Ten things this generation will live to regret

You should probably turn the volume down. I SAID 'TURN IT DOWN'.

KEY POINTS:

• "What will be the 'turns out cigarettes are bad for us' of our generation?"

A thread on Reddit has highlighted a list of things that people have been doing for years but are likely to cause them harm.

The thread, started by Reddit user Walbricks, asks a simple question that has far more answers than it should: "What will be the 'turns out cigarettes are bad for us' of our generation?".

In other words, the discussion goes around what habits we currently have that we don't even realise are terrible for us but that will have lasting negative consequences for our generation and generations to come.

Some Reddit users had some enlighting thoughts to share, covering a wide range of topics, from health to social habits.

We highly recommend reading through the full thread but here are some highlights:

- Children need to play more. No rules, no homework, just free, fun play.

A shift to focus on academic work and organised activities has meant that, these days, children don't have that much free time to play and just be children. They have school, homework, after-school activities, chores and a number of other things to numb their creativity. Let the children play.

- You should probably cut down on energy drinks.

Feeding your caffeine addiction deepens your caffeine addiction and energy drinks are not something you need in your system, according to multiple health experts. If anything, you need less caffeine - way, way less.

- Turn those notifications off, get some peace and quiet.

Social media has your phone buzzing all day long. It has been said to be responsible for an anxiety pandemic as it means we can never switch off and just be. Turn your notifications off.

- Get some sleep. Go to bed early. Sleep in sometimes. Stop scrolling through your phone in the dark.

The cult of busy is a real disease of our time, as many Reddit users pointed out in the thread. Stop whatever you think it's more important to do than sleeping and get some sleep. Your body will thank you.

- Embrace risk and allow your children to be brave and embrace risk.

Stop being so careful. You need to be able to accept a certain degree of risk in your life so that you know how to respond when faced with a risky situation.

- Sunbathing in excess is not a great idea.

We don't really need to say much more about this, as New Zealand has an awful skin cancer statistic. Use sunscreen. Stay out of the sun.

- Get up and move more

Sitting is killing you. Slowly but steadily.

- Think of your ears (because you're probably ruining them)

Loud music, earphones, driving on the motorway with the windows down ... all these things are damaging your ears and, by the time you notice, it'll probably be too late.

- You've probably suffering from sugar addiction, even if you can't tell.

So much of the food we consume these days, even when not an obvious "sweet treat" is laden with sugar. Society hated on fat for very long but we need to hate on sugar more.

- We all need to use less plastic.

Recent news have been drawing attention to the shocking reality of what we're doing to our oceans with all the plastic we're consuming. This whole generation needs to move away from plastic, as much as possible, for the sake of future generations.