Kids who were 13 at the start of the pandemic are turning 18 in 2025 -- and they're less experienced with dancefloors than any prior cohort of 18 year olds
I work in a pub (in England) that's mostly frequented by University students and have been since the lockdowns officially ended (after two years in more or less complete social isolation I was missing human contact and going back to bartending seemed like the healthiest way to get the maximum amount of interaction without spending every last penny hanging out in my spare time).
Already this year I've noticed our fresh crop of clientele (usually second, third and final year undergrads - due to visa laws post brexit the post grad population has shrunk as EU students cannot work to support themselves other than in exceptional circumstances) is so much less feral and better socially adjusted than our clientele from `21-24. In fact they're actually politer and more considerate than their peers from before the pandemic.
They carry themselves more like adults not kids escaping the parental gaze for the first time.
On their first or second visit to the pub they politely introduce themselves by name "Hi, I'm Sarah and this is Mike and Jane - we've just moved to the area and this will be our local for the next couple of years".
This said, they're still fun to be round, living their best lives, but I think they're just grateful to have not lost as much of this important phase of their development as their older siblings and friends.
And believe me when I say those guys were FERAL. Often argumentative and disrespectful, I was kicking people out and banning repeat offenders at a rate of three to five a night. This lot are as good as gold by comparison, and rather shamefully the only people I've had to eject or ban so far this academic year have been people aged 40 and up.
Just thought I'd put that out there as we've all noticed the difference, not just us in the pub, but my friend who runs the local corner shop and even the neighbours who normally complain about the noise from student houses next door have been reticent so far this year and not been complaining as much as normal - although as the weather lifts and we approach the end of the academic year no doubt the parties will get louder and more frenetic. But yeah, this batch of 'kids' are alright!
As a further point, my generation (I was 18 in 1995) wasn't subject to such strict legislation regarding going to pubs and drinking alcohol. Most of us were going out to pubs from the age of fourteen or fifteen - it wasn't legal, but equally not was it considered a big deal. There were certain pubs seen as 'young people's pubs', and my local when I was sixteen... If you were still drinking there at 19 people looked at you suspiciously! But again, other pubs welcomed all ages (some were over 21 or over 25 only by choice) and as a result we also learned how to relate to people older than us on an equal footing and not just see older people as authority figures like parents or teachers.
But the positive side was that we were expected to behave ourselves. If we got messy falling over/vomiting drunk just once or caused any kind of trouble at all, that was it. We had to be model citizens or be banned and lose access to our social spaces.
Thirty years later and with laws around underage drinking stricter than ever, I don't think the legislation has fixed the problem, younger people drink less often but binge harder. And they're also less able to interact with those outside their exact age group, which is not great for social cohesion and intergenerational understanding.
On fucking point. I remember when I was the early 20’s youngling and had amazing older friends show me the ropes and induct me into everything from new artists and venues to the pre-COVID afters spots (shout out to X marks the loft). Our groups wish we could meet more of the zoomers and be able to return the favor but the behavioral differences are insane - many just don’t know how to talk to strangers or just socialize IRL in general.
It's gotten really bleak these last few years, but I hope that the zoomers will mellow out and find a path to pro-social dancefloor behavior ... I'm an optimist but it's hard to stoke the flames of optimism when I see so much bad behavior. Luckily, I just got back from Berghain which gave me a major boost that should carry me through the end of the year. =)
I work in a pub (in England) that's mostly frequented by University students and have been since the lockdowns officially ended (after two years in more or less complete social isolation I was missing human contact and going back to bartending seemed like the healthiest way to get the maximum amount of interaction without spending every last penny hanging out in my spare time).
Already this year I've noticed our fresh crop of clientele (usually second, third and final year undergrads - due to visa laws post brexit the post grad population has shrunk as EU students cannot work to support themselves other than in exceptional circumstances) is so much less feral and better socially adjusted than our clientele from `21-24. In fact they're actually politer and more considerate than their peers from before the pandemic.
They carry themselves more like adults not kids escaping the parental gaze for the first time.
On their first or second visit to the pub they politely introduce themselves by name "Hi, I'm Sarah and this is Mike and Jane - we've just moved to the area and this will be our local for the next couple of years".
This said, they're still fun to be round, living their best lives, but I think they're just grateful to have not lost as much of this important phase of their development as their older siblings and friends.
And believe me when I say those guys were FERAL. Often argumentative and disrespectful, I was kicking people out and banning repeat offenders at a rate of three to five a night. This lot are as good as gold by comparison, and rather shamefully the only people I've had to eject or ban so far this academic year have been people aged 40 and up.
Just thought I'd put that out there as we've all noticed the difference, not just us in the pub, but my friend who runs the local corner shop and even the neighbours who normally complain about the noise from student houses next door have been reticent so far this year and not been complaining as much as normal - although as the weather lifts and we approach the end of the academic year no doubt the parties will get louder and more frenetic. But yeah, this batch of 'kids' are alright!
As a further point, my generation (I was 18 in 1995) wasn't subject to such strict legislation regarding going to pubs and drinking alcohol. Most of us were going out to pubs from the age of fourteen or fifteen - it wasn't legal, but equally not was it considered a big deal. There were certain pubs seen as 'young people's pubs', and my local when I was sixteen... If you were still drinking there at 19 people looked at you suspiciously! But again, other pubs welcomed all ages (some were over 21 or over 25 only by choice) and as a result we also learned how to relate to people older than us on an equal footing and not just see older people as authority figures like parents or teachers.
But the positive side was that we were expected to behave ourselves. If we got messy falling over/vomiting drunk just once or caused any kind of trouble at all, that was it. We had to be model citizens or be banned and lose access to our social spaces.
Thirty years later and with laws around underage drinking stricter than ever, I don't think the legislation has fixed the problem, younger people drink less often but binge harder. And they're also less able to interact with those outside their exact age group, which is not great for social cohesion and intergenerational understanding.
On fucking point. I remember when I was the early 20’s youngling and had amazing older friends show me the ropes and induct me into everything from new artists and venues to the pre-COVID afters spots (shout out to X marks the loft). Our groups wish we could meet more of the zoomers and be able to return the favor but the behavioral differences are insane - many just don’t know how to talk to strangers or just socialize IRL in general.
It's gotten really bleak these last few years, but I hope that the zoomers will mellow out and find a path to pro-social dancefloor behavior ... I'm an optimist but it's hard to stoke the flames of optimism when I see so much bad behavior. Luckily, I just got back from Berghain which gave me a major boost that should carry me through the end of the year. =)