Binge Drinking
Believe it or not, I can only recall being drunk about 4 or 5 times in highschool. The main reason being I couldn't afford to drink even though I was 18 mid year 12. Then came uni, and it was all over. However, Aussie teenagers get an early and, perhaps, detrimental start:
Parents who allow their children small amounts of alcohol in an attempt to instil safe drinking habits may be setting them on the path to becoming binge drinkers.
The first international comparison of underage alcohol use, conducted by Australian and US researchers and involving 6000 children, has found rates of binge drinking are up to three times higher among Australian Year 9 students compared with equivalent American teenagers.
Australian parents often introduce their children to small amounts of alcohol early, in the hope this "harm minimisation" strategy helps them learn to control their behaviour in later life. By contrast, US attitudes tend to emphasise a zero-tolerance approach, and the legal drinking age is also higher - 21 compared with 18 in Australia.
The study's authors said the findings of higher binge drinking rates in Australia will be "counter to the expectations of harm- minimisation advocates", and showed the Australian approach was not working.
I must say, I don't approve of teenagers getting completely blind every weekend. Perhaps this is the pot calling the kettle black, but highschool years are tough enough without being a legless 14 year old wandering around town. I think year 11 or 12 is reasonable, not year 9. You'll have plenty of time to get plastered when you start uni or spend that year pissing it up, I mean, enjoying culture overseas.
Finally, I was surprised to see that girls binge drink slightly more than boys.
Parents who allow their children small amounts of alcohol in an attempt to instil safe drinking habits may be setting them on the path to becoming binge drinkers.
The first international comparison of underage alcohol use, conducted by Australian and US researchers and involving 6000 children, has found rates of binge drinking are up to three times higher among Australian Year 9 students compared with equivalent American teenagers.
Australian parents often introduce their children to small amounts of alcohol early, in the hope this "harm minimisation" strategy helps them learn to control their behaviour in later life. By contrast, US attitudes tend to emphasise a zero-tolerance approach, and the legal drinking age is also higher - 21 compared with 18 in Australia.
The study's authors said the findings of higher binge drinking rates in Australia will be "counter to the expectations of harm- minimisation advocates", and showed the Australian approach was not working.
I must say, I don't approve of teenagers getting completely blind every weekend. Perhaps this is the pot calling the kettle black, but highschool years are tough enough without being a legless 14 year old wandering around town. I think year 11 or 12 is reasonable, not year 9. You'll have plenty of time to get plastered when you start uni or spend that year pissing it up, I mean, enjoying culture overseas.
Finally, I was surprised to see that girls binge drink slightly more than boys.
posted by Engels at 12:37 pm
4 Comments:
It's gonna take a while for my wallet and brain to recover from the new years week...
You're just weak. Weak I says. Though my wallet is fealing it.
i would agree that, in highschool at least, the people that got the "most maggot" at our weekend parties were usually women.
the guys would get smashed, wallow around and occasionally a few clowns might have a war of words, but nothing too serious. The women i knew used to quaff a bottle of Passion Pop and spend the next couple of hours rolling around in their own vomit before passing out, typically after a large crying session and/or a dirty snogfest.
Not unlike Angry Annette at BK and her spewing on herself adventures. Think I've had Passion Pop twice in my life. Sadly, I had it very recently but only a glass - too sweet.
We all knew we would beat the yanks in drinking.
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