teen sittingSmoking. Binge drinking. Teen pregnancy.

As our babies get older, these are just some of the things we start to lose sleep over.

We worry because we were teens once, too. We know the troubles and pitfalls that come with adolescence. We understand the power of peer pressure. And now we're raising kids of our own. What choices will they make? Will she call if she needs a ride home from a party? Will he know when to say "no thank you" to his friends?

Thankfully, the results of a recent report might help moms and dads breathe a sigh of relief. Because it seems that, in many ways, our teenagers are doing better than we were at their age. They're safer, healthier, have more opportunities, and are making better choices.

Want to set your mind at ease? Here are some of the ways our kids are thriving:

Kids are smoking less.

That smoking area outside the school is looking pretty empty these days. Only 6% of high school seniors are smokers today, compared with 21% in 1980. This is the lowest smoking rate researchers have seen since they began compiling this years-long report.

"Binge drinking"? What's that?

Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks at a single occasion, and kids are doing less of that these days. A lot less, in fact. In 1980, 41% of teens were getting righteously plastered at parties. In 2015, only 17% did so. Again, this is the lowest rate researchers have seen since compiling the data. It seems responsible drinking is in vogue.

Taming teen pregnancy.

In 1995, American teen girls birthed 35 out of every 1,000 babies. In 2014, that number dropped down to 11 out of every 1,000. That's a 68% decrease in less than 10 years, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Violent Crime is Down. Way down.

Only 8 out of 1,000 teens today become victims of a violent crime. Compared to the 40 out 1,000 seen in 1993, this is a huge decrease.

Access to better health care has certainly played a role in reducing all these risks to teenagers. 95% of children have health insurance today, which makes it far easier to get address a variety of issues and ailments. Good health support, education and access to information all contribute to helping teens make more informed decisions.

Still, this generation faces issues its own host of serious issues. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles, a jump in screen time usage, and limited access to healthy foods for some children are having a negative impact on health. Kids need to move and need to eat well - even older ones.

Reducing economic hardship is one thing Americans could focus on to help teens thrive.

Findings still point to poverty as being a serious issue for many children, creating barriers around access to healthcare, nutritious meals and extracurricular activities. Currently, 20% of American children live below the poverty line. Minority children are more likely to be impoverished than white children.

We could do more to level the playing field. By combatting economic imbalance, we can continue improving this upward trend for all teens.