Another tragedy and chorus call for the Government
The nation is shocked by the death the young James Webster, caused in all probability by drinking a bottle of vodka taken from his grandmother’s cupboard.
It is an absolute tragedy and without doubt we all feel for his grieving mother, father and sister.
Another young person dies. This week it was alcohol poisoning, and a few weeks ago it was a car accident.
In these tragedies we have become used to the chorus urging the government to “do something”. Now it’s arguing the age of purchasing liquor; a few weeks ago it was about raising the driving age. And just last week, PR Matters featured Jane Dodd’s blog talking about how to encourage changes to teen drinking habits.
It appears that if we don’t know what to do as parents or as a community, there is blind faith that the Government will solve it. This has now become a reflex action. In the latest case, doctor and mother of a student at the same college as the dead boy Margaret Abercrombie says: “…people look to the Government for leadership and that’s wholly appropriate.” She goes on to say, if there were a broader change in our behaviour and attitude to alcohol that would reduce the costs to society and the likelihood of this occurring again. This is a young man dying of alcohol poisoning, but I seriously doubt any amount of legislation could have changed the outcome for this boy, because as far as I can ascertain, teenagers have always, and will continue to, do silly things.
Perhaps it’s worth reflecting that one reason for people’s lax behaviour and casual attitude may be that for too long we have relied on governments, not personal conviction, for our frameworks and moral compass. In reality it might be argued that the more our government takes control of our lives, the less responsibility we feel we need to take ourselves.
James Webster consciously did a very stupid thing. He took vodka without his grandmother knowing; we’re told he was intent on doing something “naughty” that night; and he wasn’t upfront with his parents.
The fact is that alcohol, in some form or other, has been part of the right of passage for young people. For young James it was a dead end.
Let’s stop looking to government to provide life’s behavioural and ethical framework.
Tags: alcohol issues, alcohol reform, Close Up, death of a young man, Kings College, Law Commission, personal responsibility, under-age drinking
May 12th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
A tragedy indeed, and one which as a mother of now thankfully ‘in their twenties’ children makes me think “there but for the grace of God go I”. No amount of legislation, no amount of raising the price or prohibition, will change what our young people have come to see as a rite of passage. We don’t need to make alcohol uncool – it’s a normal part of society, enjoyed responsibly by most of us. What we do need to make uncool is being ‘wasted’… just as we’re starting to make headway with persuading young people that smoking is very uncool, so too do we need to make being falling down drunk in front of your friends something that young people simply don’t want to be seen doing. Make it cool to have a drink, and still be able to function. Make it cool to have a drink and pass your car keys on to a completely sober driver – not because you can’t get the key into the ignition, but because you’re still sufficiently sober to know not to drive. Prohibition doesn’t solve anything – it just adds that sense of risk and excitement to engaging in illicit, and sadly sometime fatal, behaviour.
May 12th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
I agree 100%. Life in a straitjacket may be safer but it’s not worth living. I don’t drink or do drugs but I support others’ right to. My own vices fall more to fast motorcycles and flying aeroplanes that don’t have an engine. They’re trying to price the former off the road now, how long until gliding is next?
What about yours?
May 19th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Well done on taking a constructive and honest approach to this problem. Society must get rid of a “nanny” state mentality and take personal responsibility for one’s children. Speaking from a track record of one teenage girl still at home and three other children in their twenties, I can say that open and honest communication with one’s children plus the fact that you cannot be your child’s “mate” as well as a parent are the keys. Kids respond to loving boundaries and questions such as youth drinking should be discussed around the dinner table or in family conferences as we often had.