Editorial

Binge drinking: its social cost

        Of the many binge drinker Filipinos, both males and females, 3.5 million of these people belong to the age group 10 to 19. This statistics point on the very young population who are already engaged or exposed to alcoholic drinking. The danger lies on being habitual to alcohol drinking spree beyond moderation and fall to drinking addiction which would adversely affect wellness and even career.

       

According to the Food and Nutrition Council Institute, the bulk of binge drinkers belong to the 20 to 29 age group, still belonging to the young population. A binge drinker takes five or more bottles of alcoholic beverages. A bottle may contain five or more alcohol content. Liquor has more alcohol content.

       

Social drinking, they say, especially among men, binds friendship and sociability among peers, if at all on occasions only and not that frequent that one could be absent for hours in the family. Alcoholic drinkers know the effect behind the limit dosage when one suffers the hang-over syndrome. Take note, intoxication has an effect on behaviorism when remorse comes the least wanted.

       

Worrisome is the age group 10-19 when these youngsters become gradual alcoholics and could no longer manage themselves later in life. Most likely, indulging in early alcoholic drinking spree could be a result of peer influence and social experimentation. Or these young people are exposed to drinking spree among adults in their homes and neighborhood. Other factors are associated with escape mechanisms but the result of which may get themselves entangled with juvenile delinquencies. Young as they are, it is most likely that the given pocket money are used to buy alcoholic products than wise spending preference.

       

Parents, guardians, and adults have to be watchful over the 10-19 age group as this is the range of youth sensitivities and vulnerability to vices if unguided. Elders would know if these young people have drunk and it is not too late to give them a piece of advise or encourage them to resort to a more productive and meaningful activities than frequent drinking spree. Adults in the family should act as good models in behavior so young people see the essence of vice-free personality.

       

Alcohol drinking is not at all bad if taken in moderation or engaging with it during social occasions. But addiction to it is a different story because one forgets about oneself and the family. Drunkenness and its effects to once life and others would later become a social problem. There are litanies of crime stories related to drunkenness. The local government of Davao City has passed an ordinance imposing a curfew hours on night spots in a bid to prevent intoxications and crime-related incidence.

       

So folks, learn the pyramid of alcoholic drinking and size up the numericals when the mind gets irrational as a result of alcohol intake. Is this case really true? “Kulang ang araw ko kung hindi naka-inom?”

       

Take this review of literature: one factor associated with tardiness in office work is drunkenness. And take not also that frequent tardiness is a cause of work termination and such behaviorism affects or negates the quality performance in work.