Sooner stupid drinking game runs its course the better

TUESDAY MORNING EDITORIAL:

“Chug-a-lug chug-a-lug

Make ya wanna holla hidy hoe,

Burns your tummy don’t you know.”

(Lyrics by Roger Miller)

Any mature person has to think the latest campus “game” called Neknomination is just plain stupid. Yet it’s something of a phenomenon, racing from Australia to Europe to North America in viral fashion.

It goes like this. You chug a whole lot of booze in a short period of time while doing something inappropriate, like standing in the middle of a busy roadway or walking into a convenience store and taking off your clothes. One video shows a student grinding up bugs and a dead mouse in a blender along with his booze, then drinking it. 

Then you put it on Facebook or tweet it under the hashtag #neknomination, challenging someone you know to do you one better.

A look at some of the entries under the hashtag suggests at least as many people are warning against the practice as those who are celebrating it, but the latter numbers are still very significant.

Universities, including TRU, are warning their students not to do it. If they receive a challenge, ignore it. Reason is, it’s dangerous. So far, there are two confirmed deaths, one of a male student who drowned after playing the game. He jumped into a river after drinking heavily, maybe as part of the outrageous behaviour you’re supposed to commit as part of it.

Another was found dead in his home, possibly due to alcohol poisoning.

It’s risky and just dumb, but can anyone who was once young claim to have never done anything risky or dumb? We often say youth think they’re invulnerable, and it’s true. They do risky stuff because they don’t understand that it’s actually risky — they don’t believe it can hurt them. And they can’t resist a dare.

Just as social media expert Jesse Miller said a couple of weeks ago while in Kamloops to talk about the dangers of bad behaviour on social media, young people haven’t yet obtained a fully developed understanding of what’s appropriate and what’s not.

It’s the same with risk. Neknomination is a little different because inappropriate behaviour is the goal rather than being accidental.

So lectures and warnings about the dangers of Neknomination aren’t likely to curb it. Eventually, it will run its course, and our kids will move on to something else. Let’s just hope more of them don’t kill themselves in the meantime.