Cheers! I'll Drink to That: Alcohol in the Media

Uhls, Yalda T. (2012, March 26) Cheers! What Kids Learn from the Media About Drinking. The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yalda-t-uhls/teen-drinking_b_1377355.html

It is true I have even noticed myself that there have been more references to drugs and alcohol through out our society (just take Madonna at Ultra). I think it is the combination of the peer pressures and the media glorifying the act of drinking that has influences these outstanding numbers of under aged drinkers. I think they should take the same view as they do with sex in the sense that, it is going to happen we should help people take precautions to avoid drinking too much or hurting themselves or others.

Those stats are incredibly alarming! I agree with your last paragraph. The stat says 50%, but a lot more individuals restrain from posting pictures, videos, posts, etc. pertaining to drinking, so that percentage could be even higher. Maybe the lyrics and TV shows featuring drinking is just a fad that will pass, but if it does, it won't pass anytime soon.

This post is very interesting, and those statistics are insane. I agree with what you have to say, and there are way more underage drinkers now then there were just years ago, but I wonder what it is due too? Could it be that we have an older drinking age than most places, and different than when most of our parents were young? Maybe if they changed the age or the education we receive (or don't receive) about the consumption of alcohol, then underage drinkers would change their ways or at least be safe about it.

I would like to compare the advertisements of alcohol sales from 1988 to the present. I predict we would see the target market shift from older adults in '88 to a younger audience now.

The raise in drinking rates from more than 100 years ago could be due to the higher availabiltiy of alcohol to younger people (despite the drinking age being 21, I have never had an issue acquiring alcohol on campus for instance). People should drink because they want to, not because others are doing it. The positives to drinking should be the reason, not their peers.

I have definitely noticed more references to alcohol and partying in pop culture. The past 5 or 6 years pop music has been very dance driven, that may explain the partying themes. I wonder if this attitude in our culture comes from the economic hardships the country has faced and people just want to "have fun", or if it's a reflection of the new generation's attitude?

I have also noticed the glorification of alcohol and drugs, specifically marijuana, in the media. I am an avid watcher of music videos and it is almost difficult with one that doesn't have either of those two things in it. What is especially interesting is that these images of people drinking are not in a negative light but always positive giving everyone viewing them a thumbs up to what these people are doing in their brains. To what extent do these images effect our minds.