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    Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

    (arstechnica.com)
    349 points pseudolus | 11 comments | 17 Dec 24 23:44 UTC | HN request time: 0.583s | source | bottom
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    ikmckenz ◴[20 Dec 24 19:31 UTC] No.42474139[source]▶
    Teens aren't doing drugs, smoking, drinking, or having sex. And the suicide rate has never been higher.
    replies(4): >>42474219 #>>42474328 #>>42475115 #>>42475794 #
    1. conductr ◴[20 Dec 24 19:48 UTC] No.42474328[source]▶
    I've had is persisting thought that, we as a society have been delaying adulthood, thus extending childhood, with each decade for a while. And we've now pushed it so far that the current cohort of teens simply are effectively young children on a social/emotion perspective making them unprepared to handle the stresses their age is exposing them to.
    replies(4): >>42474630 #>>42474763 #>>42476744 #>>42476928 #
    2. FredPret ◴[20 Dec 24 20:19 UTC] No.42474630[source]▶
    There must be a good balance between the grow-up-quick-or-die-horribly of the pre-technology world and the my-cats-are-my-kids life of the post-danger world
    3. GeoAtreides ◴[20 Dec 24 20:34 UTC] No.42474763[source]▶
    The age of majority should be the end of a journey, not a bureaucratic milestone.
    4. cosmic_cheese ◴[21 Dec 24 01:18 UTC] No.42476744[source]▶
    I would agree that modern childhood is protracted to what is perhaps a damaging extent, but would also argue that the stresses and anxieties of everyday life are more constant and overbearing than the human psyche is equipped to handle. It’s mot healthy for well-adjusted adults either. We’re built for dangers and stresses that come in relatively short bursts, not those that are without end.
    replies(1): >>42476935 #
    5. makeitdouble ◴[21 Dec 24 02:02 UTC] No.42476928[source]▶
    > have been delaying adulthood

    If you have kids, do you see them as less mature than how you perceived yourself at their age ?

    TBH I feel the opposite: current kids have a lot more to deal with, and are expected to be much much more down to earth than a few decades ago. The most basic things: a single post on an SNS can stick with them for the rest of their life, yet we moved half of our social life online.

    replies(3): >>42479852 #>>42479991 #>>42479995 #
    6. llm_trw ◴[21 Dec 24 02:03 UTC] No.42476935[source]▶
    In 1924 you would expect to be a child in a family of 5 with two dying before they hit their majority.

    We are simply blind to how much even the relatively recent past sucked.

    7. BeFlatXIII ◴[21 Dec 24 14:22 UTC] No.42479852[source]▶
    My observation of teens online, as someone who was once an online teenager, is that they are noticeably less mature than my cohort. Perhaps because it's no longer just the nerds who are online all day—if everyone in my high school was chronically online, there's a high possibility that Bush-era teens would've been just as openly immature and stupid as today's youth. Whatever happened to pretending to be an apathetic 24-year-old?
    replies(1): >>42481489 #
    8. bbarn ◴[21 Dec 24 14:49 UTC] No.42479991[source]▶
    By 17 I was on my own and joining the military. My daughter is 25 and just got her first real job out of college. By her age I had a 6 year old child (her). I'm not saying I took the right path (I didn't) but the level of maturity I had at her age was vastly different. Her peers are all similar, and when I was young many of mine were similar to me. I do thing generationally / culturally there's a difference.
    replies(1): >>42484049 #
    9. meiraleal ◴[21 Dec 24 14:50 UTC] No.42479995[source]▶
    > current kids have a lot more to deal with, and are expected to be much much more down to earth than a few decades ago

    For sure not. They are pushed to play in a stage and fake drama. Decades ago, many 13 years old kids worked for 10-16 hours a day.

    10. doctorwho42 ◴[21 Dec 24 19:02 UTC] No.42481489{3}[source]▶
    Lol, when I was 12-14 that is exactly what I tried to pull off... A early 20 something so people wouldn't kick me from the server/team lol
    11. makeitdouble ◴[22 Dec 24 02:45 UTC] No.42484049{3}[source]▶
    > I'm not saying I took the right path (I didn't)

    Not picking on your personal experience, but if you see it as a mistake, wouldn't it be a sign you weren't mature enough to take the right decision ?

    Now, having a kid definitely accelerate that maturing process. But without a solid parental environment (which was common at some point, especially with the grand parents being around) it's a recipe for disaster, I wouldn't see it as an appropriate path for most in this day and age.

    I see your point on much of a change it makes to have fewer young adults already being parents. That's definitely impacting.