Vodka and Coke Please.

It seems to me that today; young adults are unable to enjoy a drink without being frowned upon. There has been so much bad press about teen drinking especially, with the boozy breaks abroad and underage drinking but what is so wrong with a 19 year old university student enjoying a night out at a club that only students are able to get in?

I like to drink for many reasons, firstly, it brings everyone together – I wouldn’t have bonded with the people I live with and course mates if it wasn’t for the little bottle of vodka we all had in common. Secondly, it relaxes you – you’re less conscious about how you are coming across and just want to have fun. And lastly, I don’t get hangovers!

I can understand where all the controversy comes from though; being a student in a highly based student town I have witnessed it first hand. Don’t get me wrong, I can't judge them – I too have hugged the pavement on a night out thinking it was my best friend, but if it becomes a regular habit it can become a problem.

As a student, especially in Southampton, everyday is an opportunity to get drunk. I wake up with constant flyers being posted under my doors about drink offers and even come back from a night out with a handful of flyers I can’t help but accept. But drinking around three times a week does not make me an alcoholic, so can someone please tell my mum?

The older generations enjoy it too, my parents are at the pub at least twice a week for a good socialise, but can’t help but judge when I tell them that I’m going to get drunk with the girls over a few cocktails for the third time this week already and it’s only Thursday. It’s inevitable that I will go out when there is somewhere different that offers a pound a drink every night, I take it easy compared to some of the hardcore boozers I know. To be honest witnessing someone chucking their guts up in my kitchen sink is enough to put anyone off binge drinking – and using that sink ever again!

I suppose what I’m trying to get at is that, I enjoy a drink quite a few times a week, but that doesn’t mean I’m one of those out of control teenagers you catch on the television causing a riot, it’s not fair to associate all teenagers with that image!