Generation X parents of highschoolers, do teens party less now than we did?

[Anonymous]

I have two kids in high school, and I can't get over how "wholesome" teens seem to be now compared to how they used to be. When I was my kids' age, it seemed like a lot more kids drank, smoked, got high, dated/had sex, were out late on weekends going off with their friends, etc. Now it seems like that's relatively rare, when I tell my kids some of the things that I did at their ages, (and I wasn't a wild kid) they are pretty shocked. I know that there are some kids who still do some of the things that I mentioned, but they seem like their the "bad" kids, whereas when I was that age, it was pretty much the norm. Do other Generation X parents notice this as well?

[Anonymous]

Smartphones provide a lot of "entertainment" to teens these days

[Anonymous]

I have a 9th. grader and 7th. By the time I was in 9th. I had smoked pot, drank, was hanging out with friends. So, yes I have heard that. They have their phones!

[Anonymous]

Yes, they party less and we did but that's like saying they party less than the Rolling Stones.

Almost every kid I know vaped, smoked pot and drinks.

In college, the drinking of liquor is out of control. I feel like we drank a lot of beer but the shots of liquor is crazy.

[Anonymous]

less than we did... not less and we did ^^^^

[Anonymous]

They’re using pills instead. less messy and easier to hide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They’re using pills instead. less messy and easier to hide.

You act like Gen X'ers did not pop pills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re using pills instead. less messy and easier to hide.

You act like Gen X'ers did not pop pills.

We drank cough syrup with codeine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re using pills instead. less messy and easier to hide.

You act like Gen X'ers did not pop pills.

We drank cough syrup with codeine

Yes. Maybe the rich ones back in the day did pills.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Lots less.

[Anonymous]

At least in this go-go-go area, I think more teens, if they don't have jobs, have committed, time-consuming activities than many of us did as teens. Yes, lots of us played sports or danced or did clubs of various kinds, but overall now it seems many teens' activities -- if they're into activities -- keep them busier more hours and expect more serious commitment. Our DC was in an activity (not a sport) through HS that took up 90 minutes to three hours, four to five days a week, fall through June, and more hours at certain times of year. The parents all noticed that these kids tended to be too busy to have much hanging out time, didn't party, and considering what a few of DC's less busy classmates got up to outside school, we were glad our kids didn't do a lot of random hanging out wherever, whenever, with whoever was around. Yeah, I know someone will post that "teens need to hang out and not be so scheduled!" But DC did have time to do other things--just not a lot of it, between the activity and homework.

This is just what we observed for our particular kids, and doesn't apply to every family, FWIW. I did hear simiar things from parents with kids in different types of activities.

The Post has an article today about teens delaying "adult" responsibilities but the experts they quote don't say it's necessarily a bad thing. One thing mentioned is that many of these "delayed" kids experiment less with sex, alcohol and drugs now as teens. Fine with me, but then, I don't buy the claim by some DCUM posters that teens who don't date a lot, try drinking, try pot, etc. in HS will "go hog wild" in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re using pills instead. less messy and easier to hide.

You act like Gen X'ers did not pop pills.

We drank cough syrup with codeine

Yes. Maybe the rich ones back in the day did pills.

speed was big Valium, mushrooms and coke.

Hard core kids did meth.

[Anonymous]

My kids just entered college. When they were in high school I would check their phones regularly, texts, photos, everything. I used to joke with them that they weren't even doing half the crap we did in the 80s. I think there is some research though that backs it up as well.

However I would argue that these kids are more stressed and as a result have more mental health issues.

I'll also co-sign on the drinking in college - that seems definitely worse these days.

[Anonymous]

They have more homework.

I think the biggest difference is that my kid grew up with public transportation to wholesome stuff, and kids had a bit of money in their pockets to do things.

When I grew up, all we had when we wanted to be away from parents was the wilderness reserve and the cliffs. And our only entertainment came in a bottle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least in this go-go-go area, I think more teens, if they don't have jobs, have committed, time-consuming activities than many of us did as teens. Yes, lots of us played sports or danced or did clubs of various kinds, but overall now it seems many teens' activities -- if they're into activities -- keep them busier more hours and expect more serious commitment. Our DC was in an activity (not a sport) through HS that took up 90 minutes to three hours, four to five days a week, fall through June, and more hours at certain times of year. The parents all noticed that these kids tended to be too busy to have much hanging out time, didn't party, and considering what a few of DC's less busy classmates got up to outside school, we were glad our kids didn't do a lot of random hanging out wherever, whenever, with whoever was around. Yeah, I know someone will post that "teens need to hang out and not be so scheduled!" But DC did have time to do other things--just not a lot of it, between the activity and homework.

This is just what we observed for our particular kids, and doesn't apply to every family, FWIW. I did hear simiar things from parents with kids in different types of activities.

The Post has an article today about teens delaying "adult" responsibilities but the experts they quote don't say it's necessarily a bad thing. One thing mentioned is that many of these "delayed" kids experiment less with sex, alcohol and drugs now as teens. Fine with me, but then, I don't buy the claim by some DCUM posters that teens who don't date a lot, try drinking, try pot, etc. in HS will "go hog wild" in college.

This definitely seems to be a part of it, and it's not just in this area. I have family members that live in less affluent areas, and the typical teen seems to be involved in far more extracurricular activities than what teens in that same SES group did in the past.