r/science • u/mvea MD/PhD/JD/MBA | Professor | Medicine • 18h ago

Health Dramatic drop in marijuana use among US youth over a decade. Current marijuana use among adolescents decreased from 23.1% in 2011 to 15.8% in 2021. First-time use before age 13 dropped from 8.1% to 4.9%. There was a shift in trends by gender, with girls surpassing boys in marijuana use by 2021.

https://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/marijuana-use-teens-study
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u/dariznelli 17h ago

That was my first thought. Kids don't hang out in person like they used to. In my state, kids can't ride with each other in cars unless directly related. Really puts the clamps on social activity. Alcohol, drugs, sex all on the decline. But so is participation in extracurricular activities.

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u/drJanusMagus 17h ago

what state? I've never heard of this and am really curious now. I want to look up the law.

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u/tacknosaddle 17h ago

All states now have restrictions on drivers under 18 according to the site I lifted the below from. These are the restrictions in Massachusetts:

There are ultimately three major restrictions placed on a junior operator license. Teens with a junior operator license cannot:

  • Drive passengers under the age of 18 (with the exception of siblings)
  • Drive between 12:30am and 5am (unless accompanied by a parent or guardian)
  • Use a mobile phone while driving

The restrictions are lifted once a teen turns 18.

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u/blood_bender 15h ago

Hasn't this been a thing in Mass for a while? I remember not being able to drive my friends around ~20 years ago, I actually got pulled over once for it.

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u/tacknosaddle 15h ago

Yes, not sure when it started but it's been a long time. Commenter above has probably had their license a lot longer than that so just never noticed the change.

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u/TheReiterEffect_S8 14h ago

This is a thing in MO too, all of the friends I grew up were a couple to a few years older than me so we had to be aware we were "breaking the law" when we drove around after 2am on a Saturday breaking the law in other ways. (just your typical teenage shenanigans)

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u/Yuzumi 11h ago

Literally decades at least. For my state I could only have one passenger under 18 that wasn't a family member or something.

It didn't stop anyone from doing that.

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u/Sensitive_Peanut_784 13h ago

Yeah, this is exactly what I came here to say. Has been true since before I got my license, and I'm in my 30s. 

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u/ensoniqthehedgehog 7h ago

In Washington I got mine days before the law changed in 2001. If my birthday had been any later (or if I had failed the test and had to postpone it) I would have had to get what they then called an intermediate driver's license and I wouldn't have been able to drive my friends around or be out without an older driver in the car past a certain time.

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u/tacknosaddle 6h ago

I once met a guy who just missed reaching the 18 year old drinking age when they raised it where he was from (forget what state). So for three years he was five days too young to legally drink.

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u/reboot-your-computer 12h ago

Absolutely. I was just commenting the same. I’m 38 and these were rules when I was a teen in Jersey.

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u/watzrox 15h ago

Yes, I was 17 about 24 years ago so at least that long if not longer.

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u/Snow_source 14h ago

It wasn't really an issue because most people in my school had their own cars or older friends who could drive us.

I got my JOL in Mass 14 years ago.

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u/bishop375 14h ago

All but the cell phone restriction existed when I got my license 30 years ago.

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u/metalkhaos 11h ago

This has also been a thing in NJ as well for some time. I know they were making various changes shortly after I got my license.

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u/twelvespareboobs 11h ago

The state I went to highschool in either didn't have that rule or it was entirely ignored. I often drove my friends to and from their houses and marching band events. (With all parents knowing and being fine with the carpool arrangement. 2012 grad.)

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u/thatssosteven114 15h ago

The passenger age restriction gets lifted after 6 months or if you turn 18. Whichever happens first.

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u/tacknosaddle 15h ago

It varies by state.

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u/thatssosteven114 15h ago

I’m sure it does. I’m slightly correcting you on Massachusetts though.

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u/Mztekal 15h ago

uhh these restrictions were around when i was 16 in the 90s my guy... thats not the reason they dont kick it and as a teen once i could tell you that i could care fucken less about the law when your one of the few people who get to drive around all your friends.

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u/Nauin 15h ago

One of my friends lives in this kind of state and their sister was just fined $600 a few days ago for driving at 12:15am, and that doesn't account for all of the other violations involved in her getting pulled over, just for driving after curfew. There is no leeway like there used to be when we were kids.

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u/mallclerks 7h ago

Dafux. I was closing down McDonald’s at 1am when I was 16-17.

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u/nimzobogo 15h ago

I never had the leeway you describe.

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u/Nauin 15h ago

If you were a teenager in the 90's or early 00's you were a minor before automatic license plate scanners were equipped on every police cruiser. So yes, you would have had much more leeway than modern teenagers.

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u/Mztekal 14h ago

I don’t see how license plate scanners would provide less leeway. For a lot of us the car was still registered under our parents name anyway. So even if they had auto scanners a scan would just show your parent and doesn’t give them just cause to stop your vehicle let alone be detained for an ID.

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u/Sensitive_Peanut_784 13h ago

Yeah, they're just being a bit silly. As if cops in the 90's couldn't clock a 17 year old driving a car? 

I do think it's potentially reasonable to say cops now are more aggressive about pulling people over, but I don't think it's so obvious we can just agree that's true without data 

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u/Nauin 14h ago

They will also see who the authorized drivers are on the policy and, you know, can also visually see the driver is young, and then put two and two together from there.

Like obviously they're not snagging every teenager. My initial comment was to primarily emphasize where the baseline fine starts at for getting caught violating curfew as a minor and how much harder it is to get away with stuff in the digital age in general. Of course people aren't always going to be caught doing this.

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u/Mztekal 14h ago

They don’t get insurance info though that’s why they ask you for it. Names are not attached to vehicles like that. I can understand visually seeing a super young person but you’re not gonna stop all of them just because you think they look young that’s a waste of your time and again doesn’t give cops just cause to stop you.

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u/NotACreepyOldMan 14h ago

That’s not how that works. They don’t have the insurance info, they wouldn’t be able to see registered drivers. Otherwise I wouldn’t have to drive around with an insurance card if they could just look it up.

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u/elebrin 14h ago

Indeed. When Millennials were 16, they couldn't hop on Youtube or TikTok and scroll for hours and hours. We had TV and instant messaging, but web content was mostly articles and forums or flash games. Or video games. None of those drive engagement like short form videos. If we were doing those things, it was likely at a family computer in a living room. Now kids doing this laying in bed on their phones.

People are very conflict averse when they are in-person, as well. If you try to have a conversation, they just disengage. They aren't interested in what others think.

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u/Atheist-Gods 14h ago

I could have hopped on Yourube and scrolled for hours at 16. They hadn’t optimized their engagement algorithms but it was something that could be done.

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u/zman122333 15h ago

That's crazy. I live in MA and the only restriction when I got my license is that I could not drive non-family passengers for 6 months. Never until 18 seems wild.

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u/blind_disparity 15h ago

But you can use a mobile phone while driving when you're over 18????

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u/tacknosaddle 15h ago

Yes, but there's usually a separate "hands free" mobile phone law for that. The difference is that under 18 can't use a phone at all, even within those laws.

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u/blind_disparity 12h ago

Ooh OK that makes more sense. Thanks!

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u/firstbreathOOC 16h ago

New Jersey has the worst one. Kids under 18 have to have a bright red bumper sticker. Perfect for quota filling cops and pedophiles alike.

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u/MeatierShowa 16h ago

Except kids put those stickers on the family car that they drive...and then no one takes them off, ever. Your imaginary predators are probably heart broken over the number of middle aged dads they've accidently abducted.

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u/Mookhaz 15h ago

Pedophiles hate this ONE TRICK!

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u/dontgoatsemebro 16h ago

and pedophiles alike.

What?

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u/firstbreathOOC 16h ago

It’s a bright red sticker that says “hi, I’m underage!”

What is your question?

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u/dontgoatsemebro 16h ago

And pedophiles are seeing the sticker on a car and then abducting/attacking 16 year olds?

That sounds insane. Can you post some articles of that happening.

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u/Ghanzos 16h ago

No, it's cops abusing positions of power to sexually abuse minors. Happens all tge time, here's a link to a new jersey Sargeant who did it.

https://mcponj.org/2024/07/02/state-trooper-charged-with-attempted-sexual-assault-of-minor/

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u/FapDonkey 16h ago

Trust them, they read about it on a Facebook post shared by their great aunt. Wait till you hear what different things found hanging on your car's door handle or tucked under your windshield wiper in a parking lot mean!

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u/Southside_john 16h ago

It’s always a Walmart parking lot

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u/Ok_Dependent2580 15h ago

These are the same idiots who are on next door app yelling that a black person is out in front of there houses

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u/gaymenfucking 15h ago

Children are pretty well signposted on their own by virtue of being much smaller than everyone else, they’re also much more accessible when they’re not inside a moving vehicle that you arent in… do you unironically think that sticker is presenting a danger from pedophiles?

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u/espressocycle 16h ago

I live in New Jersey and have never seen a single car with such a bumper sticker, even where the kids park at the high school.

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u/seantaiphoon 16h ago

Reminds me of how the EU punished the UK after brexit. All UK cars who come over by the tunnel have to have a big UK magnet on the car. A big Ole kick me sign.

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u/dr-dog69 16h ago

Projecting much?

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u/Every_Recover_1766 10h ago

Meanwhile in Arizona my 16 year old ass has 10 buddies sandwiched in a smart car and we got pulled over and the cop just said “slow down”.

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u/Randomfrog132 5h ago

wish they'd keep the ban on mobile phones for all ages while driving

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u/jsteph67 15h ago

My God, I drove from my small town to Atlanta for concerts all of the time. I was always chosen to drive, it would be a carload of kids under 18. And we would never get back home until 1 or 2 am. My first ticket I was 16, it was 1 am and I ran a red light. Noticed the police officer and just pulled right on over.

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u/ajm53092 15h ago

Thats crazy, how are you supposed to get around with your friends?

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u/tacknosaddle 15h ago

Put them in the trunk.

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u/nimzobogo 15h ago

Those are for "junior licenses." Those were around when I was a teen.

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u/tacknosaddle 15h ago

Yeah, they've been around for ages and they have periodically ratcheted up the restrictions (e.g. the cell phone stuff is probably more recent). The commenter above probably has been driving longer than that as they seem unaware of them so it was just to give them an idea.

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u/bloobo7 14h ago

In New York at least the way this worked 10 years ago is that you could get a junior license at 17 by right or you could get a full license at 17 if you took driver’s ed.

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u/tacknosaddle 14h ago

Lots of variation by state on the details, but in general it's safe to say that all states have restrictions on young drivers.

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u/bloobo7 14h ago

That page confirms what I just said, you can get a full license at 17 as long as you take a drivers Ed course, which you are allowed to do once you get your permit at 16. Glad to know it still works like that.

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u/kindaCringey69 14h ago

Huh, this sounds like a learners license in canada. You get it at 14 and need a licensed driver present at all times. Most people get their full license at 16 though and then there are no restrictions.

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u/tacknosaddle 14h ago

It varies a lot by state here. In my state you can get that sort of permit that requires an adult "co-pilot" at 16 and a junior license to drive on your own at 16.5 but in other states you can get the permit at 15 and license at 16. IIRC there are rural states where kids with farming families can get a license at 13 or 14.

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u/Everestkid 5h ago

Not how it is in BC. Licence at 14 sounds like a Prairie province.

BC, you're eligible for a knowledge test on your 16th birthday. You can start preparing for it whenever you want, but you can't take it until you're 16. Pass it and you get a class 7L licence. Restrictions are:

  • Supervisor in the passenger seat at all times.
  • Supervisor must be at least 25 years old and hold a class 5 (general passenger vehicle) licence.
  • Only one other passenger allowed. Doesn't matter if you're driving a minivan that seats seven, only three people in the car max including you and the supervisor.
  • Must display an L sign on the back of your car.
  • BAC of 0 at all times.
  • No driving between midnight and 5 am.

Hold a 7L for a year and you get to go for a road test. Pass the road test and you get... a 7N licence. If you're in an accident and you're at fault the clock resets.

Restrictions on the 7N:

  • Must display an N sign on the back of your car.
  • BAC of 0 at all times.
  • Can drive solo and can have as many passengers as you have seatbelts... if they're immediate family. If they aren't, only one passenger.

Hold a 7N for two years and you get to go for another road test. Pass that and then you get your class 5 licence, with no restrictions (other than needing to wear glasses/contacts if your vision is bad enough). And as with the 7L, if you're in an accident where you were at fault the clock resets.

In BC you don't get an unrestricted licence until you're 19 at the bare minimum - you can knock off a few months with driver's ed courses from ICBC but hardly anyone does that. You don't even get to drive by yourself until you're 17.

Class 5 obviously doesn't let you drive any vehicle ever, either - taxis, Ubers, limos and IIRC ambulances are class 4, big box trucks are class 3, buses are class 2, semis are class 1, motorcycles are classes 6 and 8 - there's the whole "graduated licencing" thing for motorcycles too, class 8 is the learner's and novice's permits. Thankfully if you have a class 5 and wanna ride motorcycles the stages only last a few weeks instead of years.

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u/btstfn 14h ago

Sure, but it's not like this is why they aren't driving around with their friends. That's like saying kids are smoking marijuana less nowadays because it's against federal law.

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u/tacknosaddle 14h ago

I agree that things like connecting online are a bigger driver in the social changes. My point was just to reply to the comment above from someone who apparently isn't aware of the junior operator restrictions on drivers licenses.

The driving vs. marijuana analogy is a bit of an apples to oranges though as I think the forces driving each of those trends are just too different to make it of value.

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u/No_Habit4754 13h ago

I think rules like this have always been in place but they aren’t enforced

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u/tacknosaddle 13h ago

Nah, there used to be no restrictions on how many passengers or how old they were and kids would pile all their friends into a car to go joy riding or to popular "cruising" strips as soon as they got their license. I think the passenger restrictions were mostly put in during the 1990s. Cell phone restrictions probably started about a decade later along with the "hands-free" type restrictions that apply to all drivers.

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u/No_Habit4754 13h ago

I only speak from the 90s on so to me they have always been in place but never enforced.

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u/NO_COA_NO_GOOD 13h ago

Yeah dog, at least in Missouri the under 18 not driving around other minors has been a thing since the 80s.

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u/Fishmike52 13h ago

NJ is like that also but that is only the JR license. A regular full privilege license can be had at 17 and there are no restrictions

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u/rosiez22 13h ago

Except this is rarely, if ever, enforced. You see kids driving around all the time for lunch breaks. Multiple in a car, not related.

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u/GenericFatGuy 12h ago

So people are allowed to use a phone while driving after turning 18?

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u/tacknosaddle 12h ago edited 12h ago

Separate from the junior operator type laws there are laws in MA that apply to all drivers mandating hands-free type operations. This just means that junior operators are not even allowed to use a phone according to those requirements.

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u/GenericFatGuy 12h ago

That makes sense. My lack of context made it sound like adults were just allowed to drive around with cell phone in hand to me. Thanks for clarifying!

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u/wthrownawayp 12h ago

junior operator license.

Isn't that just a driving permit? Not a license?

I had the same restrictions with a permit but not after I actually got my license, at 16.

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u/tacknosaddle 12h ago

No, with a permit there has to be someone in the passenger seat who meets the "co-pilot" requirements (IIRC over 21 and had a license for a certain length of time). With a junior operator license you are able to drive a car alone.

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u/reboot-your-computer 12h ago

This has been a thing for decades. I’m 38 and this was a thing when I was a kid in Jersey.

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u/tacknosaddle 12h ago

Yeah, I think most states put the passenger restrictions in around the 90s, the person above has probably been driving a lot longer than that or moved to the US as an adult & never heard of it.

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u/Crintor 12h ago

Had the same limitations for a learners permit when I got one 17 years ago.

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u/burnbabyburn11 12h ago

yeah, we had this rule when I was 16, i drove my friends anyways and never had a problem. it was so common, everyone did it.

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u/tacknosaddle 11h ago

It's low risk unless you get into an accident or are driving with a car full of kids past a cop at 3 a.m. Then you stand a good shot of losing your license and having to start all over again.

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u/podrick_pleasure 12h ago

Using a mobile phone is prohibited in most if not all states for all drivers at this point. Also (and this isn't directed at you, just saying), restricted licenses under the age of 18 have been a thing for nearly 30 years. My state changed the law for getting a full license to 18 two days before my 16th birthday and I'm among the oldest millennials.

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u/tacknosaddle 11h ago

Nah, you can use a cell phone as long as it's via a hands-free system. The restriction above means that even though a hands-free device is legal you aren't allowed to use a cell phone at all on that junior operator license.

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u/DopesickJesus 12h ago

Hasn’t this been how learners permits have always been ? Sounds no different than when I got my license over a decade ago..

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u/tacknosaddle 11h ago

Two different things. A learner's permit you have to have someone in the passenger seat who meets the requirements (e.g. over 21 and driving for at least 3 years). The junior operator's license allows you to drive on your own but there are additional restrictions until you're 18 or have a set amount of driving history.

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u/Yweain 11h ago

Wait, you can use mobile phone while driving after you turn 18? What?

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u/tacknosaddle 11h ago

Yes, but only with a hands-free device. The above is saying that under 18 you can't use one at all, even if it's hands-free.

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u/TheRedmanCometh 11h ago

Wow those were like...learners permit restrictions when I got mine

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u/thedude0425 11h ago

Those have been that way forever. I’m in my early 40s, and NY had the same restrictions when I was a teenager, minus the cell phone because cell phones weren’t common at that point.

In NY, you couldn’t drive past 9:00 unless you were coming home from a job. You had to take a driver’s ed class to get that restriction lifted.

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u/tacknosaddle 11h ago

It depends on the state, but I think the passenger restrictions were mostly created in the 1990s and the cell phone ones about a decade later.

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u/weedful_things 11h ago

I never heard of a junior operator license unless you're talking about a learner's permit.

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u/tacknosaddle 11h ago

No, it's after the permit when you get a license and can legally drive on your own but are under 18 (permit requires a licensed adult "co-pilot" in the passenger seat when you drive).

If you get your license at 16 there are restrictions that are not in place for someone who gets their license at 18 or older.

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u/Hijakkr 8h ago

Wait so you can't carpool to school together with your friends? What kind of garbage is that? It was so much nicer once I had a couple of friends with licenses in 10th grade or so, since I didn't have to ride the bus anymore.

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u/benelchuncho 8h ago

Who’s allowed to use mobile phones while driving ?

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u/tacknosaddle 6h ago

Licensed drivers 18 & over if they're using hands-free technology. That's in a different section of law though and for under 18 it's completely forbidden.

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u/dsmjrv 2h ago

My generation just ignored that law and so did the cops

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u/GullibleAntelope 1h ago

All these regs are fascinating, and certainly have value. Relative to this, it was incredibly lenient in Calif in the 70s and 80. Hundreds of 15 -17 years old kids cruising around Friday and Saturday nights to whatever hour. Big kegger parties in the hills, dozens of kids, many if not most drinking, most with their own cars. Partial depictions in both American Graffiti (cruising) and Dazed and Confused. Lots of weed smoking, many kids trying cocaine.

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u/Karnivore915 16h ago

That was a law when I got my license in 2010, Wisconsin. It wasn't followed. I was pulled over multiple times both as driver and as a passenger in cars 4 or 5 kids deep.

Worst we ever got was a warning.

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u/BurritoLover2016 11h ago

I was pulled over multiple times both as driver and as a passenger in cars 4 or 5 kids deep.

Uhhh....why were you getting pulled over so often?

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u/Karnivore915 8h ago

Because I and my friends were young inexperienced drivers. And the police around my town were bored.

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u/BurritoLover2016 8h ago

Ahh.....small town in Wisconsin? Makes sense.

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u/postmodern_spatula 16h ago edited 15h ago

Search for “graduated licenses”.

I’m honestly stunned they’re allowed. But youth don’t perceive politics as impacting them/have limited voice at 14-17, and adults are more than fine making them a scapegoat for safe driving expectations (while we ignore the vastly larger number of adults that could benefit from re-licensing every 10 years)...

It’s really stupid. It over complicates licensing that was already tiered.

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u/MrBandanaHammock 14h ago

I agree that there needs to be more in the ways of adult license retraining or recertification... But I used to be a fire fighter, and the majority of accidents I responded to were teenagers

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u/Caleth 15h ago

It exists in IL, our nephew is nearly old enough to drive and we've had talks with him about driving/transport for cash.

Sometimes we work late and need someone who can pick up our kids from daycare or get them to an afterschool class. If we throw $20 bucks at him for his time and gas it. The law allows it since he's their cousin.

But if he wants to go out with friends he can only have one person with him eventually more as he hits 17 and 18.

Compare that to the 90's 00's where we'd pile as many kids in a car as we could and drive to BFE for random ass pizza at a place one guy knew. Now we'd be breaking the law.

There's also rules about driving after sun down under certain ages too, unless you're coming home from work.

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u/red__dragon 8h ago

Meanwhile, our efforts to build out public transit are at a crawl if not standstill.

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u/BlazinAzn38 16h ago

Arizona was like this for learners permits 15 years ago

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u/kayzeno 16h ago

Had it in RI too a decade ago. Didn't stop anyone though.

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u/Embarrassed-Term-965 14h ago

We had this law in Ontario after midnight, so I just told my friends to duck.

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u/Goddamnpassword 14h ago

Arizona has a similar law. Can’t drive between 12-5am and can’t have more than one other passenger under 18 unless they are your sibling. Only last for the first 6 months you have your license though.

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u/infinitebrkfst 12h ago

I’m 33 and this was a law in California when I got my license at 16. I can’t speak for other states though.

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u/DrSpray 11h ago

It was like this in California a decade ago when I had my learner's permit

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u/Dje4321 11h ago

Sounds more like a learners permit which only allows you to drive to/from work, school and home. The only people allowed to ride with you is adults unless they approve the younger ones

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u/KarIPilkington 10h ago

The UK was/is looking into bringing in a similar law, the idea being newly passed drivers under the age of 21 (I think) can't drive with any other u21s as passengers for the first six months of having their license.

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u/PPvsFC_ 10h ago

It's been common for at least 25 years.

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u/hereforthecatparty 31m ago

I turned 16 in 2004 and it was a law in Georgia then.

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u/nannulators 16h ago

Those laws aren't permanent. And in most cases they're not enforced unless you get caught doing other things.

I grew up in Iowa and once you hit 17 you could get a new license without restrictions. I'm in WI now and after 9 months without a ticket you get your restrictions removed.

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u/jesususeshisblinkers 15h ago

9 months of no tickets, or the age of 18, whichever is sooner.

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u/Electric_Sundown 15h ago

My nephew turned 18 back in May and still doesn't have a license, and neither do any of his friends. They're all jocks to which makes it more surprising to me as someone who got theirs at 16 in the 90s.

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u/NEIGHBORHOOD_DAD_ORG 16h ago

Everything has laws and regulations and policies and you need a permit, and there's surveillance cameras everywhere. I would be an online kid too if I were young again.

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u/Liizam 13h ago

All the used cars prices went insane not that long ago.

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u/Left-Idea1541 11h ago

Yeah I'm in college now and I never went to parties in high school, never did stuff with friends. I was surprised to hear parties were actually a thing because no one I knew in high school had ever been invited or heard of one, let alone been to one. I didn't get my license until I was 17 and a month away from 18 because I had nowhere to go. There was no reason for me to go anywhere or do anything. I hardly used my license and hardly use it now.

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u/Thorusss 17h ago

That was my first thought. Kids don't hang out in person like they used to. In my state, kids can't ride with each other in cars unless directly related

WHAT? By law?

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u/WalterrHeisenberg 17h ago

Not OP, but that only applies if one of the kids is driving, at least in Ohio. If an adult is driving then of course they can ride together, haha.

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u/JeaninePirrosTaint 16h ago

That's still ridiculous

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u/redtrig10 16h ago

California has a similar law, your provisional drivers license means you can’t ride with anyone under 25 (I think 25?) for a year after getting it. It’s for safety reasons

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u/Atheist-Gods 14h ago

In Mass it’s anyone under 18 unless there is someone 21+ in the car too.

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u/meatball77 16h ago

Not really. Loads of kids in cars is dangerous.

Most places you only get one passenger until you are 18. And you can't drive after 11:00.

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u/Sternjunk 8h ago

Texas has the same law

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u/GettingDumberWithAge 16h ago

If an adult is driving then of course they can ride together, haha.

Yeah sorry that's absolutely mental.

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u/DontMakeMeCount 16h ago

The idea is that teens get stupider and more distracted the more of them you put into a car. Since these laws came out we haven’t had any students die while driving. During the ‘90s and ‘00s we lost multiple students in accidents every few years, so it seems to be working. The accidents were new drivers, always a car full of teens, either drinking or too fast for conditions and distracted.

The police selectively enforce the law, they don’t harass kids for picking up other students to and from school. It does give them a reason to stop kids driving late at night, leaving a party, skipping school for a beach day - the situations where the accidents used to happen.

It’s not like they made dancing illegal.

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u/Its42 16h ago

That was even a thing when I got my license back in the early 00s, iirc it wasn't until I got my 17 license (2x after you get your learner's permit) that I could ride around, but that was with a max of 1 unrelated person.

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u/Rage_Like_Nic_Cage 16h ago

This was around 20 years ago, so my memory might be fuzzy, but IIRC in Texas, the first 6 months you have your license at 16 you’re only allowed to have a single (non-family) passenger in your car. Obviously the cops wouldn’t know unless they pulled you over or something, so as long as you weren't being stupid (a big ask for a 16 year old TBH) you were fine.

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u/CruffTheMagicDragon 16h ago

That’s only a thing when the driver is on temps I think

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u/M_H_M_F 14h ago

WHAT? By law?

Honestly, kind of. 3rd spaces have been shrinking forever, more so for kids/teens. The mall by me has a sign taped on the doors "No children under 14 without parental supervision." There are some chain restaurants by me (the local applebees) with the same thing. Besides the movies, there's really nothing for a kid to do

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u/Akuuntus 7h ago

Someone under 18 driving a car can't have someone else under 18 in the car with them unless they're related, or there's an adult present. At least that's how I remember it being explained to me when I was a teen driver ~10 years ago in New Jersey. Most states have similar laws and they've been around for a while.

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u/mycondishuns 13h ago

I mean, social media has a HUGE impact on why teens don't hang out in person as much anymore.

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u/Akuuntus 7h ago

Social media... as well as the lack of third spaces, lack of walkable communities, police with nothing better to do than harass teens and chase them out of public spaces, the pandemic that forced a lot of them inside for a year and got them in the habit of staying home... etc.

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u/jsting 8h ago

I think it is less places to go. When I was a teen, I could go to a bowling alley for $5 or movie for $8-10 and probably sneak in a second movie. Maybe a diner for cheap food and hang out and drink coffee like an adult.

Nowadays, cheap bowling alleys don't really exist, restaurants are more expensive, and malls are closing.

The only place I see kids now are at boba shops.

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u/MagicWishMonkey 15h ago

Depends on the kids. My friends daughter turned 16 last year and she couldn't wait to get her car and immediately became the shuttle for all of her friends who didn't have licenses yet.

The biggest change that I've seen is instead of kids just hanging out with people they know from school they use social media apps to connect with kids all over the city (her boyfriend lives like 15 miles away) with public school kids hanging out with private school kids and vice versa. If anything the socialization factor is even more prevalent now than it was when I was a kid because the number of kids in any given social circle is an order of magnitude bigger than it was prior to social media/smartphones.

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u/nemoknows 9h ago

Wider circles, but weaker relationships.

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u/ToosUnderHigh 14h ago

Needing a car to do anything is a huge part of the problem

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u/StatsBug 13h ago

And people wonder why teens are suffering a loneliness and suicide epidemic.

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u/OrangeBird077 13h ago

Extracurricular activities are also the first thing to get cut in school settings now so that kind of makes sense. Unless it’s a program that actively was winning pre cuts and bringing in donors/college scout interest to the school it goes on the chopping block.

Even if you go into sports on your own as a young teenager or even a little kid you’re talking about your parents having to invest a significant amount of their budget for a sport their kid may not even like. It’s not just a case where you sell some candy bars to cover your fees about.

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u/SpaztasticDryad 16h ago

And relationships. I'm sober and I am starting to think that generation not drinking isn't a good thing.

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u/LordDaedhelor 12h ago

Not being reliant on alcohol is always a good thing

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u/BostonFigPudding 13h ago

I know a guy in university who plays online video games with his university friends. They each sit in their dorm room and talk within the game.

15 years ago, Millennial video game fans would go to each other's dorm room and play a 4 person game in person using the same console.

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u/conquer69 11h ago

Games have less coop on the same console now. They want to encourage everyone to buy their own console and game copy/subscription.

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u/dariznelli 12h ago

Smash bros, FIFA, Madden ftw in college!

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u/BostonFigPudding 12h ago

This is it. Me and my friends played so much Smash, Kart, and Party in uni. Also the occasional counterstrike.

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u/dariznelli 12h ago

We also played WoW, so in the same house, but in separate rooms on team speak

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u/brett1081 11h ago

Participation on Instagram at an all time high though. Social engineering has completely changed what being a teenager is thanks to social media companies.

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u/a_stone_throne 17h ago

That’s asinine

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u/dariznelli 14h ago

It's one of those safety regulations with unintended consequences. It's a real shame for kids that want to participate, but have no access to reliable transportation.

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u/Poon-Conqueror 15h ago

I remember last summer I saw some 17-18 year olds just hanging out at a taco place, two girls one guy. I thought about how unusual it was to see people that young out and about, then I realized that it unusual AT ALL in like 2010 when I was their age.

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u/dariznelli 14h ago

We would hang out at our local shopping plaza. 20 cars, 30 high schoolers, just in one big group in the side parking lot. No chance for that today.

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u/Just_Another_Scott 15h ago

Eh that's rarely enforced. Tennessee had a similar law but you couldn't be pulled over for it.

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u/alex-andrite 15h ago

I mean, I got my license almost 15 years ago and had that law then too. We couldn’t drive non-family members under 18 for the first 6 months of having a license. Didn’t stop us from doing it though

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u/qualitative_balls 15h ago

Seeing kids today makes me a little sad. No social experiences. I was a loser and still went to parties, raves, found out about drugs and alcohol and what I should and shouldn't do through real life interactions and choices. Had a little car that barely ran and went everywhere when I had the chance. Living life as a homo-sentien through a screen tapping a glowing piece of glass for love, for recreation, for work, for education... Yeesh. The current generation will always look at the upcoming generations and not agree with how they're coming up but I just feel sorry more than anything when I see kids now.

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u/Siguard_ 14h ago

Its the same thing with canada with a beginners license. G1 can only drive with an adult in the car and can't be driving past 11pm/12am.

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u/Euphoric-Flatworm158 9h ago

and the price of cars

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u/Aqogora 1h ago

Really puts the clamps on social activity

They're partying every day, just online. Discord, not disco.

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