Social Media Impacting on Young People’s Attitudes to Drinking – drinkaware.ie

The increasing popularity of social media is impacting on young people’s attitudes to drinking and, in some cases, glorifying drunken behaviour.  That’s according to Fionnuala Sheehan, Chief Executive of drinkaware.ie, speaking today (13.10.10) at the launch of the 2010 / 2011 DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie competition.   

Now in its fourth year, DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie is a film and multimedia competition open to third-level students throughout Ireland.  It is sponsored by drinkaware.ie and organised by the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA).   “In recent years, we have noticed how the use of social media outlets are impacting on young people’s attitudes to drinking,” said Fionnuala Sheehan.  “The growing popularity of social networking, video sharing and publishing photos online means young people consider it normal to document their nights out and use social media to let their friends know what they’re up to.   

“Unfortunately, in some cases, this has led to a normalisation of drunken behaviour.  Some students find it amusing to post videos or photographs online of their own or others’ binge drinking, for example.  Others use social media outlets to brag about the amounts they are drinking on nights out.  There is almost a sense of competition around who can have the most shocking stories or photographs, or the most amusing videos.     

“We are concerned about trends such as these because, the more people are exposed to images of excessive drinking, the more they normalise such behaviour.  If you are in your late teens or early 20s, and your perception is that all your peers drink to excess and engage in anti-social behaviour, you may view this as acceptable, if not essential to fitting in.  What we are hoping to do with the DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie competition is to counteract this perception, and show young people it is possible to enjoy alcohol in a more responsible manner.” This year, DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie has a new multimedia category, which means students can submit not only short films as entries but also multimedia projects such as websites, interactive CD-Roms, gaming projects or mobile phone apps.  All entries must challenge the relationship between Irish culture and drinking; must be produced entirely by third-level students over the age of 18; and must be made specifically for DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie. 

 Winning entries will be chosen for their creativity; artistic and technical quality; and for the insight they offer into students’ attitudes to alcohol.  A total prize fund of €5,000 is up for grabs, and the competition will culminate in a screening and awards ceremony in spring 2011.   Commenting at the launch of DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie today, John Hurley, Director of Learning with The Digital Hub, said the competition was a chance for students with an interest in film and multimedia to start building links within those industries and establishing names for themselves. “We are delighted to introduce a multimedia category this year because it gives students the chance to use digital media tools in creative ways to challenge prevailing attitudes about drinking,” he said.  “Rather than glorifying drunkenness through mobile media tools and social networking sites, for example, they could look at how such sites and tools could be used to encourage responsible drinking. “DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie has been in existence for four years now and, every year, the competition has grown and attracted more and better quality entries. 

We have established a high-profile panel of judges and the awards ceremony each year includes a keynote address by an industry leader, so the competition serves a useful networking purpose for young people soon to be starting out in their careers.” Ken Wardrop, director of the award-winning feature film ‘His and Hers’, was on hand today to officially launch the 2010 / 2011 competition, and the judging panel this year includes: John Kelly, RTÉ and Lyric FM Presenter; Alicia McGivern, Head of Education at the Irish Film Institute; and Ross Whitaker, Commissioning Editor of Film Ireland.  Students now have four weeks to come up with film and multimedia ideas for DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie: the deadline for receipt of proposals is Thursday, 11th November 2010.  Teams that have submitted successful proposals will then have until 18th March 2011 to produce and submit their short films or multimedia projects. 

 DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie will culminate in a screening and awards ceremony in April 2011.  Further information and full guidelines for the competition are available at www.DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie

drinkaware.iedrinkaware.ie is a MEAS initiative.  MEAS (Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society Limited), a registered charity, was established in 2002 by the principal companies and trade organisations in the drinks industry to promote social responsibility within the industry and moderate consumption by those who choose to drink, in order to reduce alcohol abuse and related harm.  MEAS is committed to continuing and expanding its responsible drinking campaigns throughout 2010 and beyond.  MEAS has published a number of drinkaware.ie guides, including the essential ‘Festival Survival Guide’, ‘No Nonsense’ guide for students,  ‘Alcohol, Sport & You’, ‘Alcohol –A Guide for Parents’ and ‘Christmas Survival Guide’.  

All guides are available free for download from www.drinkaware.ie, alternatively printed booklets can be requested by phone on 01-6114811 or by emailing info@drinkaware.ie. www.drinkaware.ie  The Digital HubThe Digital Hub is an Irish Government initiative to create an international centre of excellence for knowledge, innovation and creativity focused on digital content and technology enterprises.  The core development of nine acres is located a 10-minute walk from the city centre within the historic Liberties area of Ireland’s capital city, Dublin. Over the next decade, this initiative will create a mixed-use development, consisting of enterprise, residential, retail, learning and civic space.  The project is managed by an Irish government agency, the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA).  There are now 90 companies and 750 people employed in The Digital Hub.   

Although essentially an enterprise project, The Digital Hub also has an urban regeneration remit.  As part of this remit, The Digital Hub delivers a number of learning projects through local schools and local community organisations.  www.thedigitalhub.com