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.
Featured image and gallery: Lucy Elson-Whittaker It’s that time of year again: Manchester Psych Fest returns with one of its toughest line-ups yet, forcing festivalgoers to make some difficult choices about where to spend their day. With so much packed across the city, sacrifices are inevitable. Racing across Manchester, we catch four standout sets spanning…
Featured image: Georgina Hurdsfield After the considerably grey weather of the weekend, Sunday morning started with a spell of glorious sunshine to wake the people of Leeds Festival, a spot of cheer going into the dreaded final day of the weekend. But, of course, it wouldn’t be a proper festival weekend without the flash downpours,…
Featured image: Henry Redcliffe Not to be outshined by the artists performing today, the rain makes its inevitable return to the skies of Yorkshire over Leeds Festival. With the downpours hardly taking a break, Saturday is the day for the indie-heads and brats, as two of the most anticipated acts of the weekend take the…
Featured image: Georgina Hurdsfield Despite the dreary weather forecast, it seems the explosive noise of the night before has blown away the expected torrential rain, as the sun fights through the clouds to shine over Leeds Festival on Friday. With the opening of the ‘other’ stages, the first double headliner, and a very special birthday,…
Leave a reply