It’s time to get serious about the Culture of Adolescent Alchohol Use
Recently, there has been growing concern over the issue of adolescent alcohol use, usually in the form of “binge drinking”, and the problems this creates not just for individuals but for society as a whole. The time has now come for us to get serious about addressing the factors which contribute to and perpetuate these phenomena among young people, and to stem the harmful consequences of these behaviours.
I think most of us as adults, depending on our age, remember when we were able to drink legally. That age for many was at 21, which coincided with the age at which you were able to vote, sign a contract, get married and so on. The lowering of the drinking age to 18 years was the result, to a large extent, of the war in Vietnam and the large number of young people who lost their lives in this war. Their lament was they could die for their country, but had no right to vote in its policies or drink alcohol legally.
The attainment of the legal drinking age was accompanied by some ritualistic act supported and applauded by friends usually, and family sometimes. At the University of Michigan, where I matriculated, on your 21st birthday you went with friends to the Pretzel Bell. It was a popular hangout on campus where they supplied you with a one litre jug of full strength beer which you were expected to drink non-stop while the crowd urged you on to the sound of a bell which they rang 21 times until you consumed all of the amber fluid.
Today young people start drinking much earlier. In a study of residents in treatment at Odyssey House, 90 per cent nominated alcohol as their first drug of intoxification at between 12-13 years of age. In the general population the proportion of 12-15-year-olds consuming alcohol at risky levels for short term harms has doubled since 1990 from 2.5 per cent to 5 per cent. Young people are starting to drink earlier!
As opposed to the totem of ritualistic behaviours associated with alcohol use in the past, the consumption of large quantities of alcohol within today’s youth culture has become a ritual in and of itself. Drinking to excess has become an entrenched and normal behaviour. It has become a way for many young people to establish their identities and thus ensure themselves a “place” within their preferred peer group. Just as important as securing a sense of “belonging” within a group for young people is their need to “express themselves” in a way that is noticed and remembered. What better way than by being able to out-drink everyone and engage in behaviours which ensure you are noticed by the greatest number of people? It is a paradox on the story of Hester Prinne in the “Scarlet Letter” whose “A” sewn to her dress was designed to shame and scorn her in public. For young people, the “A” which stands for alcohol is a symbol of pride, not derision!
Today’s youth culture which promotes “binge drinking” is not the creation solely of young people who are more outspoken than their peers of previous generations. Much of their culture has been shaped and enhanced by societal influences. These include alcohol marketing which has specifically targeted young people through the provision of ready-to-drink products (RTDs). These products target young people as consumers who are ready to try “new” products, which is consistent with the impulsive nature of their development, physically and socially. Technology also plays a part. What better way to promote the idea that drinking is a great way to enjoy yourself as a young person than through new communication technology (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook) which allows young people to participate in and enjoy a virtual party?
Why do we need to get serious about addressing the issue of the harm alcohol causes to our young people? Some statistics may help to highlight the need.
· By 18, 50 per cent of males and females in the 14-24 year old age group are risky drinkers.
· 264 young people aged 15-24 years of age die each year as a result of risky alcohol consumption.
“Young People and Alcohol - The Role of Cultural Influences” National Centre on Education and Training in Addictions (NCETA)
We know the brain has its most rapid physical development between 12-24 years of age. We know between 19-23 per cent of adolescents engage in binge drinking and 1 in 5 teenagers between 16-17 years old drink at least weekly. Alcohol as a neurotoxin has an effect upon young brains in the area known as the amygdala, which controls rewards, gratification and risk taking. It also affects the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for planning, logic, and judgement. These facts make for a compelling case for decision makers to do something!
What needs to be done? There needs to be a debate as to whether the legal age of drinking should be raised. Many in the community feel it wouldn’t work and may be a waste of time. Yet given what we know about the effect of alcohol on developing brains – and on young people’s impulsiveness and risk taking behaviour – wouldn’t the debate be worthwhile in possibly reducing the effects of alcohol on young people’s health and welfare?
Parents also need to be vigilant in recognising their responsibility in this issue. Young people’s attitudes towards drinking are affected profoundly by parental attitudes to drinking. We as adults cannot over indulge in our own drinking and believe it does not affect our children. We cannot hold onto the rationale that it is better to give alcohol to our underage children because it’s better if they obtain it at home because they are going to drink anyway.
In addition, we – as parents, as a society – should not promote and sanction events which “normalise” binge drinking, fuelling anti-social behaviour! In this respect “Schoolies Week” is as good an example you can get of the establishment (state governments, local councils, the police and event managers) sponsoring an activity which promotes binge drinking! Official involvement does not seem to have reduced alcohol-related harm, with reports that this year’s schoolies on the Gold Coast are the “drunkest ever” and arrests are up two-fold.
If we look at what strategies have had a significant impact on curtailing unwanted behaviours which were a threat to public health and welfare, two examples may give us a direction to follow.
The first is the introduction of Random Breath Testing. It curtailed significantly the number of injuries and fatalities caused by persons who were under the influence while driving a motor vehicle. It also caused a major shift in people’s attitudes to driving while under the influence.
The second initiative has been the Quit Smoking campaigns. Health officers in all States and Territories deemed it in the best interest of the general public to ban and/or limit smoking in public places. This has resulted in a significant decline in the rates of smoking within the general population. Underpinning both of these initiatives has been willingness on the part of those who sponsored them to use public education campaigns to accomplish longitudinal gains in the first instance. However, just as important were the implementation of appropriate sanctions and/or penalties in support of the education campaigners. It is my belief it is worth the possibility of protestations in the short term as to the merits of lifting the drinking age in order to ensure the long term health and welfare of our young people.
As Abraham Lincoln said: “The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just!”