Teenagers *not* drinking. Is this a new thing?

[roisin]

ds2 (18) and his mates do not drink. I don't mean they do not get pissed, I mean they never touch a drop, of any alcohol. Ever.

It's like they signed the pledge or something.

Not sure where it's come from: not from us(!) not from religion. They first talked about it 3 or 4 years ago when some of their peers started drinking, and they have just stuck with it.

ds2 reckons 30% of undergraduates never drink at all. So, is it a new thing?

Where do they hang out?

I've read about this, alot of them don't have sex either, or learn to drive. Something to do with smartphones.

I know a 27 year old who got pissed as a teenager and spewed .. she's hasn't drank since. Do you think he may have had an under age experience that you don't know about? I wish vomiting up the bottle of vodka had put me off

Absolutely shown in all the latest research that this generation drinks less than their parents. my DS is 24 . He and his peers have occasional drinks but not often and not much at all

My son's peers are also pulling their online presence back as far as is possible. Zero social media

Apparently we are all drinking less apart from over 65's:

www.economist.com/news/britain/21699184-english-are-easing-up-booze-more-tea-totally

Pagwatch: does that include WhatsApp?

Ooh that's interesting, Pag about social media. Why don't they -privacy /future proofing?

My dd1 also doesn't drink, and nor do most of her (admittedly very geeky) school friendship group. She says that other groups in her year had much more of a drinking culture, but the main thing seemed to be smoking weed. Dd1 has just started uni so I'll be interested to see whether she changes. Sex is her own business but I know there's much more awareness of asexuality amongst her peer group.

But I haven't heard of teens cutting down their online presence - neither of my dds currently shows any signs of doing that. I hope this also becomes a 'thing', and that 15 yr old dd2 is an early adopter .

My ds is 24 and he is t total , but he comes from a t total house so that probably helps ( he also remembers my alcoholic granny) . He also doesn't smoke or vape .

TheSpottedZebra

When I talk to DS about it I get the impression it's a dislike of the fake and the cliche side of it. I'd never really thought about it before but for him every moment of their lives have been via chat rooms and Facebook, then Instagram and snapchat. It's a sort of independence thing, stepping aside from that. I guess - could be bollocks

The current generation is actually growing up very sensible and restrained. The road traffic accident rate is coming down faster in this age group than any other as well

Yes I'd heard about it too. Reminds me of being 16 and seeing my dad a bit tipsy - I hated it, didn't drink anything for another two years and not much for another year after. Things changed after that They have grown up seeing the generation above them using alcohol for everything and have probably seen us a lot more moody, quarrelsome and slurred than we would like to think.

Loads of my mate's teenage friends don't drink at all or smoke weed. Just not that into it and do lots of other things together.

DS1 (18) is a very reluctant drinker. He will have a rum and coke, or a cider but he's really not fussed.
He says all beer tastes like brown bread.

Ditto Pagwatch. ds2 has virtually no public online footprint. They chat to each other on Messenger and other closed forums, but nothing on Facebook or Twitter.

They (his group) do drive and have sex though! They hang out mostly in each others houses, but also go to restaurants and cinema quite a bit, pubs sometimes.

I thought he might shift his stance when he was 18, or when he went to uni. But this is not his intention.

I often pick DS (17) and his mates up from parties, quite quite sober. They often have tales of the drunken one making an idiot of themselves, but seem quite happy to have just one or two bottles of lager themselves - or indeed none at all.

Was NOT like that in my day, and I wouldn't have let my parents pick me up!!!

I've noticed teenagers having less online presence too. It's messaging/Snapchat instead. Drinking rates deffo falling too, it's all fitspo/clean eating instead.

Ah, I misunderstood a bit. Both of my dds are online a lot, but dd1 (18) does indeed seem to be cutting down on the public side of things. She's mostly on Discord group chats. Dd2 (15) also is mostly messaging but is also on some social media, although she doesn't use her own name.

My 15yo DD is not interested in drinking despite the fact that several of her friends already do. She doesn't like the taste and is frankly horrified at the thought of being drunk.

If only i'd been as sensible at her age!

My brother was dreadful for underage drinking up until he started college on a high fitness course and swore off the stuff. Can't even tempt him with old favourites (famous grouse and soda or neat grey goose vodka!) now.

DS17 doesn't drink much, the odd Bailey's coffee or occasional cider, but since starting to learn to drive he hasn't touched a drop, even though he only has one lesson a week. I think it's really sensible. At his age I was out getting pissed with an unsuitable older boyfriend.

DD1 doesn't drink to excess at Uni. She barely touched a drop over the summer. DS (17) doesn't drink at all. He doesn't like the taste.

Apparently it's to do with calories, but then some young people are turning to 'legal highs' instead.

Do they spend a lot of time by the gym by any chance? Young people these days are very health conscious so alcohol is one of the first things they stop doing.

it's weird everyone i know prefers to smoke weed instead of drinking, i think the big reason for this is that weed is a lot more easier to get a hold of than alcohol