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    The percentage of US high school seniors who have ever consumed alcohol has fallen off a cliff over the past 50 years

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    49 Comments

    2. USSMarauder on

      Looks like a steady decline of about 1% a year over the last 40 years

      Not exactly fallen off a cliff

    5. thefeedling on

      Lower alcohol consumption, fertility rate, relationships and sexual relationships, different way new generations see work and career, increased mental disorders, it’s all VERY different than Millenials and boomers. Some changes are good others bad, but the alcohol consumption is probably one of the most dramatic and positive paradigms shift.

    6. FreeMoCo2009 on

      Curious to see how other things (pot, vapes, other drugs) compare, but otherwise good!

    13. Mockingbird007- on

      Tbf. Drinking age was raised. So look at how many were doing it legally vs illegally.

    14. Big_Body_91 on

      I could not imagine drinking and partying like I did in early 2000’s with everyone having cameras on them 24/7. If you made an ass of yourself blacked out, it was talked about for a little bit and then dropped for the most part. I don’t think I’d have a job if camera phones were around when I was drinking in high school. 

    15. wolfgang784 on

      At least in my own experience, it just shifted to other things.

      I graduated in 2013 and a huuuuuge portion of my graduating class had at least tried various pills and a hefty chunk had a serious addiction to them already. Snortin em, mixin em, takin higher than usually prescribed doses of em, and so on. Seemed to be even more pill users than weed smokers, and more of either of those than alcohol drinkers. Harder drugs as well, but less common than booze or other options.

      Still good that alcohol dropped like that though. I think? Surely it didn’t shift to pills and harder drugs in eeeevery school like mine.

    16. Everyones_Dead_Dave on

      Well yeah, you seen the price of a buzz ball… £6 for a colourful ball of piss, who’s daft enough to afford those. Back in my day you could get a box of stubbies for a few quid.

    17. SoftConsideration459 on

      Also, their are dash cams on cop cars and body worn cams on the officers. The cop that let me drive home less than a mile on a country road after a high school party didn’t have that pressure on him.

    18. Upbeat_Guard_9595 on

      I was a senior in 2004 and people used to be drunk in class with Poland spring bottles full of liquor on them

    19. Particular_Bet_5466 on

      47% is crazy. The 1980-1987 makes more sense when you realize you could drink at 18.

      I grew up in Wisconsin where it had to be over 90% in 2009 lol, I didn’t know anyone that didn’t drink.

    20. justthistwicenomore on

      I wonder how much this contributes too or is just correlated with reduced teen pregnancy

    21. acidorgan4 on

      This almost matches high school math and reading rates. Obviously, booze makes you smarter.

    23. SinamonChallengerRT on

      My son is 21. Never drank. Even as a peer-pressured teen. I don’t think he ever will. Just not his thing.

    24. Sorkpappan on

      Most people consume alcohol when hanging out with others. Especially the first few times.

      Maybe kids are just not hanging out as much.

    25. iv214 on

      I mean that’s good health wise. Some of my funnest/funniest memories were those keggers back in the day. But probably not good for you at all and dangerous af. Good for them.

    27. Legitimate_Bird_5712 on

      They’d be almost 70, dying could be considered “falling off a cliff”.

    28. OldManCodeMonkey on

      I blame a shortage of older siblings caused by small, even single child, families.

      My generation had more bad influences and exhausted parents. /s

    30. ezklv on

      They also don’t go to parties anymore. Being a teen in the late nineties early 2000s ruled.

    32. Top-Wolverine-8684 on

      My husband and I don’t drink, but never pushed our kids away from alcohol. We took my daughter out to have her first drink with her 94yo great grandma on her 21st birthday. She hated it and hasn’t had one since. My sons are 19 and 20 and absolutely zero desire to even try it. And it’s not just them; none of their friends drink or do drugs. I would have had a much easier time growing up in this generation since socializing used to be so focused on alcohol.

    33. Naive-Present2900 on

      For those not from the USA. The legal drinking age is 21. US High School seniors are between age 17-18. So I’m not sure how this data was collected.

    34. kakapoopoopeepeeshir on

      I think it should be noted though that other substances have just taken its place. Nicotine addiction amongst high school teens is astronomical right now because of how easy it is to obtain and the potency of the nicotine in these vapes that are being sold. Also something else that’s creeping its ugly head right now is the amount of teens and young adults using performance enhancing drugs. Social media has created this firestorm of what people think we should look like and it’s all ripped people basically making fun of you if you don’t look like them. Now imagine you’re impressionable teen who has access to steroids. Steroids and other PEDs have never been easier to get and kids are taking them without understanding how it can destroy their hormone production.

      So while yes alcohol consumption is down that doesn’t mean other things aren’t being consumed. Right now it’s a lot of stimulants from my experience teaching high school. I had students in my classes that would be asleep or have a terrible headache to the point they needed to leave and come to find out it’s cause they didn’t have their two energy drinks before 9am that day.

    35. RedEyedTroll6 on

      anyone notice how when this is reported by mass media it’s portrayed as a negative for the alcohol industry instead of a positive for humanity?

    37. bwgulixk on

      I think it should be marked that the federal drinking age was changed from 18 to 21 in the 80s…

    41. NicoleMullen69_ on

      Its because we live under constant surveillance.

      If you get drunk and throw up or dance like an idiot at a party, theres gonna be 14 cameras/phones on you. 

      Back in my day, you get drunk and no one outside that party would know. 

    47. yorickb12 on

      I was ten when i first drank to the point of being drunk. I was smoking cigarettes and cannabis by 7th grade. I had tried most drugs by the time I was 21. In my 40s I think the only drug I still use is caffeine.

    48. xutopia on

      There are a few reasons I can think of.

      1) People spend way more time on screens therefore less time socializing.
      2) Cost of living has increased so much that young folks cannot purchase alcohol like older generations could.
      3) Getting high is now legal in many areas.

      I don’t believe health is a big reason why.

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