Medford, Ore. — Teens are drinking less, fighting less, and smoking less, but are they replacing those vices with other bad habits
According to a government study American teens are smoking less, drinking less and fighting less among other things.
“I like to think it’s because they don’t want it to effect them when they’re older, I mean that’s why I wouldn’t,” said Heidi Noonan.
15-year-old Kevin Tobie says he and his friends simply have too much going on to risk that on bad behaviors.
“I think most teens want to just hang out with their friends and stuff, not do most of, you know, give in to peer pressure, stuff like that other people doing, so yeah I think it might be going down,” said Tobie.
For some teens the study is welcome news. For others they say they’re skeptical and that there are other things that concern them.
“I think that it’s the complete opposite, I think that it’s gone higher up, the rates of that and i feel that suicide has went up too, because I know quite a few kids That have committed suicide especially in like the last year,” said Shyla Hillburn.
The study says one cause for the drop in bad habits may be the increase in video games and computer use among teens.
This can be a double-edged sword though, as the study suggests those habits may reduce time spent on exercise and schoolwork.
As for Tobie and his friends, he says it’s just not worth it.
“It’s sports, don’t want to mess that up and cause problems with other people, keep stuff cool,” said Tobie.
The study also found that the rate of teen suicide has held steady, while the rate of teens texting and driving has risen.
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