Binge Drinking in Britain

It may be frowned upon, but it has become so common that it is met with a mere shrug of the shoulders by most. Many city residents are tired of it but year after year it persists and next year is likely to be no different. Like the binge drinkers themselves, most people are aware that it comes down to personal choice and that change will only come from a conscious decision by the individual as opposed to any deterrents put in place by the authorities. But it is a problem getting worse rather than better, you only have to witness the weekend excess on any UK city centre street to see how much work is required to get a message across that seemingly, no-one wants to listen to. There are many questions to be answered about Britain’s booze culture and many consequences to be examined. With so few answers and the possible solutions being met with so much failure, it is understandable that people have grown weary of this debate. Nonetheless, it is important that we examine why this phenomenon continues to dominate cities in Britain and what we can learn from cities where it is not so prevalent.

Why in major cities, with a variety of social entertainment on offer, is booze the first port of call for the young people of our city? How responsible are the older generation? Isn’t it a case of young people just following our lead? Did we ever show them an alternative lifestyle? Or did they simply observe us heading to the pub on a Saturday night and assumed this was the norm and simply followed suit? If football is constantly linked with the pub, it is unsurprising that a young boy’s love of the game becomes connected with booze culture as he grows into a teenager. Art, theatre, comedy, music and books are not in short supply in this terrific city, yet most people only really get enthusiastic about them during the festival. The rest of the time, it is lager, loud music, late nights and hangovers that dominate people’s social life. Alcohol, clubs, food &taxis are expensive habits but regardless of what happens on a Saturday the same people will return and do exactly the same the following Saturday. The lack of logic seems irrelevant and pausing to think would result in people asking the kind of questions they have no answers for. So it best not to question and carry on paying scant regard to the feeling that there must be more to life than this.