The paramedics are often called out on Friday nights because teenagers have got drunk and are either hurt or in danger. One paramedic from the documentary stated “it’s not unusual for a child of 14 or 15 to have consumed one litre of alcohol”. I personally find this shocking as children of this age shouldn’t even be consuming alcohol and especially not on the street, just imagine the damage they are doing to their bodies. Some of the consequences from drinking a large amount of alcohol may be “vomiting blood, breaking any bone in your body, leaving you in a coma, ruining relationships, getting you in trouble with the police and leaving you utterly skint!” This is obviously a long list of trouble that can be associated with excessive drinking.
Police officers are also often called out because of violence caused by drink or foul language shown towards the public. The effects of alcohol may lead to strange behaviour as “alcohol tends to make people act like they are in cartoons”. The office for National Statistics has shown that “teenage drinking has almost doubled over the past decade” and children as young as 11 have been getting drunk. Also “a recent European study shows that most 15 and 16 year olds are regularly getting ‘wasted’ on booze”. This must bring great income for shopkeepers selling alcohol: either illegally or through friends buying it for underage drinkers, but it also keep the emergency services busy out on the streets at night. A negative effect of this is that resources are needlessly wasted, when they could be better used.
Parents have a range of different perspectives on the situation. Some parents who are oblivious to their children’s behaviour, turn a blind eye to their children’s activities. For example: “I’m only her father so I’m the last to know”. Others may express the view “We have never denied her taking a drink with us.” However, there are other parents who are completely against teenage drinking and won’t let their children drink alcohol until they leave home. Some parents act like they are one of their kids. They don’t care what’s happening to them and the damage it’s doing. One parent interviewed in the documentary took a flippant attitude and stated: “everyone is drinking, it’s peer pressure”, accepting that drinking is going to happen no matter what the parent does. Another parent was quoted in the documentary as saying “drinking is like smoking, you learn to like it”, further emphasising he role that peer pressure plays in encouraging drinking. However, parents do have a role to play in educating and protecting their children, in relation to alcohol.
There are, of course, parents who do make the effort to curb the drinking habits of their children, but many teenagers succumb to peer pressure over time and invariably will consume alcohol occasionally. Not all teenagers drink excessively and some use this time to introduce a sensible drinking pattern ready for adolescence.
However, some teenagers are obviously oblivious to the harm it’s doing to them and their bodies. They find it a good way to socialise and they say “what else are we going to do?” So maybe the council or government should take this into account if they want to cut down on teenage/underage drinking and find some other entertainment for them and highlight alcohol’s danger to them? Meeting places could also be introduced as a place for teenagers to socialise and safely have fun.
Some teenagers try and socialise without drinking, but eventually the group they are with all get ‘tarred with the same brush’. So, even those who are sensible enough to see the dangers, fall prey to ‘peer group’ pressure and end up drinking as this is what everyone expects them to do anyway.
Some teenagers feel that alcohol is too expensive whereas some pressure groups want to raise the price of alcohol. Given these two opposing views, I can see how increasing the price of alcohol will act as a deterrent. However, not all teenagers have to buy the alcohol which they consume. Drink is not necessarily obtained from shops, sometimes drink is given by parents to teenagers. Even for 18 year old who have I.D, it can be frustrating to be refused alcohol because of the ‘over 21 rule’.
Drinking at home is legal and I feel this is a good environment for safe habits to be established, but some parents disagree. The alternative is generally seen to be drinking / socialising on the streets in groups. This causes a range of problems and issues. These include: passer-by complaints. Even if the group of teenagers are not up to any trouble, a group can sometimes appear intimidating to others. In a group environment like this out in the streets, where many of the group have been drinking, violence can often occur. If drinking is undertaken at home or in a supervised environment, this would be less dangerous. For example, over 18’s are allowed to drink in pubs, which often have security to prevent violent outbursts.
In conclusion, I think the children should be educated more at school to see the damage that is being done to their bodies, the way they appear to others when they are drunk and the social affect it will have in the future. I feel there should be a course or presentation that parents have to legally attend once their children are of a certain age in order to educate both parents and children as some parents beliefs are out dated. Their parents should take more interest in what their children are getting up to when they aren’t with them. I also feel that legislation is not always the route, but maybe there should be more facilities for teenagers where they may gather together in a safe environment.
