You don’t hear good news that often — but the fact is everything is better than it has been in decades, or possibly ever, according to health care expert Aaron Carroll of Healthcare Triage.

“Every story that labels today’s youth as oversexed and promiscuous misses the most obvious evidence,” Carroll says.

The teen pregnancy rate in 2012 was at a record low — for all racial groups. Ditto the teen abortion rate.

Young people are having less sex, drinking less, smoking less.

Youth violence? Also at an all-time low. Even the divorce rate is lower than it has been in decades.

Health care is also improving.

“You may remember the Sixties fondly but a baby was more likely to die then,” Carroll notes.

Even though you might feel unsafe, you’re less likely to die of assault today than in 1960. The violent crime rate is lower now than at any time since 1970, and the murder rate hasn’t been this low since 1960. Larceny, rape and property crime rates are also lower than they’ve been in decades.

Kids are more obese but even that trend has reversed. Carroll points out that we spend more time watching TV, surfing the Internet and playing games because we live longer and have more leisure time than at any point in history.

“2014 is awesome,” the Professor of Pediatrics and Assistant Dean for Research Mentoring at Indiana University School of Medicine insists. And we shouldn’t let nostalgia, which has always been our pre-existing condition, get us down.

Screenshot: Healthcare Triage YouTube channel