Teenagers described in three Australian outlet opinion pieces are increasingly watching the US TV sitcom “Friends” and, in some cases, smoking cigarettes, with parents linking the trend to nostalgia for the 1990s.
The articles present the same underlying scenario from different cities, framing it as a response to broader cultural and social currents rather than a single cause. They discuss how teenagers adopt cues from popular media, and how the look and sound of past eras can make certain behaviours appear normal or fashionable. While the pieces share the view that the trend reflects a backward turn in youth culture, they do so through an explicitly reflective, parental lens.
Across the outlets, the emphasis differs in tone and focus, but all describe a common pattern: youth interest in ’90s aesthetics and entertainment overlaps with reported experimentation or mimicry of smoking. None of the sources presented provide independent measurements of how widespread the behaviour is; instead, each article relies on personal observation and commentary about what motivates teenagers to imitate aspects of the past.
