History of alcohol use in South Africa
The history of alcohol dates back to South Africa`s history of Apartheid. In this era, the use of alcohol did not occur on a regular basis, but rather at communal and ceremonial functions (Clarke, 1999). Alcohol could not be easily accessed, especially by the black population. After the colonization of the British, laws were passed making it illegal for the black population to purchase, produce or consume liquor. (Clarke, 1999) It was only after 1962, when the production and consummation was made legal for all, did the rates of alcohol use and abuse increase (Clarke, 1999).This then manifested into the current rates of alcohol abuse, particularly exasperated through the increase of alcohol advertisements. Alcohol advertisements are currently regulated by the liquor Act 59 of 23, which is aimed at highlighting the guidelines of advertising in South Africa.
The current burden of alcohol use amongst the youth
The rate of drinking in South Africa is elevating drastically. Alcoholism among the youth is a great concern. According to the Medical Research Council , 12 % of adolescents initiated alcohol abuse at 13 years or less (Leane Rasoomar, 2012).There has been an increase of 9% (from 1998 to 2008) of binge drinking particularly among females (Leane Rasoomar, 2012). Furthermore, on average, an excess of 5 billion litres of alcohol is consumed annually in South Africa (Seggie, 2012) . According a World Health Organisation (WHO, 2011), the issue of alcohol abuse is not unique to South Africa, the 5 billion litres of alcohol consumption forms the highest capita consumption globally. The general perception and use of alcohol, among the youth specifically, is believed to be directly linked to alcohol...
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...issues, the ban of alcohol advertisements will therefore have a detrimental effect on the alcohol industry and South Africa`s economy.
Views of youth regarding the alcohol advertisements according to the Century Council, 73% of the youth said that alcohol campaigns are a major contributor to alcohol abuse (Century Council, 2007).
In summary, alcohol abuse is more prevalent in recent times and can be attributed to alcohol advertisements. These advertisements insidiously and inadvertently influence alcohol use and abuse by the youth. The ban of alcohol advertisements will alleviate the detrimental public health effects on South African youth. In contrast the alcohol industry argues that the ban will have a negative on the South African economic growth. The general global view of the youth regarding alcohol advertisements is that the campaigns encourage alcohol use.
high school students age 14 - 17, 60% of the students use alcohol once a week,
Alcohol plays a major role in society today. It is constantly being in our minds through advertisements, whether its commercials or
Alcohol prohibition was called “The Noble Experiment”. (Thornton) Prohibition of alcohol existed from 1920 to 1933. When the government approved the 18th amendment it caused crime rates to increase drastically because citizens thought it was their right to consume.
To make its point the article uses facts and statistics to prove that teenage drinking is a huge problem in the United States. We learn, "Beer is the alcoholic beverage of choice for kids, preferred by 27% of all children," and, "1.1 billion cans of beer and 300 million bottles of wine coolers were consumed by junior and senior high school students." The article also uses statistics to prove the unfortunate consequences of drinking and states, "In 1997, 3,336 drivers 15 to 20years old died, an additional 365,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes.
Every society has its own views on how the consumption of alcohol should be handled and regulated. Their differences create a trickle effect of how it is used, and is distinctive to that culture or society. Many cultures drinking habits go hand in hand with religion, and social customs. Drinking alcohol is in many cases a part of extensive learned tradition, where people pride themselves with their ability to hold their liquor. In countries where alcohol is part of the “norm”, the outcomes of drinking habits or the effects of alcohol are much different, “A population that drinks daily may have a high rate of cirrhosis and other medical problems but few accidents, fights, homicides, or other violent alcohol-associated conflicts; a population with predominantly binge drinking shows the opposite complex of drinking problems”#. It has been observed that cultures with rich traditions and acceptance of alcohol use tend to deal less with the typical alcohol related problems, compared to the cultures who treat alcohol as an escape or something that will make them better in the eyes of others. In these societies, like the U.S. alcohol hasn’t always been present and grown to be...
We are used to seeing advertisements promoting alcoholic drinks and the use and purchase of these. We can find these ads in the movie theaters, television, expressway, and many other places. Have you ever seen a mockery ad against a drink? Have you ever seen an anti-alcohol advertisement that advises you not to buy a product? This is the case with the brand of Absolute vodka. There is an anti-alcohol ad that mocks against this product. At first glance the ad seems to be trying to convince the audience to have awareness that drinking and driving could bring you to an "Absolute end”. After further analysis it provide statistics where car accidents are linked to alcohol, and how teenagers today are exposed and surrounded to alcoholic beverages before their legal age to drink.
Alcoholics that are trapped so deep in the spell of alcoholism are leaving a legacy behind for those who continue to make alcohol companies millions of dollars by ruining their lives, making the wrong investment every time they purchase a bottle of alcohol; to them an “alternative route” to mask any issues they might be encountering at a particular time in their lives, and to those alcohol-making companies they are walking fortunes—walking billboards. Advertisement ads for these products continue targeting not only the already alcoholics, but also targeting underage drinkers. These alcohol-making companies can argue differently and have sworn to not be so focused on targeting people under 21. “Alcohol advertisers have pledged to comply with self-regulatory codes designed to limit t...
Frey and Schonbeck explain that it is estimated that over 76 million people worldwide are affected by alcohol abuse or dependence. The chance of having an alcoholic in one’s life is very high. Children that grow up in an environment with an alcoholic may increase that child’s chance of becoming an alcoholic themselves. In the United States, the most commonly abused drug among youth is alcohol. Even though the legal drinking age is 21, nearly 20% of all alcohol consumed in the United States is by people under the legal age (83). In fact, when youth start drinking at social events in their teenage years, they are greatly increasing their risk of developing alcohol problems (85). Alcoholism can affect people of all ages. Furthermore, some experts try to differentiate between alcoholics and social drinkers. Typically, they base this off of five categories. Social drinkers do not drink alone. They consume minimal amounts of alcohol during social functions. Situational drinkers may not ever drink unless they are stressed out. These drinkers are more likely to drink by themselves. Problem drinkers can be described as a drinker that alcohol has caused problems in their life. However, they usually respond to advice given by others. Binge drinkers are out of control in their alcohol consumption. They may drink until they pass out or worse. Alcoholic drinkers have found that their lives have become unmanageable and that they are completely powerless over alcohol (84). Alcoholics should be cautious of their surroundings to prevent
The law on drinking in the UK has always been very clear. “If you’re under 18, it is against the law: for someone to sell you alcohol, to buy or try to buy alcohol, for an adult to buy or try to buy alcohol for you and to drink alcohol in licensed premises.” Breaking these laws can have serious consequences such as fines and imprisonment, however like with most laws people break them, ignoring the consequences of their actions. The drinking law is a regular law which is broken. A lot of people forget that it is illegal and can have major impacts on your life. Teenage alcoholism in today’s society is an extremely serious problem that needs to be addressed more. Alcohol, as many forget, is a drug that has a powerful addiction and can cause extreme consequences that could lead to death. This therefore is a major topic of discussion in the present day and everyone has their own opinions on this regardless of the law. I have decided to write my Extended Project on underage drinking because I think that it is a really interesting topic and almost everyone can relate to it. Furthermore it is constantly in the news and people are always talking about it and therefore it is an extremely important debate. Moreover, I did part of my English Language coursework on trying to persuade teenagers to not drink. This will help me with my essay as they both like, hence why I can use some sources and ideas for both. In this essay I’m going to discuss whether underage drinking in the UK is going to happen in the future and that there is no stopping it or if it may stop in the future. For part of my project I will carry out research. I will carry out a range of research methods which will include reading books, news articles, internet pages and watchin...
Although alcoholism is not necessarily constrained to one demographic, the prevalence of alcoholism, especially in underage drinkers, seems to be of growing concern. In the last five years alone, underage age drinking has seen a startling and rather significant increase. For example, in 2009, about 59.3% of high school seniors had consumed alcohol. The same poll, taken in 2014, showed that 65.7% had now participated in the consumption of alcohol, despite being underage (Whillenburg 3).
Hanson, David J. "History of Alcohol and Drinking around the World." WWW2 Webserver. Web. .
“Alcoholism” is a chronic disorder characterized by dependence on alcohol, repeated excessive use of alcoholic beverages, the development of withdrawal symptoms on reducing or ceasing intake, morbidity that may include cirrhosis of the liver, and decreased ability to function socially and vocationally (“Alcoholism”). Teens have dealt with alcohol and alcoholism for a long time. There are many reasons why teens get addicted to alcohol and many things that happen because of it. There are ways to get treatment. There are many things that teens can do themselves to avoid alcohol and there are many things we and our society can do to prevent teen’s access to alcohol. Peer pressure and teens access to alcohol can lead to the destruction of their lives, the lives of the people around them, and their relationships with the people around them. We need to take measures to prevent this from happening so that they have a chance to better our society, not worsen it.
It is unfortunate that many people within our society and worldwide suffers from the affects of alcohol addiction. There are many issues associated with this addiction and many times it’s not only the victim that deals with the addiction but also the people in close association with the individual. Alcohol addiction can afflict anyone and knows no limits of its damage that it can do to a person’s life or the people in their lives. Most importantly are the ones whom seek help for their addiction as it becomes a lifelong healing period for them. It has become clear that constant consumption of alcohol leads to addiction. It has also become clearer with the laws and policies that have been drawn up to combat drunk drivers that it is not a normal thing to do anymore as was thought to be normal in the late 60’s and early 70’s. This is not normal behaviour and it becomes clearer as the laws for drinking and driving is enforced by law enforcement officers. It is a duty for addiction workers to help in the aid of these problems and its laws and policies that help in putting a stop to some of the problems that arise from this addiction.
Looking back on our history, Alcohol exist in an immensely charming but dangerous way，we have struggled to understand and manage alcohol’s power. People general thinking that drinking alcohol beverage can inspire their enthusiasm, some artists use alcohol to gain inspiration, some soldiers use alcohol to make them valiant. Drinking alcohol beverage, like a tradition, has been carried out for thousands years to the recent day. But in today’s world, alcohol consumption is causing more serious problems than before, probably even counteract the benefits. This essay intends to discuss the problems that alcohol consumption could brings to us. Its main focus will be the alcohol abuse in teenagers、drank driving
Alcohol abuse is the most common problem, nowadays. In fact, majority of people drink alcohol repeatedly to the point where they have difficulty to stop. Statistics show that, as much as, “40% of college students report drinking five or more drinks in one episode” (Walters & Baer, 2006). Alcohol has become more popular over the years as advertisements, simultaneously with commercials of it, filled the media. It also is easily accessible and cheap in comparison to other psychoactive substances. On the other hand, alcohol safety awareness programs are barely noticeable. My research will present how alcohol and its abuse gets into people’s lives and how it influences their physical and mental health, as well as, social existence.