To drink: to take water or other liquid into the mouth and swallow it. Simple enough, I would say. But, a simple nondescript verb has now taken on a specific function. That function is alcohol. Alcohol is now drinking. I can’t remember the last time I heard someone say “drink” by itself and it didn’t refer to alcohol.
Now, I am not saying it is an enormous catastrophe that this happened. It is a natural progression of societal norms. Words change their meaning over time.The saying “Do you drink?” has now become commonplace in the vernacular of all ages, young and old.
Society has its changes. It was a fallacy in the 1920’s for a girl to have a dress that didn’t go past her knees. Five years ago, people may have actually felt they had actual privacy online (thank you Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg for changing that).
The thing is societal changes aren’t always good. Not to say that the phrase is even a consequence of Generation X society; it could have started before then. All I know is that it has amplified substantially with the Generation X personality.
I hear it all the time around school, and I even hear teachers say it to students. Does that not bother anyone else? Does it not bother anyone else that underage drinking is discussed so openly with a supposed authority figure?
I know we have programs that go and talk to kids about drinking. I know we have people come in and talk about the effects of alcohol and drunk driving. I know we have the DFC and Peer Teaching to supposedly give speeches to the younger kids, but can we start being honest with ourselves, please? Students see that as a free period for no notes, no work, and maybe a nap here or there.
Oh, but the people in those programs don’t drink, right? That is like saying nobody in our school cheats, even though they sign an academic honesty form.
Society has taken an extremely lax stance to this problem. According to a study done by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 27.5% of kids aged 15-17 currently “drink”, which they track as at least one drink in the last month. Not to mention the fact that they estimate 50% of teens have had a drink of alcohol by the tender age of 15, that’s a freshmen, ladies and gentlemen.
Along with that stat, the study showed that 17.5% of kids of the same age are considered “heavy users”, meaning that they have had “five or more drinks on the same occasion (i.e., at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other) on at least 1 day in the past 30 days.”
Oh, and let’s not forget what alcohol actually is. Alcohol is a drug, just like marijuana and just like tobacco.. Yes, believe it or not, alcohol is a drug, addictive, deceptive, and detrimental to your health.
As I have been writing this, it has occurred to me that alcohol isn’t an issue at all, really. No, only 5% of kids 15-17 have bought alcohol on their own even though the the law says you can’t buy alcohol until you’re 21.
As you are reading this, please don’t take this as a verbal attack on students or parents or law enforcement. That isn’t what it is at all. I am not saying that I haven’t done any of this. It is an attack on the society we live in today, the society that lets this problem get worse.
Don’t take it as a full on assault, either. It is more of a warning march. It is a wake up call for society, only take it as such. I am not saying you personally need to stop, I honestly couldn’t care less. You just need to keep in mind the societal norms of today and how they will affect our future children, our future grandchildren, and our future world.