Youth binge drinking
To what extent is youth violence, crimes and anti-social behaviour linked to youths binge drinking.
Binge drinking can be defined as an excessive consumption of alcohol within a short period of time to get drunk. This essay will focus on how youth violence, crime and anti-social behaviour is linked to youths binge drinking. It is widely known that the youths in United Kingdom start drinking at an early stage of their lives. Talbot and Crabbe (n.d.) state that “government statistics suggest that… the amount of alcohol consumed by younger adolescents aged 11-13 continues to climb.” Underage drinking is linked to binge drinking as youths are not mature and responsible enough to think of the consequences. BBC News (2003) mentioned that “A study published last year found that up to a quarter of 13 and 14-year-olds in the UK claimed to have "downed" at least five alcoholic drinks in a single session.” This topic is worthy of discussion as statistic suggests that a lot of young people are affected by binge drinking and therefore potentially affected by effects of it. Binge drinking is risky and youths should understand the danger of it. Firstly, how youth violence, crimes and anti-social behaviour are caused by binge drinking will be presented, and then other causes of these problems will be discussed.
The influence of alcohol can affect an individual’s control over thoughts, emotions and actions. Excessive amount of alcohol could cause one to lose control mentally and physically when provoked which would result in fights occurring as an act of impulse. Ward (2008) reports that “half of young people said they had been involved in fighting, violence and aggression as a result of drinking”. Some may feel that fights occur due to personality issues rather than the influence of excessive alcohol consumption. From this report, it can be argued that personality does play a huge role in fights happening but being drunk would increase the number of youth violence occurring.
Binge drinking can be defined as an excessive consumption of alcohol within a short period of time to get drunk. This essay will focus on how youth violence, crime and anti-social behaviour is linked to youths binge drinking. It is widely known that the youths in United Kingdom start drinking at an early stage of their lives. Talbot and Crabbe (n.d.) state that “government statistics suggest that… the amount of alcohol consumed by younger adolescents aged 11-13 continues to climb.” Underage drinking is linked to binge drinking as youths are not mature and responsible enough to think of the consequences. BBC News (2003) mentioned that “A study published last year found that up to a quarter of 13 and 14-year-olds in the UK claimed to have "downed" at least five alcoholic drinks in a single session.” This topic is worthy of discussion as statistic suggests that a lot of young people are affected by binge drinking and therefore potentially affected by effects of it. Binge drinking is risky and youths should understand the danger of it. Firstly, how youth violence, crimes and anti-social behaviour are caused by binge drinking will be presented, and then other causes of these problems will be discussed.
The influence of alcohol can affect an individual’s control over thoughts, emotions and actions. Excessive amount of alcohol could cause one to lose control mentally and physically when provoked which would result in fights occurring as an act of impulse. Ward (2008) reports that “half of young people said they had been involved in fighting, violence and aggression as a result of drinking”. Some may feel that fights occur due to personality issues rather than the influence of excessive alcohol consumption. From this report, it can be argued that personality does play a huge role in fights happening but being drunk would increase the number of youth violence occurring.
Bibliography: BBCNEWS., (2003) Youths binge drinking ‘dangerous’ [online]. BBC News. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3191150.stm [Accessed: 10 July 2013] BBCNEWS., (2009) Youngsters ‘drinking dangerously’ [online] WHO., (2006) Youth Violence and Alcohol [online]. World Health Organisation Avaiable at: http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/factsheets/fs_youth.pdf [Accessed: 10 July 2013]