re: I think maybe the kids are going to be all right

Actually, a number of states in the southeast are in the top 10 of most sober.
From the earlier link.

"In contrast, the states where the lowest amounts of alcohol are consumed annually, starting with the lowest, are:

Utah: 1.35 gallons per person
West Virginia: 1.74 gallons per person
Arkansas: 1.78 gallons per person
Oklahoma: 1.85 gallons per person
Georgia: 1.90 gallons per person
Kansas: 1.92 gallons per person
Kentucky: 1.95 gallons per person
Alabama: 1.99 gallons per person
Ohio: 2.03 gallons per person
Maryland: 2.08 gallons per person"

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A stat came out that 40% of high school graduates this year have never tried alcohol. Which isn’t a sign that high school kids are being more careful, it’s a sign that high school kids don’t know how to have fun and socialize.

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My kids were working dat 60% fun like an art form.

Kidding. Sad state of affairs. Glad to hear what makes us human is making a come back. Pity this is even a thing.

I think this is due to a couple of things

Those of us who grew up in the 80s-90s loved it and then along comes the internet and social media which led to the decline of outdoor activities and socialization. Now I think some millennials realize how detrimental too much social media and phone usage can be and perhaps many encourage their kids to go outside and live the childhood they had. Secondly social media has plateaued and seems to largely be used by adults these days who got addicted to it when they were younger and it was the cool new thing. Now it’s stale, and less attractive to younger people. Young people rebel and tend to do the opposite of their parents. In this case “social media is not cool. Let’s go make a ramp for our bikes and do something our pussy arse parents think is too dangerous”

Things go in cycles. What is cool now won’t be cool in 10 years and in 10 years what is cool will be what was cool 20 years ago

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they realized that alcohol was gonna make socializing way mote fun, they probably would drink

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Alcohol is the cure to social awkwardness

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Kids need to do things that look like they're "trying to kill themselves" within reason of course. Riding bikes too fast, climbing trees, and exploring unsupervised teaches them risk assessment, resilience, and problem-solving.

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Or in my case at 12 years old, making forts from scrap wood and tin in the snake infested ditches on each side of a small overgrown field to shoot fireworks at each other through pvc pipe shoulder launchers

I really think the kids who are rising seniors in college down to the kids who are about rising seniors in high school now were mentally screwed by all the COVID BS. Middle school and high school are the most important times for social maturity and learning how to form friendships and they got a big portion of that taken away from them. They have no idea how to function. It makes sense to me that the younger kids are normal.

No, they won't be

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I see kids under 12 outside everywhere, riding those electric bikes and trying to kill themselves, fishing, running around unsupervised, just being kids. Likewise, the younger kids are so much more social in school now, so many more obnoxious boys and gossip girls who get in trouble because all they wanna do is have fun with their friends.

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As a parent to an 11 year old, I agree. These kids are pretty cool.

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Millennial parents are saving everyone from the gay Gen X parents

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Umm, I'm square in the middle of Gen X, 1973, and my kids are 12 & 9.

There's still a Gen X influence.