Risk Taking

Risk Taking
“C'mon! Another can't hurt!” called Bob. At only 17 years of age I had been reluctant to have a drink, but I couldn't stop the might of peer pressure. I hesitantly took another can, but before I knew it Bob was on the ground, moaning and bleeding all over the place in the midst of a brawl.
We've all been in this situation before where there's been too much alcohol consumed but how often, especially for teenagers, does this apparently harmless fun, end in tragedy?
Young people are hospitalised everyday due to excessive drinking and its consequences. This leads to hospitals being choked up, police are constantly breaking up fights and traffic is gridlocked from drink-driving accidents. There just isn't any room for this behaviour in society.
Countless teenagers attend parties every week, many of them consuming alcohol. These parties are held to have fun but alcohol consumption, under-age or legal can turn that fun into life-threatening situations, brought about and fuelled by binge drinking. With 4 people under the age of 25 having their lives cut short each week all related in some form to alcohol intoxication; this problem is affecting not only their peers, but their families and the wider community as well.
With more than 1 in five teens between the ages of 14 and 19 years of age consuming alcohol on a weekly basis, and around 30% percent of the males drinking seven or more drinks on at least 1 occasion; $15.3 billion is an estimate of the costs for alcohol-related social problems in Australian communities between 2004-05. This is what the rest of Australia has to pay for and ultimately live with.
Many members of society are becoming victims of this unacceptable drinking, whether family or close friends, or witnesses of tragedies including deaths from alcohol-fuelled violence and recklessness. One police officer who was called to a drink-driving accident stated that he “.. was traumatised for the rest of my life” and “... could never bring myself to drink after the accident.”.
So how can we stop this behaviour and intoxication from happening? Education, “upping” the price of alcohol and tougher laws are some solutions currently being considered. While raising the price of alcohol might lower the amount being consumed by teenagers, many older people are against this idea. One particular man, Mr Pete says that if prices are raised, the only people drinking less would be the people who drink little like himself. Mr Pete enjoys a cold beer on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, but he claims there would be no way he could afford this if prices were raised due to the tough financial times we are currently pulling out of.
Educating teens about the dangers of alcohol both at school and at home by their parents seems to be the preferred option by most, but mates opinions and peers rate higher than parents at this time of their lives. Some sceptics are worried that following your parent's advice is too hard in these situations and it's easier to copy your mate's behaviour. This would result in teens caving in to peer pressure and just following the flow, which is what needs to be stopped. If, as part of the school's push to lower the dangerous consumption of alcohol, they included 'field' trips to hospitals and rehab centres where the consequences of their actions can be clearly seen by real people just like themselves, this may bring to reality the results of their silly acts. How can we say we are providing and caring for this generation when they are intoxicated, driving around killing innocent drivers and their mates; starting fights in your favourite Friday-night destinations? Society needs this to stop and shouldn't be allowing this to go on, but how?