Youth binge-drinking: Come on, how bad is it really?

By Belmont Lay

According to the top news item on The Sunday Times on 11 March, youngsters nowadays are a cackle of hedonistic and irresponsible drunkards who are also a nuisance to the public.

These youths often dress to the nines, go out to town, paint it red, puke all over and spend the night on the streets or in custody for touching other people's body parts without permission, or go home for some gentle thrusting -- if they're lucky.

Apparently, this phenomenon has become such an issue that older and more serious people with PhDs are on the case and they've even written an academic paper about it.

And the verdict of the degree-laden researchers? If you're young, you're twice as likely to commit binge-drinking.

Wow. That's as illuminating as saying that if you get older, your hair will turn whiter. Or more of your teeth will fall out.

But wait, you haven't yet heard what I believe will knock your socks off: this academic paper about youths getting sloshed stems from a $6.9 million Singapore Mental Health Study that saw 6,600 people aged 18 years and older interviewed for the first ever nationwide mental health census.

So, by now, the public sentiment should be fairly obvious. That's right, why should researchers should spend so much time writing papers that talk about obvious things when they can actually do more practical stuff?

Because really, what is the point of spending so much money to come to a conclusion that is already god-given?

What are we expecting young people to do? Abstain from life in general? Eat wholemeal bread, drink distilled water and meditate before hitting the sack by 9 p.m.?

Parenting failure is the cause?

So why can't there be other legitimate causes for the present perceived woes of alcohol-guzzling youngsters?

When people look at a problem such as binge drinking among youths, they automatically think that it has everything to do with the fault of those who are young and dumb.

But do people actually stop and consider that the binge drinking problem, or any other problem related to youths, stems from somewhere else?

Such as failed parenting, for example?

Because if parents got their act together, things would turn out great.

You want a classic example? Sure, here's one: Lee Kuan Yew was prime minister of Singapore. He raised his son right and he rightly became prime minster too.

All things considered, the question should then be whether it has become politically incorrect to go after people such as parents, when they have evidently failed to do their jobs.

How much time and money have researchers spent interrogating whether unfit parents are to blame?

If children are drinking at a younger age, why aren't the adults doing something about it at home then?

Is there a problem with calling a spade a spade?

Don't demonise youths

But herein lies the point of today's missive: what really irks me is the demonising of youths and the moral panic that the mainstream newspapers like to cause.

Because always remember, the same broad stroke used to paint the youths of today can be applied to the youths of yesteryear, who in all probability have turned out to be the tsk-tsking and tut-tutting high-horse-riding adults presently.

Two can always play the same game.

If youngsters these days really wanted to nitpick, they can assert correctly that the debauchery of youths now is not much compared to the type of crazy their parents, aunties and uncles got up to in their heyday.

Remember, back in the 1960s, when Singapore was still barely a country, do you know what exactly was the idea of entertainment and a spot of fun for the post-war baby boomers who were either teenagers or adults then?

Do you have any idea whatsoever what the 60s adolescent activities include?

Well, one of it was gathering arms, going ape and taking part in protests.

In the US, whoa -- those guys took it to a whole different level fuelled by a hippy-drug culture that saw smoking weed and taking part in peace demonstrations as regular past-times.

There you go. A broad stroke, but nonetheless, a fact. You can run this through using any of the usable history books and find out for yourselves.

To cut a long argument short, youths getting wasted now is, in fact, just their way of showing that they appreciate the present era of widespread peace and tranquility.

So, when you start thinking of things in these terms, you'd notice how mild-mannered and polite are the youngsters of today.

Things could be much worse if they weren't drinking.

Belmont Lay is one of the editors of New Nation, an online publication that is forever condemned to bring you three sides to any story.