID! My eldest can’t even buy an energy drink or paracetamol if he doesn’t have ID on him. Places are super strict on it

When it comes to uni ages they still aren’t out that much because costs come in to it so much then. When the student loans often only cover half of the accommodation and part time jobs are often in short supply in busy uni towns then going out is quite often a once a term thing.

AIBU to think people who insist everyone’s youth has to be the same as theirs are a massive bore. I was a teenager in the 90s but I wish I had been a teenager now, the no clubbing, no alcohol, no sex thing would have really worked for me. Clearly, I was ahead of my time. I’m glad you had fun but it’s actually not everybody’s idea of how they want to spend their teenage years. I’m quite glad other types of teenagerdom are now getting a look in.

OP I was secondary in the 90,s amd none of us went out clubbing and I’m not sure we even knew what a rave was !
we had hobbies and sports and bikes and books and music and wellies and sleepovers and occasional house parties the summer before uni
We went to young farmers and the like and had a cider if we were messing around but we did not go clubbing until we were almost 18. Just not everyone does but we still made great memories .

I think the stricter door policy is a big factor, but I also think there’s so much available now to facilitate being an introvert if you are one (and that’s apparently 50%); gaming, forums, chat groups etc.

IME young extroverts are carrying on as they always did - pubs, clubs and festivals. But young introverts are now entering a completely different culture. No worse or better IMO, but so very different.

Go nerds!!

Local schools here even hold DND clubs. Un heard of when I was at school.

Much better and nice for those inclined to that type of game. We have a games cafe so you can go and get a panini and coffee or a cocktail and play board games it’s hugely popular.