Binge drink often leads to serious health and social problems which may affect individuals for the rest of their lives. In today’s society among young people in Australia, this action is regarded as one of the social problems. This essay argues what factors make this action one of social problems, what could be a factor to make people binge drink and how the problem can be improved from the perspective of symbolic interactionism. Firstly the background of binge drinking as one of the social problems in Australia would be revealed based on definitions by Health care institutions. Later refer to researches for awareness of drinking behaviour in Australian people, explanation for binge drinking as one of social problems will be presented. Then …show more content…
Many health care institutions warn not to drink excessively in a short period especially among older adolescents (i.e. 14 to 19 years old) since most of these adolescents have no idea how many drinks is the limit of low risk drink for their bodies (Youth Central, 2018). People who binge drink may be defined as that they do not drink daily and do not know their own limits, however simultaneously they may feel peer pressure or awkwardness in social situations and group communities and therefore drink excessively in a short period (Room, Callinan, & Dietze, 2016). When these adolescents binge drink, as a short-term effects, hangovers, shakes, vomiting, memory loss, and nausea might suffer them at a severer level than those effects happen to adults. Also as a long-term effects, problems at school and at their communities, troubles about personal relationships, emotional mental health problems, significant developing damages for organs such as brain and liver, increasing the risk of cancer, and sexual problems often happen (ReachOut.com, 2018). Binge drinking of older adolescents itself has a high potential to cause serious troubles for their whole entire life. Also it is obvious that these adolescents could be involved into these problems without the enough aware for potential negative effects of binge …show more content…
By many Australian people, the situation that groups of adolescents in a same community drink excessively in a short period to get drunk might be labelled not only as one of social problems but also as the part of nature of them or one of social practices to become adults for adolescents. Research which previously had been taken placed among the population of people who binge drink, shows that adolescents who are likely to binge drink might feel huge pressure when they are in the certain types of situations which are in, with people who have issue about drinking. Those people often could be their parents, peers, or other community members (Curcio et al., 2015). On the other hand, these adolescents often force their peers, member of their communities to drink more, because they label their peers as who can drink as well as other members (Giligan et al., 2017). As a consequence, binge drinking is regarded as one of common social problems of many adolescents in
Both articles have many similarities; both agree that binge drinking is a problem among adolescents across the country. Binge drinking is defined by both articles as, “five or more drinks in a row for boys and four or more drinks in a row for girls” (Wuethrich, p.58-59). Both articles agree that one major problem of binge drinking in adolescents is that, “Kids who drink before age 15 face a fivefold risk of alcohol dependency” (Kluger, p.42). This is harmful because alcohol alters the clarity of thinking and learning of people.
We've all heard it before: "Too much of anything is bad for us." The amount of binge drinking occurring on American college campuses today proves that college students do not heed this warning. Binge drinking, or drinking for the purpose of getting drunk, harms both drinkers and non-drinkers alike. As today's college students come dangerously close to being swept away in the sea of papers, exams, jobs, and interviews, they use bingeing as the lifeboat that allows them to escape the stress. It allows them to forget their worries, fit in with the crowd, and live on the edge in a fast-paced world that normally does not leave time for such activities. Teetering on the brink of adulthood, yet still trapped in childhood makes drinking decisions difficult for many college students. A desire to get away from our usual lives because of societal regulations and conformity, psychological and emotional problems, and the stress of everyday life causes college binge drinking.
The article "Alcohol Abuse is a Serious Problem for Teenagers," was written by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The article states, "Nearly four million young people suffer from alcohol dependence," and the average age at which children begin to drink is as early as 13. The article goes on to say that the number of children who experiment with alcohol has been rising steadily over the years. The article points out the unfortunate effects of drinking which range from an array of physical illnesses like liver problems and cancer. From the article we learn that because teenagers tend to indulge in binge drinking, they are at higher risk to suffer the consequences of alcohol consumption. According to the article these consequences include developmental problems like lack of growth, a reduced ability to learn, and to psychological problems like depression and suicidal tendencies. Alcohol abuse in turn leads to social problems which include dropping out of school, robbery, and "risky sexual behavior." We learn that alcohol serves as a "gateway-drug," leading to more addictive drugs like cocaine. The article substantiates this claim by citing a study conducted by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The article also touches on the problem of alcohol used by parents though the primary focus of this piece is about teenage drinking. The purpose of the article is to jolt readers into an awareness of the magnitude of the problem of teenage drinkiing. Most people know that teenagers like to experiment, try the new and forbidden, but the Center assumes that no one is fully aware of how serious this problem can be if it is not addressed.
Alcohol seems to be a common topic for teenagers in today’s society. Mainly alcohol is consumed by adolescents that are bored or trying to fit into a crowd by attempting to look ‘cool’. Students are aware of the effects but why is nothing being done? There are many consequences that come along with drinking; alcohol negatively affects not only the body, but the brain.
Frey and Schonbeck explain that it is estimated that over 76 million people worldwide are affected by alcohol abuse or dependence. The chance of having an alcoholic in one’s life is very high. Children that grow up in an environment with an alcoholic may increase that child’s chance of becoming an alcoholic themselves. In the United States, the most commonly abused drug among youth is alcohol. Even though the legal drinking age is 21, nearly 20% of all alcohol consumed in the United States is by people under the legal age (83). In fact, when youth start drinking at social events in their teenage years, they are greatly increasing their risk of developing alcohol problems (85). Alcoholism can affect people of all ages. Furthermore, some experts try to differentiate between alcoholics and social drinkers. Typically, they base this off of five categories. Social drinkers do not drink alone. They consume minimal amounts of alcohol during social functions. Situational drinkers may not ever drink unless they are stressed out. These drinkers are more likely to drink by themselves. Problem drinkers can be described as a drinker that alcohol has caused problems in their life. However, they usually respond to advice given by others. Binge drinkers are out of control in their alcohol consumption. They may drink until they pass out or worse. Alcoholic drinkers have found that their lives have become unmanageable and that they are completely powerless over alcohol (84). Alcoholics should be cautious of their surroundings to prevent
Education is an extremely important part of the treatment of teen age alcoholism. Teens rarely understand the dangers of drinking alcohol. They need to be educated about the health risks they face when they drink. Because teens tend to feel they are invincible, they sometimes do not feel these risks apply to them. Sometimes speaking with another teen that has experienced serious health problems related to drinking can help. (learn about alcohol, 2010, p.1)
We all know what it is like to wake up in the morning, with our head aching, and our body feeling like it was just hit by a train. College students world wide know this feeling. These are the results of binge drinking. The question of why college students continue to submit themselves to alcohol is unknown. While many reasons are given, the cause generally falls into one of three categories, peer pressure, insecurity, or to help solve there problems. But the one thing students don’t realize are the consequences and effects that binge drinking can have, health and social problems are just a few.
Binge drinking could be identified into various definitions or how would an individual interpret it. As for s for college students would define it as "a way to drink non-stop, just for fun", or "excessively drinking until drunk". Binge drinking can be interpreted in a scientific form, like "NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to 0.08 g/dL. This typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men—in about 2 hours. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)." It would overheat between both gender, males and females as to how is alcohol being consumed in an amount of time. Researchers came to a conclusion, what binge drinking is being defined as to how
Young people are considered to constitute the largest number of alcohol consumers and they account for a large portion of alcohol sales. This is despite the strict drinking laws that govern many countries as regards alcohol purchase and consumption. Underage drinking, which has been on the increase, is allegedly the major cause of alcohol-related problems facing the modern society. The most severe effects of adolescent drinking include drunk driving that leads to accidents and even death, violence, poor performance in school, addiction, poor relationships and damage on adolescent brain development among others (Bonnie and O’Connell 58). The society is to a great extent affected by these effects through deaths and lost productivity among the youth. This has become a challenge to the society and government, which has been accused of doing nothing about this menace. Weak personal character, bad social states and poor cultural settings are some of the major factors that are believed to be behind underage drinking.
According to a national survey conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “almost 60 percent of college students ages 18–22 drank alcohol in the past month, 1 and almost 2 out of 3 of them engaged in binge drinking during that same timeframe” (NIH). Binge drinking culture refers to the recent rise and normalization of college age students drinking excessively. The CDC describes binge drinking as “a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol level to 0.08grams within two hours” (CDC). For many young adults, college is one of the first times they will experience complete freedom. This freedom often leads to partying, which goes hand in hand with the consumption of alcohol. However, since the age at which
The problem of alcohol abuse has been recognized for thousands of years, but only more recently have we begun to see alcohol addiction as a treatable disorder. According to the Classical Disease Model of `Alcoholism,' habitual use of alcohol can be identified as a disease. Webster's Dictionary defines the concept of `disease' as follows: "Any departure from health presenting marked symptoms; malady; illness; disorder." Therefore, as many occurrences of alcohol excess provoke such symptoms, it is somewhat understandable that `alcoholism' is classified as a disease. The Classical Disease Model appears to offer a hopeful option. Treatment and sobriety can allow people to lead fulfilling lives. Adjacent to the notion of alcoholism as personal failure or moral deterioration, the Classical Disease Model appears to be a more desirable concept as it provides a motive for the alcoholic to seek treatment and gain sympathy, minimizing personal guilt. As alcoholism is seen as a progressive and, to an extent, hereditary illness for which those afflicted are not accountable, victims avoid being ostracized from society (Jellinek, 1960). Labeling the problem as a `disease' allows the medical profession to take responsibility for the treatment of alcoholism, which puts the problem in a more favourable light than if it were in the hands of psychologists or social workers, thus detaching the stigma connected with the problem while it is put on a par with other diseases such as diabetes or cancer. However, critics of the Classical Disease Model believe stigma helps reduce alcohol problems and aids the alcoholic. Any effort to reduce the stigma which is faced by the alcoholic will reduce pressures to moderate consumption and could have the additional ...
Binge Drinking is an intriguing phenomenon that many college students take part in all across the country. The issue of binge drinking has been a problem on college campuses for decades. Binge drinking has many horrible effects, but the problem starts with the causes for it. If the causes could be controlled then the issue would not get out of hand. Many college students give different causes for their drinking problems, and experts on the subject have their explanations as well. The problem is, while growing through adolescence anything can become an excuse for drinking, such as ¡§its Thursday the day before Friday, we need to drink¡¨ or, ¡§it¡¦s the last Wednesday of the semester, lets get some beer.¡¨
Binge drinking or heavy drinking is a modern description for drinking alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. It is a kind of purposeful drinking style that is popular in several countries worldwide, and overlaps somewhat with social drinking since it is often done in groups. The degree of intoxication, however, varies between and within various cultures that engage in this practice. A binge on alcohol can occur over hours, last up to several days, or in the event of extended abuse, even weeks. Due to the long-term effects of alcohol misuse, binge drinking is considered to be a major public health issue. The more often a child or adolescent binge drinks and the younger they are the more likely they will develop an alcohol use disorder called alcoholism.
According to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, more than 1,800 college students die from alcohol-related causes every year, while about 800,000 are being assaulted by other students because of drinking. About one in every four college students who binge drink also admit that they have experienced academic problems. Binge drinking is drinking multiple drinks in just a few hours to get drunk. Despite the fact that college drinking has caused many issues, it has not been stopped, yet. In article, “Why Colleges Haven’t Stopped Binge Drinking,” McMurtrie (2014) explains that this issue has not been resolved yet because many people still see alcohol abuse as general issue instead of seeing it an individual behavior. Because colleges
Alcohol is, unfortunately, one of the most easily obtainable and most dangerous substances on the market. Although the legal purchasing and consuming age for alcoholic products is twenty-one, that does not stop younger people from abusing it. Not only is this illegal, but also quite dangerous. A common misconception about alcohol for children is that the legal, mental, and physical consequences of using alcohol “end” once a person becomes of the legal drinking age. The truth of the matter is that the dangers of alcohol consumption extend far beyond the age of twenty-one and into adulthood. Alcohol can have devastating effects for people of all ages. “Alcohol causes the most severe and widespread adverse health consequences of all drugs of abuse, affecting virtually every organ system. Fortunately, many of these require many years of drinking so they are not commonly found in adolescents” (Milhorn). Not only can alcohol destroy the life of the consumer, but can ...