I’ve written before at length why I don’t drink alcohol, on a post called “My Not Drinking Alcohol Is Not Your Problem“.
One of the things that I probably didn’t emphasise enough was that a contributing factor to not drinking was discovering how many of my high-school students talked about being pressured to drink alcohol. Especially when they discovered during conversations that I didn’t drink, how it made them feel much less isolated. They spoke about peer pressure, about people pushing drinks into their hands, about having to lie and wait until no one was looking to empty out an untouched glass and about attending parties where there’d be nothing but tap-water for them to drink, since the soda mixers went pretty fast -- and I was sorry to tell them that ‘things really don’t change much at all, the older you get’.
I help run a ‘skeptics in the pub’. Soon, there’ll be a ‘skeptics in the park’ event and I like to mix up the events that we run to be open to all ages. That way, it’s inclusive to people who might have children (such as the All-ages Astro Fest at Curtin). It’s important that we model what is crucial first -- the idea of being pro-science and pro-skepticism. I guess I just don’t feel comfortable about aligning social events and skepticism with a picture of holding what appears to be a ‘mandatory beer’ and I wonder how many who tout the ‘role-modeling’ banner reflect on this.
Anyway. This was going to be one of my ‘Little Kitten’ posts, but I guess it’s become more serious than I originally intended. Here’s a new campaign out in the UK which caught my eye, thanks to TabataShou mentioning this on Twitter: Alcohol -- It’s No Joke:
Drinking alcohol can make young people vulnerable and put them in situations that they would normally not normally find themselves in. These situations could include; taking drugs, having un-protected sex, becoming a victim or perpetrator of anti-social behaviour, crime or violence.
There’s no point pretending that its all bad. But talking to kids early on about the risks and dangers of alcohol can help them to make responsible decisions about drinking. Most importantly, the earlier we start talking the better.
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Listening to ABC radio the other day – they were talking about the supposed crackdown on alcohol at this year’s Australia Day Skyshow. One woman called in and said “it isn’t Australia Day if you can’t have a drink”. Who knew the calendar was so constrained?
Plenty of other callers were horrified at the thought that “responsible” “mums and dads” wouldn’t (supposedly) be allowed to flout the anti-street-drinking laws this year as they have in the past.
Alcohol: It’s a religion. The “peer pressure” is just evangelism by another name.
I missed the earlier entry about this topic, but it’s good to hear about as it’s pretty much exactly the same for me.
Although in my case it’s partly caused by growing up in a deeply religious family and never really getting into the habit, coupled with a somewhat contrarian streak that, when confronted with people’s reaction to being ‘straight edge’, made me want to stick to it (not that I was directly aware of it).
I do wonder if it’s worse for males. I guess in essence it’s the same principle. But hopefully there aren’t any females getting into fights over it ( which happened to me a couple of times. No actual punching. We stopped at shoving fortunately). It gradually cools off a bit as the years pass.
Still, to this day, most gatherings go like this; (me) “Hi, how’s it going?” , (other bloke) “G’day, oh you’re with… oh, you’re not drinking”, “No it’s ok”, “No it’s not. Sue, the man’s dry? Want a larger, we got crowns (et al)”, “Don’t really like beer”, “Wine then”, “Not really a fan”, “Ah you’re a spirits man”, “Not really. I’m driving anyway”, “Oh, you can fit one in surely” (fetches something or other), “No, I just.. I’m not really into it, that’s all” (cavernous pause) “Oh…..Like that is it. Right”
Anyway, the funny thing about campaigns like the above, is that while I can’t think of anything else for them to say about it, their warnings about drinking and risk taking and making terrible mistakes etc are exactly why you’re supposed to do it. Most young people, in my recollection anyway, were aware of this on some level. You get blasted, do the stupid things you haven’t the nerve to do normally and have the in built absolution of ‘I was drunk’.
To me it seems so fundamental to our culture that I have a hard time picturing things changing that much.
The problem, is that these adverts fail to relate to most peoples experience of alcohol consumption (which is normally positive). People therefore do not feel connected with the potenitall negative affects.
I have blogged about these issues here if you care to read:
http://stevehynd.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/bill-bailey-alcohol-is-no-joke/
and
http://stevehynd.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/booze-britain-the-new-beer-barron/
Its uncanny this subject as I have to push myself into more social situations and being interested in sceptism,I thought the ‘skeptics in the pub’ was probably a good way to be involved, but also being a non-drinker I feel pressure because I dont drink alcohol,which I probably bring upon myself to a certain extent,so even better for me personally I like the sound of ‘skeptics in the park’,so I will keep a eye out for any possible upcoming events.Thanks Kylie
Oooh, skeptics in the park. That is so getting proposed here in Adelaide.
Idea…Stolen.
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