WORK ON THE FIRST ONE, AND THE REST TEND TO FALL INTO PLACE: Gen Z is afraid to drink, date, marry or have kids.

Not-so-rebellious teenagers are not experimenting with alcohol, reports Monitoring the Future, which has been tracking trends for decades. “In the mid-1970s, 92 percent of 12th graders had tried at least a sip of alcohol; by 2025, that proportion had fallen almost by half, to 47 percent,” writes Brooks.

Anxious young people prefer digital messaging to face-to-face interaction, writes Brooks. Most say that strangers are untrustworthy.

Teens and young adults are less likely to say they hope to marry some day, he writes. “In 1980, 90 percent of 35-year-old men were married; today, the rate is 60 percent and falling fast.”

Maybe it’s too safe: “The world is safer than it used to be, writes Brooks. But young people don’t see it that way.”