Summary
Teen drug, alcohol, and tobacco use in the U.S. continues to decline, with record-low usage levels reported in 2023, according to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future survey.
Among 12th graders, 66% reported no recent use of alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, while 80% of 10th graders and 90% of 8th graders avoided these substances entirely.
Experts attribute the decline partly to reduced peer pressure during the pandemic.
However, nicotine pouch use has doubled among 12th graders, raising concerns.
Despite pop culture’s glamorization of smoking, teen cigarette use remains low.
I might just be lucky, but I’ve had great success in getting in random friend groups while playing games where you can build things and explore.
Valheim, space engineers, minecraft, terraria. Stuff like that.
I think maybe it has to do with people logging into the dedicated server and seeing the stuff you build and they think of you. Plus lots of those servers will have a discord and that’s basically getting into a ton of people’s DMs. You can post in the discord music you like, funny dumb pictures and memes. Stuff that really shows what you’re interested in. This way people can see if they’re into the same stuff as you. Then you can branch out to other games or even meet ups IRL.