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Binge Drinking: How are we going to save our Youths?


This entry has been dedicated to the amount articles presented in the news about binge drinking in Australia- mainly about young adults and alcohol related violence. Please comment below on what you think the Government should do in response to the issue.


What is Binge Drinking?


Since about Year 9, I was first introduced to the term: binge drinking, and have heard it constantly since then. According to (au.reachout.com, par 5), “Binge drinking is heavily drinking on a single occasion, or drinking continuously over a number of days or weeks.” People binge drink for many reasons: whether it is to fit in- be socially accepted, or for personal pleasure. 


Synopsis of Australia and Binge Drinking


Currently in Australia, we are faced with growing problems linked to binge drinking (ibid, par 5). An increasing number of our youths are involved in binge drinking and a causal link to alcohol violence. This growing problem has seen a back-lash on Clubs and Alcohol licences. But I beg to differ. Having a Criminology degree, I have been looking at this issue very closely. During my degree, I had written an article about this issue, and the proposed solutions. At the moment, there are curfew limits for entry clubs and bars, licensed alcohol places are required to give alcohol responsibly and have a RSA, and the government is taxing many alcoholic beverages. But even though many proposals have been placed, there seems to be no deterrence for young people.






I read an article: ‘My name is Australia and I’m an Alcoholic’ (2010) by Joshua Blake. The article discusses how drinking excessively, that being binge drinking is a cultural issue. Have studied Sociology as part of my Criminology degree, I have an understanding of Social Policy. In reference to this article, and being a 22 year old Australia, I know that the relationship between youths and alcohol is not healthy. There is a social identification between binge drinking, and having a ‘good time’. Teenagers and Young Adults have associated fun, with drinking- there seems to be no other alternative in the current Australian youth culture. In the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (2007, in druginfo.com, par 7), among the 16-24 year old that drunk, alcohol-related harm was one of the biggest issue. The media is constantly showing alcohol-related violence, and this is a major issue in Australia.   

“Australia is faced with the issue of young people and binge drinking. There is no tip- toeing around the issue: it’s real, and it’s confronting.”

Binge drinking and drinking leading to violence is a cultural issue that Australians cannot ignore. In my opinion, it’s a social issue, and only society can change it. Long gone are the days when our parents used to hang-out in milk-bars. Now, you can’t even go to a restaurant without being rushed. Being 22, I think about where I can? No matter where I go to have ‘fun’, alcohol will always be part of that ‘fun’. I don’t actually drink at the moment because I am on my Ps and am not allowed to have any alcohol in my system.  

Having studied my Master’s in Marketing, I have also found it interesting to view the campaigns from this angle. At the moment the Australian Government has the ‘Don’t turn a night out into a nightmare’ campaign. Like most of the campaigns, the ads are very confronting; they are very real and aim to deter by concentrating on raw emotions and major consequences. This can be seen on the following link: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jftfU30xJg



In all, the difference about my suggestion is that I’m not saying to eliminate alcohol, raise the drinking age...or any other policy change; I am just arguing we need to amend the relationship our teens and youth adults have with it. I was in Science class one day, we were told to group some things between good or bad. I put fire into the bad column, but my teacher said, “Fire is not bad, it is light- it is good". I said, “But fire can hurt you”. Her response was, “it can; it depends on how we use you”. Behind this message, she taught me something very real-almost an analogy for life. It’s up to me how I use fire; most of the time I have control in the situation. This remains true for life; nothing in life is bad as long as there is moderation. How can we amend there relationship with alcohol? Through education, and changing the way they define ‘fun’- maybe by reintroducing the milk-bar? I honestly don’t know. All I do know is that currently amendments to policy will not work. We need social change to amend how alcohol is perceptive. Studying my Master’s, I met many international students, and something my French friend said that made think was, “ I don’t understand, in France we associate drinking at night, we would never drink in the morning here...” Whichever person I asked, they all said that Australia had a very negative relationship with alcohol.  


Websites about Binge Drinking


The following links are to websites that give more information about binge drinking, and are there to help Australians overcome their dependency on alcohol:


Please Share and Comment Below! What do you think?       

References

Blake, J. 2010 [online] Available from
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/my-name-is-australia-and-im-an-alcoholic-20100826-13tqi.html. (Accessed 15th December 2012).
Reach Out, 2012 [online] Available from http://au.reachout.com/Alcohol-and-trouble (Accessed 15th December 2012).

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2013 at 10:46 PM

    I believe that our society has major effect on what is happening, as a nations we should consider changing some culture issue towards drinking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AshJanuary 13, 2013 at 12:24 AM

      Yes; it definitely is a social issue. It will be interesting to see what will happen in terms of policy initiatives.

      Delete

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