Taylor Hileman
English Composition 2
Professor Hammett
Binge Drinking (Absurdity)
Project 2
12/01/2023
1000-1400 words
Binge Drinking (Absurd Point of View)
Binge drinking is just (harmless fun) right? As long as you’re not hurting anyone then what’s the issue, right? All these things are said by people who are in fact avid binge drinkers. Having one or two drinks never hurt anyone, until one or two turned into ten or twelve, to fifteen, to an entire twenty-four pack. Now if you’re all fine and dandy with killing yourself by alcohol poisoning, or even worse in a tragic car accident caused by stupidity due to your blood alcohol level, then maybe this writing isn’t for you.
You don’t think of people really dying of having an alcohol problem, but it happens a lot more than you think, and not just to people who don’t have good lives, but to people who quite literally couldn’t have a want in the world. Hank Williams for example, hemorrhaged to death by alcoholism at the ripe age of twenty-nine. (Schafer Dec. 23). Imagine what else that man would have accomplished for the music industry if he hadn't passed away so young. Another is Amy Winehouse, she passed away of alcohol poisoning, her blood alcohol limit was 5 times the legal limit. She even said “I don’t want to die” but when you’re that deep in alcohol to the point where you can’t even tell if it’s water or not, you’re probably not going to stop until you’re unfortunately dead, or have fallen asleep. Long story short, people of all kinds die from alcohol poisoning, and I for one think we need to make a change so that this doesn’t happen anymore.
I grew up in an extremely small town, the population being a bit less than three hundred people. Everybody knows each other and their families. Growing up in such a small town, you definitely have your cliques of people that you should, and definitely shouldn’t be seen talking to. There are two people in particular that if you’re seen talking to them, it automatically causes some kind of drama. These two people are older men, and they have a terrible drinking problem. Behind the terrible drinking problem. I mean drinking about half a bottle of Jack and a thirty pack deep at 11AM. So A They’re not very nice either, very violent and erratic behavior, and people say that they were really nice men before they started drinking heavily. Alcohol can change a person's life, and it has never been for the better. Get a hold of your life and your drinking problem while you still have the chance.
The article “Binge Drinking: A Confused Concept and its Contemporary History” shows that there are two concepts in binge drinking. The first is “a pattern of drinking that occurs over an extended period (usually several days) set aside for this purpose”. (Berridge Dec. 2009). The article states that this is the classic definition of binge drinking associated with clinical definitions such as alcoholism. Secondly, the article states that “binge drinking has come to be used to describe a single drinking session leading to intoxication, often measured as the consumption of more than a specific number of drinks on one occasion, often by young people”. (Berridge Dec. 2009). Which is just showing that people that binge drink are getting younger and younger, meaning that the next generation of people will more than likely become adolescent alcoholics who spend a majority of their money at the liquor store and/or local pub. This is something that is entirely preventable if something is to be done on the matter. It can be mandated that people are no longer selling alcohol to people underage for starters. Then, we can try to get these people to have hobbies, join clubs, and instead of going out after a long day at work, maybe just stay home and watch a movie with the family. Bottom line is that we need to be aware of our limits, find an accountability partner, make them keep tabs on you so that if you slip up, someone is there to make sure that you did.
Most people will think “oh drinking wouldn’t hurt you”, “one drink won’t hurt, come on live a little”. This is until you’re talking to the person that watched his dad drink himself to death, or watched his parents split up due to alcoholism, or maybe they didn’t have hot water or electricity because all the money that they had for it went right into a liquor store for that bottle of that liquor that goes down “so smooth”. Alcoholism is no joke, and shouldn’t peer pressure someone into drinking until you know they’re comfortable doing it. Although, you really shouldn’t do it at all. Most people don't look for a bottle to comfort themselves, or to have fun. Some people would rather read a book or watch their comfort movie or tv show. Maybe do these activities with them instead of spending $20+ on alcohol that will more than likely leave you wishing you had never opened the bottle, the next morning.
Teenagers are more likely to be harmed by binge drinking because their bodies and brains are more susceptible to not knowing how to make those decisions. A brain does not fully develop until you’re twenty-five years old, thus making it possible for someone who is younger to pursue a life in binge drinking, because of the fact that their brain has made it “normal” for them to be doing such. There are many risks that a teen may face when binge drinking such as: Alcohol poisoning (the most common), Cancer of the mouth and throat, depression and/or suicidal thoughts, liver cirrhosis and heart disease, engaging in unprotected sex, physical and sexual assault, bad behavior, potential use of drugs, falling grades, brain not fully developing, among the other things that can even be as bad as death depending on what the alcohol is making you impulsively do. This is why when you see teens drinking, or are aware of what they are doing we don’t need to just assume that it’s okay and that all kids do it, we need to put a stop to it to make sure that they know what they’re doing is potentially hurting their bodies and their futures.
Overall, I think that we have probably come to the conclusion that binge drinking is terrible and definitely life threatening to say the least. If you are or know someone who is binge drinking and want to help them or help yourself stop and do the better thing for yourself, then go to the website SAMHSA.gov and get the help that you need and deserve. Everyone deserves a second chance at a healthy happy life without an addiction that will hurt you. Go to alcoholics anonymous meetings, you can look them up online or in a phone book, any and everyone is welcome. Say your serenity prayer, get that one day sober chip, and go on from there. It is up to you to change your life. If you don’t change it, binge drinking will have no problem doing it for you, and it won't be in your favor.
References
Berridge, Virginia, et al. “Binge Drinking: A Confused Concept and Its Contemporary History.” Social History of Medicine, Oxford University Press, Dec. 2009, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781734/.
Capatides, Christina a. “From Binge Drinking to Blacking out, the Disturbing Epidemic Putting America’s Kids in Danger.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 5 Sept. 2019, www.cbsnews.com/news/binge-drinking-blacking-out-alcohol-culture-threatening-americas-kids-cbsn-originals/.
Guise, Jennifer M. F. “Binge Drinking? It’s Good, It's Harmless Fun’: A Disclosure Analysis of Accounts of Female Undergraduate Drinking in Scotland.” Oxford Academic, Health Education Research , 4 Aug. 2007, academic.oup.com/her/article/22/6/895/644462.
. n/a, Jane. “Binge Drinking amongst Teenagers: How First Aid Helps.” American CPR Care Association, 25 Sep. 2023, cprcare.com/binge-drinking-amongst-teenagers/?utm_source=bing&utm_campaign=638302605&utm_medium=ad&utm_content=&utm_term=cprcare&msclkid.
Shafer, Steve. “Celebrities Who Died of Alcoholism.” Ranker, 14 June 2019, www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-alcoholism/sirsinister. Accessed 06 Dec. 2023.
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