Address to Humanity
Speech on the underage drinking.
First draft.
Good morning. I am very pleased to stand here, in front of you, because I have something to say and it is extremely important. But before I start, I would like all of you to be honest and raise your hands if you have ever drank alcohol before you turned eighteen.
This means that we all have an inside prospective on the topic, because I am going to talk about the underage drinking. We are not unique here: according to the research that was done by the organization SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), 85% of Western society drank alcohol before they turned eighteen.
I consider it to be a big issue not because teenagers start harming their health too early, but because they can change their life to the worst forever. The majority of teenagers are irresponsible drinkers: they do not know their boundaries yet and test their organism on how much alcohol it can take. And those who end up falling asleep on the bathroom floor are actually quite lucky. Thousands of young people all around the world get arrested, become handicapped or even die in car accidents, because they find it interesting to break into a closed store to get candy bars in the middle of the night, or drive a car being almost unconscious.
The first thing to do to resolve this problem is to understand, why teenagers start drinking in the first place. They do not drink to leave their troubles behind, like alcoholics do. They do not drink because they like the taste of vodka. They drink, because it is fashionable. And people who determine this fashion are celebrities. They become role models and the teenagers are not able to find the difference between a good role model and a bad one, because the majority of celebrities give only bad examples. Under the pressure of media and nonverbal advices from famous people, kids make wrong decisions like in Solomon Arch group conformity experiment.
How often do we see our favorite celebrities going to clubs or parties and having a good time with a spectacular amount of alcohol and drugs? This news is all over the internet, magazines and newspapers. But only the glamorous part of it is shown. No one sees photos of Lindsey Lohan in the morning after. No one hears the voice in her head saying that it was one of her worst nights ever. However, what we hear is, for instance a song about a hangover. A singer Taio Cruz tells us in his song that he feels like a winner while having a hangover. It is an obvious lie, but teenagers believe it because of the colorful music video and the social pressure from other pop stars.
It leads us to the obvious conclusion: the propaganda of this kind of lifestyle has to be banned. No social commercial will affect as strong as a pop icon telling that it is not so great to be unconscious from drinking. People and especially the teenagers follow their idols and appreciate their advices more that parents’ or government’s. There are some examples in the history of popular culture, when fans have completely changed their beliefs only because their favorite singers did. For instance, when James Hetfield, a vocalist from the band Metallica announced that he no longer drinks, smokes or using drugs, millions of fans did exactly the same thing. From that moment, the amount of unfortunate accidents, crimes and acts of violence after Metallica’s concerts became surprisingly lower. Similar thing happened after the band Motley Crue released their book called “The Dirt”, where they wrote the truth about the rock and roll lifestyle. Another great example is the promotion of the Straight Edge lifestyle in punk rock culture. The members of bands highlight in their songs and interviews that they are against any kinds of drugs, and most of the people that relate themselves with this culture, who are traditionally teenagers, follow the bands in this belief.
I do not suggest that all the celebrities have to stop drinking just to prevent kid’s irresponsible use of alcohol. It is their right to do it, but if the celebrities are not able understand that it is the pure propaganda, it should be banned on a legal level. The media has to leave these parts of their life behind the curtain, because we are all humans and it is in our nature to follow the majority and people we like. Moreover, teenagers are not mature and strong enough to go against it, so why do not we help them and hide the possibility of wrong decisions?
First draft.
Good morning. I am very pleased to stand here, in front of you, because I have something to say and it is extremely important. But before I start, I would like all of you to be honest and raise your hands if you have ever drank alcohol before you turned eighteen.
This means that we all have an inside prospective on the topic, because I am going to talk about the underage drinking. We are not unique here: according to the research that was done by the organization SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), 85% of Western society drank alcohol before they turned eighteen.
I consider it to be a big issue not because teenagers start harming their health too early, but because they can change their life to the worst forever. The majority of teenagers are irresponsible drinkers: they do not know their boundaries yet and test their organism on how much alcohol it can take. And those who end up falling asleep on the bathroom floor are actually quite lucky. Thousands of young people all around the world get arrested, become handicapped or even die in car accidents, because they find it interesting to break into a closed store to get candy bars in the middle of the night, or drive a car being almost unconscious.
The first thing to do to resolve this problem is to understand, why teenagers start drinking in the first place. They do not drink to leave their troubles behind, like alcoholics do. They do not drink because they like the taste of vodka. They drink, because it is fashionable. And people who determine this fashion are celebrities. They become role models and the teenagers are not able to find the difference between a good role model and a bad one, because the majority of celebrities give only bad examples. Under the pressure of media and nonverbal advices from famous people, kids make wrong decisions like in Solomon Arch group conformity experiment.
How often do we see our favorite celebrities going to clubs or parties and having a good time with a spectacular amount of alcohol and drugs? This news is all over the internet, magazines and newspapers. But only the glamorous part of it is shown. No one sees photos of Lindsey Lohan in the morning after. No one hears the voice in her head saying that it was one of her worst nights ever. However, what we hear is, for instance a song about a hangover. A singer Taio Cruz tells us in his song that he feels like a winner while having a hangover. It is an obvious lie, but teenagers believe it because of the colorful music video and the social pressure from other pop stars.
It leads us to the obvious conclusion: the propaganda of this kind of lifestyle has to be banned. No social commercial will affect as strong as a pop icon telling that it is not so great to be unconscious from drinking. People and especially the teenagers follow their idols and appreciate their advices more that parents’ or government’s. There are some examples in the history of popular culture, when fans have completely changed their beliefs only because their favorite singers did. For instance, when James Hetfield, a vocalist from the band Metallica announced that he no longer drinks, smokes or using drugs, millions of fans did exactly the same thing. From that moment, the amount of unfortunate accidents, crimes and acts of violence after Metallica’s concerts became surprisingly lower. Similar thing happened after the band Motley Crue released their book called “The Dirt”, where they wrote the truth about the rock and roll lifestyle. Another great example is the promotion of the Straight Edge lifestyle in punk rock culture. The members of bands highlight in their songs and interviews that they are against any kinds of drugs, and most of the people that relate themselves with this culture, who are traditionally teenagers, follow the bands in this belief.
I do not suggest that all the celebrities have to stop drinking just to prevent kid’s irresponsible use of alcohol. It is their right to do it, but if the celebrities are not able understand that it is the pure propaganda, it should be banned on a legal level. The media has to leave these parts of their life behind the curtain, because we are all humans and it is in our nature to follow the majority and people we like. Moreover, teenagers are not mature and strong enough to go against it, so why do not we help them and hide the possibility of wrong decisions?