Australian youths are thinking twice about drinking on a regular basis. Alcohol price hikes and a steeper cost of living are making it even more difficult to booze up.
The younger generation of Australians do enjoy a good party or night out with friends, but some choose to abstain from getting a drop of alcohol into their system.
RMIT University student Christy Esler is one student who chose an alcohol-free lifestyle.
“I don’t drink soft drinks or anything along those lines so alcohol is pretty much out of the question for me,” she said.
“You could say it’s a lifestyle choice, but I just never really saw the point in drinking at parties or just in general.”
The no-alcohol alternative some choose contrasts sharply with the traditional Australian culture of having a drink with your mates.
“Most Australians tend to drink on almost every holiday or any spare chance they can get,” Esler said.
“The youths realise alcohol is incorporated so much into Australian adult culture that drinking became a norm here.”
RMIT University engineering student Bradley Garcia said having a drinking culture isn’t exactly a bad thing, but Australian drinkers should be responsible for their actions.
“We are very passionate about our drinking culture,” Garcia said. “It’s not something I see as negative as we do take pride in this culture which originates from other cultures, such as the Irish.”
“Yet there have been negative repercussions due to alcohol such as brawls and king hits in the past that caused death and injury,” he said. “That’s the part I dislike about having this culture.”
Many Australian young people enjoy some drinks during special events, rather than drinking on a regular basis.
Mai (surname withheld) is a student at RMIT University who enjoys a drink with her friends during occasional parties.
“It used to be more often,” she said. “But nowadays I only drink occasionally or only once a month at functions I go to.”
During their first year, university students have plenty of time to party and attend social gatherings, but Mai said it gets more difficult to maintain this as you grow older.
The main struggle faced by university students is the constant shortage of cash. Esler said there are better things to buy and save up for than alcohol.
“If you’re looking at a long-term goal, such as funding an trip overseas, saving for something like that is better than buying pricey alcohol in the short term.”
“You could also use the money for something more important, like university fees, standard grocery shopping and bills,” she added.
Mai, however, said while alcohol may be expensive, it’s worth the experience of a fun night.
Garcia said there’s a fair amount of ownership involved when consuming alcohol. “It’s a good pastime to do with friends,” he said, “but there is a limit and responsibility that people should take with drinking.”
“Take responsibility of your own drinking and the safety of others and it will turn into something fun to do with your mates.”
Interesting read. I want to add that theres currently a world-wide trend in the eastern hemisphere for drinking alcohol is trending down at the moment. Could be related to price hikes or taxes , an interesting comment was that it was tied in to the economy but these are all just speculations.
Now, theres an interesting point I like to bring up, we obviously have a drinking culture but do we also have a culture where the blame of alcohol related violence can be solely pinned mostly on the alcohol and not the individual? I have come to understand that whenever such a crime occurs, the person can plead to intoxication and negligence to reduce his charges.
Too often do we hear ” I have no idea what I was doing cause I was wasted/smashed/drunk/etc”.