Photo c/o of The Telegraph
Alcohol: Photo c/o Lancashire Police
The media has so far reported the deaths as being directly caused by the Neknominate drinking game. This perspective overlooks the already established binge drinking culture in Britain. That Neknominate alone is the cause of these deaths is misinformed, as there are many alcohol-related deaths in Britain daily. In 2011 alone, there were 8,748 alcohol-related deaths, the equivalent of 24 per day. More information can be found here.
Neknominate seems to be a symptom of the combination of social media and drinking culture in Britain, not an independent problem. This does not make it acceptable of course, as sharing drinking stunts among friends with the purpose of nominating another to do the same only exacerbates the issue. When a Neknominate video featuring a friend is watched, it seems like harmless fun. If you take a wider perspective the inherent problems of the craze are made clear. Social media is used by increasingly younger people, and for them to be exposed to such promotion of binge drinking is clearly a bad thing. Drink responsibly.
Get in touch with your own ‘Neknomination’ stories or opinions at spommu@gmail.com.
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