Alcohol

Alcohol is one of those things which divides people, some people think that it's great to go out every weekend and get totally paralytically drunk, others think that the people who do are binge drinkers and are irresponsible.

Obviously people dislike the effects of alcohol. Getting drunk can be really fun, I don't think that anyone disagrees that it makes you more confident and suddenly everything is a lot more fun. But I suppose people have issue when people drink too much and then get ill or violent. I don't think that necessarily alcohol is the bad thing, more the person who drinks.

Some people think that getting drunk itself is a bad thing, but I differ. It can be really fun. It's almost as though it takes you away from the real world. Maybe the world is so crushing that you need to escape. It's the same as with drugs, they take you away from the real world, from your life, suddenly your life feels better, you aren't worrying about the "real world" you're having fun.

It's not all good though, alcohol can make you really ill. Which I think most people realise at some point in their life. There is also issues with young people causing crime, but I think that the majority of teenagers drinking White Lightening in the park are just hanging out, as with most things the minority spoil it for the majority.

There was a debate recently whether children under the age of eighteen should be able to drink, the guardian recently reported that 80% of people aged 15-17 had drank alcohol at a friends house. The fact was treated with outrage, but really is it that bad, I mean what does a drink of alcohol mean? I would bet that they probably didn't down an entire keg of beer or several bottles of absinthe, most probably a Barcardi Breezer or two. To be honest I drank at a friends house when I was about fifteen, just a couple of WKD's, is that so terrible? Did it make me a terrible person? No. I think that if children were introduced to alcohol at a younger age then they would be less likely to abuse it, if you are allowed to drink it at home you wouldn't be trying to buy cheap cider to pass around in the park.

Maybe if the government feels that young people are drinking too much then they should think about the reasons why. Kids are put under so much pressure, there are constant exams, the expectation to fit in, the fragility of the future, the government should try to make the lives of young people better and then maybe they wouldn't turn to alcohol as a form of escapism.



References
http://www.guardian.co.uk/alcoholandyoungpeople/alcohol-culture
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/apr/29/alcohol-young-people-drinkaware