Today’s commentary was authored by 2025 intern Cecilia Hellmuth (Benedictine, 2027).
Sobriety from alcohol is at an all-time high in Generation Z, and we’re left to ask the burning question: why? How did this “trend” came to be? Is it the result of successful drug education, or perhaps the mass legalization of Marijuana as a substitute? Maybe it’s the ever-growing epidemic of loneliness in our younger generations?
This decrease in alcohol consumption began in the 2000s, corresponding with the rise of the digital age. This new access to technology and connectivity made information much more available and consumable. The physical and mental health realities of the alcohol’s adverse effects are very real, and now very known. Gen Z has had rapid and complete access to this new information like no other group before.
Also, the dangerous rise of legalized marijuana, a even worse alternative, seems to correspond with the decrease in alcohol use. However, in this case, correlation is not clear causation. Generation Z has the lowest alcohol consumption rate of any age demographic, but it also has one of the highest marijuana consumption rates, second only to millennials at 34%. If digital age drug education was so successful, we should assume that both substances would be at an all-time low.
The true and perhaps most obvious cause for this decrease in alcohol consumption seems to be a startling lack of social interaction and a very concerning increase in smart phone and social media use. Young people aren’t going out as much, reducing the use of alcohol as a social tool. Also, Gen Z is very aware of their online footprint, avoiding reckless behavior that may be immortalized online. Perhaps most startling of all is that the lack of need for drinking as a dopamine “hit” or mood changer. This effect can now be obtained through immersive social media and virtual reality usage.
While the statistics are still new and bear close watching, the decrease in Generation Z’s alcohol consumption seems tied to the bleak reality that Gen Z is a generation run by social media instead of true social interaction.
This post originally appeared at https://phyllisschlafly.com/family/rise-in-sobriety-among-gen-z/