Teenagers have taken up smoking in droves – and forgotten the lessons of the past | Zoe Williams

Young people don’t remember the 1980s at all, and the hard-won knowledge we gained from our nicotine habits. Primarily, that it really doesn’t help beat stress

We are as far away from 1980 now as we were then from 1939. I know that because I read it on the internet. I didn’t check it, because why would they put it there if it wasn’t true? Yet at the same time, it is patently absurd; more than ridiculous, mad. In 1980, the late 30s were pure history, and all we could remember about the humans in them was the way they crowded around radios and drank cocktails containing tiny pickled onions. The early 80s, by contrast, were effectively yesterday, and we can all remember them with pin-sharp clarity.

At least, I can: the evidence keeps reminding me that young people can’t remember the era at all.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3gAa3Km