Students today! Much less daring than parents were

MODERN students are "less adventurous" than their hell-raising parents, according to a poll published today.

Research suggests students are far more conservative in their views compared with previous generations known for embracing sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.

The National College of Legal Training claimed almost one in five of those questioned would increase the age of consent for heterosexual sex, more than eight out of ten would not legalise Class C drugs and fewer than half want free downloads for their favourite music, even in today's digital age.

Compared with the spend-thrift first decade of the 21st century, the excessive youth culture of the 1980s and the morally liberal decades of the 1960s and 1970s, today's young opinions on lifestyle choices are far more rigid and strict.

Some 33 per cent want to increase the legal age for driving a car from 17, while 53 per cent favour a "zero tolerance" approach to consuming any alcoholic drink before getting behind the wheel.

Almost a quarter of students want capital punishment reinstated as well as a reduction in the age of criminal responsibility to younger than ten.

Paul Whitehouse, of the Nat-ional College of Legal Training, said: "We wanted to find out what the next generation of opinion-formers thought about society and culture today but were incredibly surprised – they are a lot more conservative and less adventurous than we thought."