Dear editor,
I am writing in response to Laura Hartnell’s letter ‘Education a key to this drinking game.’ published on the 29th February 2008. As a secondary school student, I am appalled at the number of my peers who get ‘wasted’ at parties and underage night clubs. To deal with this problematic behaviour and culture, we must turn to education.
As time goes by, teenagers are acting more like adults by imitating their drinking habits. Children as young as eleven go to sixteen year old birthday parties, get ‘smashed’ and come home at three o’clock in the morning. It has developed into a culture to become addicted to alcohol and consume it regularly. Approximately 14% of eleven year olds and 63% of fourteen year olds have consumed their first drink. Hence, as a result of late night parties, binge drinking has become more popular and has over the years been considered a trend to many teenagers.
The result of drinking beyond the limits is humiliating for the parents, but it is often them buying the alcohol for their children. We see parents on television and newspapers complaining about society and their children’s poor drinking habits, but we don’t often see them trying to stop this problem. Parents are responsible for the children’s upbringing. This is a major issue, but people are not taking it seriously enough.
The effects of alcohol are quite extreme, and it is unbearable to even think about it. It is damaging to one’s health, and often puts the consumer’s life at risk. It is unhealthy, and is damaging to one’s life and wellbeing. It is estimated that one out of four teenage drivers or riders killed or injured in road accidents were over the legal limit for blood alcohol concentration. If we don’t act now, these statistics are going to increase dramatically like in the past.
It is not only the consumer’s that is at risk in the situation of binge drinking. Society is also endangered, as the individual loses control over their actions. If they have...