Boozy Britain: Are We Encouraging Alcoholism in Our Youth?

 Imagens Evangélicas / Flickr

Now I enjoy several drinks as much as the next student, but how much is too much? With many uni events solely based on alcohol, I find myself sympathising with those who don’t drink – there is very little left in uni culture if you don’t ‘down it, fresher’! I personally know people who just don’t like drinking or simply can’t for their own health, and I can’t help but wonder if we should do more to combat our overly boozy culture.

In a 2010 study, 83% of students in the UK classified themselves as drinkers, which means only a mere 17% chose the sober way of life. So why do we students drink our own body weight in liquor, I hear you eagerly ask?

I believe it boils down to a simple fear of missing out (or FOMO); when almost all social activities are based on drinking games and not being able to remember the night before, it’s no wonder we are a generation of binge-drinkers and budding alcoholics. What’s more striking is the way uni culture promotes this behavior, as if harbouring a hangover on a Sunday morning is almost expected of you. You’re labelled as ‘boring’, ‘no fun’ and a ‘killjoy’ if you don’t participate in Ring of Fire as opposed to your peers who can’t go one day without drinking.

 In the real world, this would be a form of acute alcoholism, yet in university culture, it’s acceptable. If you find yourself in the minority that doesn’t drink, I would suggest immersing yourself in similar company; heck, there are even some societies that dedicate themselves to not drinking, you shouldn’t be made to feel alien for not completely destroying your poor liver.

I’m not saying you should abstain completely, but maybe the Italians are on the right lines with their culture of drinking with food rather than shotting with Sarah (or any friend of your choice). By all means get to the merry stage, but is it really fun when Sarah is holding your hair up while you’re being sick in the grimiest club at three in the morning? Of course it is completely understandable when you’re bogged down with hundreds of assignments while juggling a social life to have a drink (or seven), but before you know it you’re being carried home on a stretcher (because every decent club has a spare stretcher going) and I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s not the way to end a night.

There is no shame in curling up with your favourite stuffed monkey (shout-out to Albi) while watching a bit of Benedict Cumberbatch in the evening. I don’t know about you, but to me, that sounds like heaven on Earth. Even the hardest party animals need a break and unwind with a four hour Come Dine With Me marathon especially when you’re watching sore losers. Even trips such as going to the theatre, or watching a movie makes a pleasant change and don’t come with the added plus of a hangover the next morning.

Maybe it’s different in other universities, but I feel like more of an effort should be made for sober socials. Don’t get me wrong, I acknowledge the effort that is currently being made to combat this, such as the £90,000 spent on tackling initiation drinking, but I feel like this is an issue that should be more at the forefront for societies in general – especially those with a notorious reputation.

Enjoyment is fine in moderation, as is not wanting to drink at all. However maybe Universities should do more to combat student alcoholism, or at least supply more supervision to tackle dangerous coercive drinking. I’m not putting my Gin + Lemonade down just yet, but I’m thinking about it.

Original post can be found here: http://thebroaduk.com/2016/01/09/boozy-britain-are-we-encouraging-alcoholism-in-our-youth/ 

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When the World Needed to Show Some Humanity

Disclaimer: In a slight twist to my usual posts, I feel strongly about the migrant crisis and I feel I'd be actively ignoring an alarming issue by writing something trifling on how to avoid a hangover.  This article is just my opinion and is in no way right - please do comment if you feel the same way or want to dispute any of the points raised.

The recent refugee dilemma means that thousands of civilians are flocking to Europe in search for a better life. This year alone 448,000 people applied for Asylum in Europe; out of that 448,000, 25,000 applied for the UK, 188,000 applied in Germany, but Sweden surprisingly had 8 applicants per 1,000 citizens. (Source: BBC) These staggering numbers and a certain scaremongering by the media made people sceptical about allowing more migrants and made me in particular, shocked at the state of our society that we have such little sympathy for other human beings.

I can completely understand there is an economic strain on resources and even though Britain increased the overseas aid budget by an extra £1 billion, we can at least give these people some temporary refuge or transport while a long-term solution can be found. No, these people aren't looking to exploit benefits or take your jobs - they're just looking for a place to live without fighting for their own lives. They hear about a country in which they're not likely to be gunned down or bombed in their own homes and risk everything to travel on perilous European shores only to be told they're a burden and aren't welcome.  Who are we to condemn these people when their only crime is to have been born in a war-torn country? This is why it bemuses me that David Cameron was so bold as to announce that Britain was to accept no refugees, only to revoke that statement when the public were outraged due to the recent photo of young Aylan Kurdi. What happened to Britain's compassion and why did it take the single most powerful image of a young boy's body washed up on a beach to instil some empathy in people? Why does it have to be SO bad before we put our foot down?

It's a sad case when it takes such an extreme image (which I won't show for obvious reasons) to finally make us say 'well, the buck stops here!'. It makes one think, are we this de-sensitised to scenes of turmoil and struggle that it takes a corpse to evoke feeling? It's no wonder, when the news is filled with distressing scenes of terrorist activity one minute and teen suicide the next, followed by a weather update and cheeky banter in the studio. News is fleeting; people's hardships are presented as fleeting, but what we must remember is that this is a long, hard struggle and not something that can be easily switched off.

After the outrage, people are now offering their own homes to refugees as hashtag #refugeeswelcome trends on Twitter, but is it too little too late? Don't get me wrong, I think it's brilliant that an effort is being made because it's a lot better than nothing at all, but the fact that it took hundreds of thousands of deaths before we took a stand means that as a society we let things get to an absolute breaking point before we realise we should probably make an effort. It's a shame when morals we teach our children like 'put yourself in the other person's shoes' seem to be lost on our adults when they complain of the influx of migrants coming over and don't recognise their struggle. What these events teach us is that we should be grateful for what we have and to the multicultural people who enrich our society, despite whatever spin the media wants to take on it.

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