Neknomination and teenage alcohol abuse

Not very long ago, drinking games were carried out by friends in bars or houses. Youngsters – especially young students – are infamous for playing drinking games designed to encourage more rapid drinking and intoxication; however, such games rarely got too out of hand, with the more sober friends looking out for the others.

Today there is a new trend: neknomination. This generally involves one friend daring another to drink alcohol – usually a pint of beer – in an outrageous manner while filming. It apparently started in the UK but has since spread to Australia, South Africa, Canada and Ireland. It was following the deaths of two people in Ireland that neknomination first hit the news headlines.

Neknomination was originally called neck and nominate. The game would involve ‘necking’ an alcoholic drink while being filmed and then nominating a friend to do the same within 24 hours.

More recently, youngsters have started nominating stronger drinks such as vodka; in one reported case, a whole bottle of wine was nominated. The new trend is also to drink in obscure or remote places.

Following the death of 19-year-old Jonny Byrne from Leighlinbridge in Ireland, Irish minister Pat Rabbitte has demanded that websites and social media pages associated with neknomination should be removed.

The internet creates a sense of anonymity online and this makes people more likely to agree to dares than they would under normal circumstances.

Alcohol Action has warned about the craze, pointing out that “drinking large volumes of alcohol in a short period of time can have very real consequences”.