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Jed -
submitted 11/05/2009
Lower the legal drinking age … just throwing a suggestion out there. I have traveled extensively while young. USA has a huge binge drinking problem likewise Sweden yet we are following their footsteps. In countries such as Austria, Italy the legal age for a person to be in a pub is 16 and depending on the country depends on what alcohol they can and cannot drink. A number of things happen here, one you are stopping young people from drinking in the streets, and giving them a controlled safe environment with security to drink in. Sports and community clubs open for 16 and up and keep nightclubs for 18 and up. This would also stop the large gatherings in usually poorly lit public area’s which create the violent atmosphere. The age of 18 is still a right of passage in these countries, by making the age 16 you are giving the parents opportunity and responsibility to introduce them to alcohol in a controlled environment with stronger social manner. After the age of 18 young people start celebrating away from their parents so why not influence them properly from an early age? Sweden is an example of the lack of success in alco-pop tax. In Sweden young people get drunk before they go out so they don’t have to pay the ridiculous prices imposed on these drinks. Not only this, but they place their lives in danger by creating their own illegal moonshine which is much cheaper. The only thing the Alco-pops tax will do is increase revenue for the government and increase binge drinking.
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Max Vardanega -
submitted 1/06/2009
I am not a Young Person, however I work with Young People in the homelessness field.
I wonder why we allow the advertising of alcohol ?
Alohol does so much harm I cannot understand why it is not subject to the same restricitions on advertising and marketing as tobacco products.
Alcohol causes far more violence than tobacco but we restrict advertising of tobacco and not alcohol. The long term health impacts of alcohol are devasting. I do not know the actual comparison with tobacco but in my experience it seems that alcohol is just as destructive of healt as tobacco.
Please restrict the advertising and marketing of alcohol in the same way as tobacco. The alcohol companies will say that doing that will not reduce use and harm. Of course they would say that. The tobaccco companies initially said the same, but tobacco use has reduced very significantly since advertising and marketing restrictions were put in place.
Please restrict the advertising and marketing of alcohol in the same way as tobacco.
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Anonymous -
submitted 12/05/2009
Here's a notion that the government should consider - binge drinking is NOT all about uncontrolled consumption of alcohol to become heavily intoxicated. In fact, there's a concept called calculated hedonism, in which young people are trying to achieve maximum benefits via the least amount of effort and in the cheapest way possible - i.e. most young people are highly aware of what they are doing, and they're going to do it in the easiest & cheapest way! Scare tactics do not work - the perception of alcohol in vast amounts as problematic does not apply to many people - until you've experienced a consequence (which is too late).
Informing young people and providing them with knowledge is our best bet, as well as supporting and promoting community services tailored for young people. This should be followed by changes in legislation e.g. stringent laws on serving intoxicated patrons, education regarding alcohol and other drug use as mandatory in school, increasing taxes on alcoholic drinks based on the alcohol percentage, banning alcohol advertising via mass media, etc. For those who are skeptical, consider the tobacco laws over the last 40 years and look at the statistics. Unlike tobacco, alcohol in responsible amounts is not a bad thing - but when out of control, the cost to society is detrimental.
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Samantha -
submitted 14/05/2009
to stop binge drinking we need to make more things for the youth in the community to do fun events every weekend so they wont even think about drinking they only drink cause they r bored and there is nothing for them to do put on street events like dance hip hop shows in local parks at night loud music krumping battles beat boxing battles show them that they can have fun with out drinking it is possiable
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Anonymous -
submitted 18/05/2009
The alcopop tax has only made the drinking problem worse, as I have seen among all of my friends. It is cheaper to buy straight bottles of spirits and mix yourself than just to buy a premix drink. This leads to people having a lot more to drink as it is harder to judge exactly how much you're drinking when you mix yourself, and the fact that there is a far higher alcohol content in a bottle of spirits. The other issue is that everyone seems to just buy a cheaper alternative as premix (alcopop) drinks are expensive, so they will buy goon or cheap wine which in the majority of cases gets people way too drunk.
The way to stop this problem in my opinion is to make drinks with a lower alcohol content cheaper, and drinks with a higher alcohol content more expensive. The alcopop tax has not helped the issue at all from what I've seen. Another idea is to possibly make packages of drinks smaller, so that a 6pack can become a 4pack, and so on. Same with bottles of spirits, if there were more smaller options such as a 250ml version of a usually larger bottle that was available in smaller liquor stores, then people would probably buy these instead of the larger bottles for themselves.
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Martin -
submitted 19/06/2009
The Government's campaign is misguided. It should not focus on safety - it should target the underlying culture of peer pressure and acceptance that produces, encourages, and rewards reckless behaviour.
Drinking is immersed in a culture of acceptance. Buying a round of beers in Australian culture is a means of bonding. For young people, the presence of alcohol has become an expectation as part of party environments. Their peers all have a bottle in their hand - they will naturally feel pressured to do the same to avoid feeling alienated, to be accepted.
It is crucial to note that part of the mentality of a teenage binge drinker is a disregard for their own safety and that of others. Acceptance is their priority, and if anything they are encouraged to behave recklessly to secure acceptance. For the most part, teenagers do not smoke and drink excessively because they are unaware of the harm it causes their bodies. They smoke and drink precisely because it is harmful, has the appeal of being illegal, and because self destruction is rewarded by the admiration of their peers. Safety is the concern of mature and responsible adults - The government campaign needs to target the culture of acceptance which is the primary concern of young people.
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Yasmin -
submitted 5/05/2009
I have seen the 'nightmare' campaigns on TV and i think that they are effective along side other campaigns such as drink driving.
But i think that Australia's biggest problem with binge drinking is that they prohibit it too much and have created a culture where it has become something forbidden until the legal age of 18, making it something most want to try when they are 14.
Alcohol is treated with a very different attitude here then it is in other countries like Holland or Germany where drinking isn't a problem. Here alcohol is something you do when you are bored or have a party, you drink it for no other reason then to drink alcohol and skull it down like coke. This attitude should change, alcoholic drinks themselves need to be respected, parents should let kids drink a glass of champagne every now and them so that they grow up not being so aware of the ban against drinking.
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Danie -
submitted 7/05/2009
Young people binge drinking is not a new phenomenon; I don't think we can ever stop it. Instead, I believe the best thing we can do is equip young people with the tools they need to survive it through the provision of knowledge and harm minimisation strategies.
There are lots of these programs already out there in the community; maybe instead of re-inventing the wheel the government can support existing programs around Australia. For example in SA the Australian Red Cross do a terrific job at delivering the Save-A-Mate program which is a harm minimisation peer education program that also has an first aid for A&D emergencies component. Participants walk away with knowledge on D&A, how to look after themselves and their mates when their partying and a certificate in CPR and EAR. This should be a mandate component of year 9 or 10 education. Another example is Party House, a theatrical play put on by the Southern Youth Theatre Ensemble. This interactive play promotes awareness of real life party situations such as sexual abuse, violence etc. and involves the audience to create strategies to either avoid or control these events.
Programs such as these are proven to have a real impact on young people and will equip them with knowledge on both strategies to avoid the dangers present with binge drinking and how to safely handle dangerous situations should they happen.
We can’t stop it, so why not equip young people with the tools they need to survive it.
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Anonymous -
submitted 4/06/2009
Instead of charging more for "alcopops" making them nearly the same price as a bottle of spirits, which is just encouraging young people to mix their own drinks and they'll drink more, perhaps stop the advertising and media "glamorisining" alcohol and treat it the same as tobacco with graphic warnings on bottles and anti-drinking ads on TV. Currently there are youth binge-drinking ads followed by "slam down a nice cold beer" ads on TV which therefore make it ok for adults to drink but not young people.
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Anonymous -
submitted 26/06/2009
so all these kids go out and get on the grog becuase its fun and theyr friends thinks its fun too
i think we need more things for youth to do on friday nights - youth clubs and stuff especially in regional areas where the binge drinking culture is stronger