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Young people have cut back on drink, but web addiction may make us sicker Young people have cut back on drink, but web addiction may make us sicker
(7 months later)
It came as a surprise to many last week when the Office for National Statistics released a set of figures revealing a decrease in heavy drinking in Britons between the ages of 16-24. (Our older compatriots were not so well behaved. Shame on you.) What happened to the kids nursing half-empty bottles of Smirnoff on night buses or teens throwing WKD back like lemonade? Is not our entire image of Britain reliant upon sensational headlines about girls drinking 14 Barcardi Breezers, pickling themselves in cranberry "flavouring" and stumbling home with no shoes .It came as a surprise to many last week when the Office for National Statistics released a set of figures revealing a decrease in heavy drinking in Britons between the ages of 16-24. (Our older compatriots were not so well behaved. Shame on you.) What happened to the kids nursing half-empty bottles of Smirnoff on night buses or teens throwing WKD back like lemonade? Is not our entire image of Britain reliant upon sensational headlines about girls drinking 14 Barcardi Breezers, pickling themselves in cranberry "flavouring" and stumbling home with no shoes .
Perhaps we're changing. Maybe we're tired of our nation's cider-saturated reputation and we've decided to show the way ahead, straighten up, make something of ourselves. Maybe the last time we promised over a strong coffee that we were never going to drink again, we really meant it. Seems unlikely. The new generation of young adults may be less interested in drinking than their parents, but adolescence and alcohol go together like tequila and dry heaving, so it's hard to believe that suddenly we all just "know better".Perhaps we're changing. Maybe we're tired of our nation's cider-saturated reputation and we've decided to show the way ahead, straighten up, make something of ourselves. Maybe the last time we promised over a strong coffee that we were never going to drink again, we really meant it. Seems unlikely. The new generation of young adults may be less interested in drinking than their parents, but adolescence and alcohol go together like tequila and dry heaving, so it's hard to believe that suddenly we all just "know better".
The easy explanation is money – there's less of it about. The dire employment prospects and shoddy wages awaiting young people once they're elbowed out of their classrooms don't make spending a particularly enjoyable exercise. In contrast to our parents, we're constantly being reminded of how overqualified and underachieving we are. After reading about 400 graduates applying for an internship, the effrontery of being expected to pay £4.50 for a watery beer in a badly decorated pub is enough to make you want to stay in. But since when has a low wage and bad interior design stopped teenagers from behaving badly? If you want to shoot Basics vodka out of an Evian bottle in a club bathroom, you can. You wouldn't be the first.The easy explanation is money – there's less of it about. The dire employment prospects and shoddy wages awaiting young people once they're elbowed out of their classrooms don't make spending a particularly enjoyable exercise. In contrast to our parents, we're constantly being reminded of how overqualified and underachieving we are. After reading about 400 graduates applying for an internship, the effrontery of being expected to pay £4.50 for a watery beer in a badly decorated pub is enough to make you want to stay in. But since when has a low wage and bad interior design stopped teenagers from behaving badly? If you want to shoot Basics vodka out of an Evian bottle in a club bathroom, you can. You wouldn't be the first.
It seems too obvious, then, to blame the decline on a lack of money. Perhaps it's aspirational. Maybe my generation, jaded by endless reruns of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, is simply more concerned with saving. When landing a steady job in a profession you actually enjoy is harder than getting past £64,000, getting blind drunk every weekend seems like a pretty bleak, not to mention reductive, way to spend your time. We're not sleeping off our hangovers under our desks, calling our friends and giggling about how tired we are during lunch, as previous generations had the luxury of doing. Instead, we're waking up mid-afternoon, bleary eyed and unemployed, at our parents' house.It seems too obvious, then, to blame the decline on a lack of money. Perhaps it's aspirational. Maybe my generation, jaded by endless reruns of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, is simply more concerned with saving. When landing a steady job in a profession you actually enjoy is harder than getting past £64,000, getting blind drunk every weekend seems like a pretty bleak, not to mention reductive, way to spend your time. We're not sleeping off our hangovers under our desks, calling our friends and giggling about how tired we are during lunch, as previous generations had the luxury of doing. Instead, we're waking up mid-afternoon, bleary eyed and unemployed, at our parents' house.
Perhaps there's something much more obvious going on, something much more optimistic. Maybe today's young adults are just less bored, have more choices and so are less inclined to drink away the little money we have. Online communities have created an entirely new social environment, a totally non-exclusive place to bond globally with peers.Perhaps there's something much more obvious going on, something much more optimistic. Maybe today's young adults are just less bored, have more choices and so are less inclined to drink away the little money we have. Online communities have created an entirely new social environment, a totally non-exclusive place to bond globally with peers.
Interaction has changed drastically over the past decade and using alcohol as social lubricant seems pretty formulaic and unnecessary.Interaction has changed drastically over the past decade and using alcohol as social lubricant seems pretty formulaic and unnecessary.
Why spend your hard-earned cash in an overpriced bar in the hope of meeting somebody who makes you laugh when you can sit in your bedroom and laugh for free? Why have a beer with every single person in your lecture when you can use Facebook to work out who you have the most in common with, before you've even met?Why spend your hard-earned cash in an overpriced bar in the hope of meeting somebody who makes you laugh when you can sit in your bedroom and laugh for free? Why have a beer with every single person in your lecture when you can use Facebook to work out who you have the most in common with, before you've even met?
The internet is revolutionising how we develop social skills; it's changing how we interact with our immediate surroundings and it's gradually weaning young people off the social mores of their parents.The internet is revolutionising how we develop social skills; it's changing how we interact with our immediate surroundings and it's gradually weaning young people off the social mores of their parents.
However, while we might be drinking less, the shift in our priorities comes with a forfeit. Like alcohol, the internet is a stimulant and its constant stream of information is something that, over time, we've all become quietly reliant on. It would be equally tragic to see future generations abandon socialising altogether, to make room for infinite surfing of the web. Binge drinking is a dirty habit, but with internet addiction there's no bottom to the bottle.However, while we might be drinking less, the shift in our priorities comes with a forfeit. Like alcohol, the internet is a stimulant and its constant stream of information is something that, over time, we've all become quietly reliant on. It would be equally tragic to see future generations abandon socialising altogether, to make room for infinite surfing of the web. Binge drinking is a dirty habit, but with internet addiction there's no bottom to the bottle.
Bertie Brandes works for Vice magazineBertie Brandes works for Vice magazine
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