(June 29, 2016 at 3:15 pm)Yeauxleaux Wrote: I think things are always more dangerous and happen more rampantly when they're stigmatised.
In The UK, we're prudish with alcohol and sex when it comes to teenagers. We basically flat tell teenagers "you must not drink! You must not have sex!" as if we think that's going to stop them.
What does a rebellious teenager do? They go binge drink among their own in a hidden dark corner of the park, and have sex with absolutely no knowledge of protection or consent. We have the highest teen binge drinking rates and teen STD rates in Western Europe, because we're incapable of talking to our kids about "taboo" things instead of educating them.
Besides, alcohol abuse is much, much more common amongst middle age middle class people than it is amongst teens.
Good to know that trends actually seem to suggest alcohol abuse, and indeed alcohol consumption per se amongst teens is falling. One of the universities I used to work at actually closed their union bar because of lack of demand. Figure that shit out, wouldn't have happened when I was an undergrad.