To think that nobody knows how to have fun anymore?

[HappyPlayer]

Everyone’s either too busy, too cynical or too glued to their screens to actually enjoy life. Whatever happened to just being present and having a laugh?

That’s such a sweeping generalisation! There are definitely some people finding it hard to find fun right now. But you have given me a nudge to put down my phone and get outside. The swans in my local park have had babies and I’m going to visit :)

I definitely have fun with my friends, we laugh like we did 20 years ago!

I'm having a day at home, been out every day for the past week. Got time off work and have walked hundreds of miles seeing places.

I think young people drink less alcohol so that might be one reason.

I do. And pretty much all if my friends and family.

It sounds like you need a new social group.

It's a very sweeping statement but there's a germ of truth in this.

Younger people in particular seem to have lost some of the capacity for that exuberance which goes with coming of age. The period from the age of about 17 to 30 was, for me, unbridled thrill seeking. I spent my time learning about the world and having fun in a very directionless way. People in the age group now seem far less able to do this.

I think there's a number of factors: life is much more expensive these days, it's much harder than it was to get "good" jobs so they have to be much more driven and focused from a much younger age, there's far more social anxiety and of course people seem to spend a lot of their social time online and go out a lot less.

There's a lot to worry about here; the lack of social contact worries me a lot and I think the fact that its much harder to be exposed to other young people and involves so much more anxiety is a terrible thing which we, as a society, should worry a lot about.

On the other hand, I actually celebrate the fact that young people's social lives revolve so much less around alcohol. It's very fashionable to say that this was an important rite of passage, but honestly I spent about 15 years of my young life in an alcoholic stupor and if I knew then what I know now about alcohol and cancer, I'd have given it a swerve. My generation (Gen X) was raised in a very very permissive way which I think set us up for a lot of physical and mental problems which I'm really seeing to start to play out now.

So it's swings and roundabouts.

I do think the younger generation of adults are generally more anxious and risk-averse than previous generations. Childhood seems to last until early twenties, when I was off abroad travelling with friends at 17.

Depends on the generation and circumstances, surely? I can’t imagine having much fun if you’re young now: trying to climb the career ladder for long hours and stagnating wages and no reward of decent housing, often while WFH/hybrid from your bedroom in a shared rental, so less of the social and learning opportunities; while the climate crisis looms and your future’s been broken by people who’ll be long gone by the time it really bites; watching the rise of the far right; growing up as a digital native without the social opportunities of the analog generation before you, and now AI coming to take jobs to make billionaires wealthier instead of delivering a better society. Let’s all have a laugh and some bants about it!

Also, we (Gen X) could have fun and be a bit stupid/irresponsible knowing it wasn’t going to get captured on people’s phones and posted online. I imagine that contributes to younger people feeling socially anxious / constrained. Still have fun now but obviously have far much less time for it due to work/life (and generally being older what I class as ‘fun’ now has changed and tends to be pretty tame anyway!)

Sadly there’s definitely a grain of truth in that.

Being young + alcohol + no photo evidence = blissful, carefree, chaotic, hedonistic fun.

My DD is home from uni and in the last three weeks has gone out for a picnic with friends, visited an exhibition, gone out to lunch, gone charity shopping with other friend (she is also doing a paid internship but that isn’t very ‘fun’). Just in the last week I’ve had a great few days with my 22 year old son visiting for his birthday. Tried a couple new restaurants, went on a lovely drive through some scenic areas, went to the beach. I also went out to lunch with some girlfriends last week, met another for coffee and a gossip, ate breakfast outside every morning chatting to the neighbours.
My friends are in Wales, in France and Scotland having a great time. Some are busy working of course but that is a necessity!
So basically most people I know are out and about enjoying the good weather, exploring new places and seeing friends when they have the time. Now our kids are grown we can be a bit more spontaneous.

Define "fun".

Just because some overly anxious parents have tried to raise their children to make them as anxious and unprepared for the world as they could?

Thankfully many people can see "have fun". I see young people still travelling and enjoying being young, I see adults having parties , I see lots of people going away most weekends to spend time with friends and generally enjoying themselves.

We might be less "adventurous" nowadays, because thanks to internet, we can prepare, research and keep in touch with everyone so you don't disappear for weeks or months on holiday but young people still go around the world doing stupid things.

If you stay away from the terminally doom/ gloom/ anxiety ridden people, most people still have fun, and thank god for that!

Go to any beach, park, lido, swimming pool, park run, busy cafe, camp site, youth club, allotment site, theatre, cinema or sports club and you'll see hundreds if not thousands of people having a brilliant time with family, friends or alone.

It's happening, you're just not seeing it.

This is a bit mad with no context? I see people enjoying themselves all the time!

Shouldn't you be out larking in a park rather than posting moany threads on the internet then?

I’m still having lots of fun and laughs with me friends and my husband. Maybe it’s just you and your social circle.

I think people do have fun, but I find it sad that apparentl far fewer people have held or been to a party in the last few years than used to.

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/house-party-stormzy-london-nightclubs-crisis-landlords-raves-new-years-eve-b1172688.html

For younger people, a lot of them just don't live somewhere they can have them, also others have been put off them by the fact that people are so flakey and you can get 24 acceptances and then have 8 actually turn up.

I've just had to move from a city where the partying of students and hen/stag type gangs was an ongoing nightmare. Those people are having a LOT of fun.

It's possible to enjoy yourself without getting pissed. I think it's a shame some people think otherwise. If these people started to realise it is possible to have fun without the crutch of alcohol (or illegal drugs), they might find find that life becomes generally more enjoyable and more "fun".

I can enjoy an evening out without having a drink, but I know people who can't.

Several of my close friends and family are heavy social drinkers who couldn't contemplate a night out that didn't involve alcohol, which I think is a shame.

I drink alcohol occasionally, but never to excess and my life is fun and enjoyable. In fact, the people I know who drink heavily on a night out are often attempting to escape unhappiness and any enjoyment or "fun" it brings is - at best - fleeting.

My friend said a similar thing last night and I see it on here daily.

On here it seems nobody wants visitors but they don’t want to go out either. Texting people is a massive inconvenience and if anyone tries to be your friend they haven’t got the headspace. Men are a no no.

Life should be enjoyed.

I think it's really sad that so many people equate " having fun" with drinking alcohol.

Personally I think the amount of people obsessed with taking selfies, photographing every occasion instead
of enjoying it, and spending so much time looking in the mirror and worrying about their looks has a lot to do with their ability to " have fun".

It cost a lot less decades ago.

"taking selfies, photographing every occasion instead of enjoying it"

Every day I see people who change into their swimsuit, wade into the sea up to knee height, lift a camera above their head, flick back hair, pout, pose, snap, then walk out of the sea, swimsuit bone dry. That's it, all holiday boxes ticked, wild time had.

At my son's old university, it was an out of town campus college based one, and they used to have around six bars in each of the colleges. They've now closed two of them due to lack of business! I think that does demonstrate that youngsters aren't into alcohol as much as they used to be.

I think the covid lockdowns did a lot of damage as it broke the social construct of youngsters socialising in bars etc. My son said that even when a big footie match was being shown on the big screens in the Uni bars, the places wasn't full - as everyone was watching it on their ipad screens in their uni rooms as they weren't used to going out - no surprise after being banned from leaving their accommodation blocks for months!

One of my young adult children definitely embraces life. Great time at uni, far too much drinking, loads of friends, always seems to be travelling and loads of plans to travel, nice life in city with loads to do. It's his personality, coupled with a high paying job which allows him to be spontaneous.
Younger child doesn't do much at all, which I worry about. My own youth was quite a lot of years of hedonistic drinking escapades and not much thinking about the future, which you could kind of get away with at the time.