All we seem to hear about these days is teenagers and their "binge" drinking. The drinking age here in Australia is 18.
Wikipedia's description of "binge" drinking is:
For a typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming 5 or more drinks (male), or 4 or more drinks (female), in about 2 hours.
They note, however, that "in common usage, binge drinking is now usually used to refer to heavy drinking over an evening or similar time span - sometimes also referred to as heavy episodic drinking. Binge drinking is often associated with drinking with the intention of becoming intoxicated and, sometimes, with drinking in large groups." It is sometimes associated with physical or social harm.
I really don't know why it's being made such an issue now, when there's always been binge drinking. I know that when I was a teenager in the 60's the goal for a lot of my friends, was to get as drunk as you could and not worry about the consequences. So what has changed in 2008?
Have Government bodies finally realized that binge drinking causes a lot of problems in our society? The first thing that needs to be done here in Australia, is to raise the drinking age to 21. There's nothing more frightening than being confronted by a group of drunken teenagers out to cause trouble.
In the 80's my husband and I used to take our children to an annual "Food and Wine Festival", which was a great day out because we were able to try foods and wines we'd never had before and all the families and friends would sit in the park and have a picnic. It used to be a very pleasant day out for all of us!
I say "used to be" because the binge drinkers invaded our space and were noisy and obnoxious and not what we wanted our children to see. They spoiled what was a great event for families and turned it into a drunken orgy.
I am not totally against drinking and I enjoy the occasional glass of wine, but what I do object to is having out of control, drunken teenagers in my face.
It really goes back to parental responsibility. Parents have to start taking responsibility for their children's actions and ensure that their teenagers grow up to be well adjusted, responsible adults.
Susan Denny has been happily married for 38 years, has 4 adult children (all married) and 6 grandchildren. She has many years experience with families and relationships and has been involved in the Self Development industry for nearly 20 years, starting with one-on- one training with Bob Proctor in 1990. She has since attended many seminars hosted by world renowned Gurus in the Self Development and Internet Marketing areas. Go to: http://healthwealthequalshappiness.com for more information, tips and ideas.
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1 comment:
Personally, I think the Italians [and cultures similar to] got it right by starting out their children with sips of wine at the age of 5 or 6. Then, as the children got older, adding a few sips until they were allowed a full glass with their cheese and crackers in their teen years. They did this so by they time they were of "legal age," they would know what its like to have the alcoholic beverages. Thus, since it was nothing new to them, they wouldn't go overboard (a)unintentionally or (b) when they are not in presence of family or family friends. Teens now, myself being one and see such things, have a drink - realizes what it does in a flash - and can't stop. However, for the teens (and people of "legal age" alike) who grew up with the drinks and being allowed to experience it a step at a time . . . don't have such a reaction and, I've noticed, are much wiser with their choices.
I do see what you mean though. It was a great post and . . . obviously . . . got me thinking. :)
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