Generation+Why+Not?

**Name: Emily Fowler** **Student Number: 8281700** **Tutor: Katie Page** **Time: 11-12 Friday**

media type="custom" key="10993518" align="center"

**Artefact ** The artefact that has been chosen is the song on YouTube called Young, Wild and Free by Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg featuring Bruno Mars. The link is listed below. The song speaks about getting drunk, high and having fun being young. The chorus of the song, listed below, is basically telling people that they do not care about what people think because they are young, wild and free. The artist, Wiz Khalifa is in the Gen Y category and this song depicts exactly how some Gen Y people feel about life, especially people aged 16-24.

//Chorus: //

// “So what we get drunk, //

// So what we smoke weed, //

// We’re just having fun, //

// We don’t care who sees, //

// So what we go out, //

// That’s how it’s supposed to be. //

// Living young and wild and free.” //

**Public Health Issue ** Within Generation Y, there are many public health issues. The main issues represented by the artefact in question are alcohol abuse and use of illicit drugs i.e. marijuana (cannabis, weed, pot etc). A study was conducted about the mental health of teenagers in Australia who use cannabis (Rey, J.M. Sawyer, M.G. Raphael, B. Patton, G.C. Lynskey, M. 2002). Results showed that out of the 1261 male and females between the age of 13 and 17, 25% of them had smoked cannabis in their life Males were more likely to use it than females and the increase in age meant the likelihood of cannabis used increased (Rey, J.M. et al. 2002). Alcohol abuse has become a major issue in the past years. The Alcohol Consumption Patterns in Australian Teenagers research report (Department of Health and Ageing, 2004) states that alcohol consumption patterns in February 2004 recorded 88% of males and 61% of females aged 17, had consumed alcohol in the past 3 months. Generation Y has had a number of studies and survey conducted however drugs and alcohol stand out by far (King, E. Taylor, J. Carroll, T. 2004).

**Literature Review ** There are many surveys and research reports on substance abuse and alcohol abuse amongst Australian teenagers in the past 10 years. The Drug Strategy Branch of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing produced a report in 2005 depicting alcohol consumption within Australian Teenagers. The data was collected from schools in each State and Territory from government, Catholic and independent schools. There were 21,805 male and female students between the age of 12-17 from 376 school interviewed about the use of alcohol (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005).

The results showed that by the age of 14, 86% of students had tried alcohol and by the age of 17, 70% of the students had consumed alcohol within the months before answering the survey (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005). With children drinking at the age of 14 it is no wonder about the amount of alcohol abuse is continuing to rise as Generation Y continue to age. The Australian Bureau of Statistics states that when young people are intoxicated they are more likely to engage in risky behaviours such as driving, swimming, unwanted or unsafe sex and abuse (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004-05). With an overwhelming 48% of males and 30% of females aged over 14 consuming alcohol at a risky level in 2005, just emphasises the major mental health issue of alcohol abuse at such a young age which is encouraged in Wiz Khalifa’s song (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004-05).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">According to theorist, Robert Pihl, large amounts of alcohol consumption at a young age disrupts neural regions within the brain thus making it difficult to control an alcohol affected persons behaviour which then results in aggressive behaviour. This would then affect a person later in life with inability to control their behaviour while not under the influence of alcohol. This, according to Pihl, is how people lead to anger management problems later in life.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The study mentioned earlier about the use of cannabis describes the regularity of cannabis use within teenagers aged between 13 and 17 in Australia. The researchers stated that there was a definite trend in the ages that continued to use cannabis throughout their lives. It was found that 41% of 17 year old continued to use cannabis throughout their lives which was proved in a previous experiment (Rey, J.M. et al.). Furthermore, the amount of cannabis used by females has increased to 26% of females using it and 25% of males. It was previously researched that males used cannabis more than females but in recent years it has become more apparent within females perhaps by peer pressure r as research suggests that cannabis use has become more socially acceptable throughout recent years (Rey, J.M. et al.). This is demonstrated again by Wiz Khalifa’s song publicly displaying the fact that he smokes weed and it does not matter what people think. Generation Y has taken up this attitude and believes that they can smoke marijuana because it is socially acceptable these days rather than when Generation X was around where cannabis was not acceptable in a social situation.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Cannabis, like alcohol, leads to mental health issues for example depression and disruptive behavioural problems. The same researchers (Rey, J.M. et al.) suggested that depression is more likely to influence the use of cannabis to somehow “get away” from everything by smoking a joint. They state that the consumption of cannabis is associated with anxiety, depression and suicide attempts. It is not clear which comes first, the mental disorder or the cannabis smoking or whether the problems are a result of something else (Rey, J.M. et al.).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Australian Bureau of Statistics researched the amount of cannabis used in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in 2003. It was found by the ABS that 35% of males and 34% of females between the ages of 14-24 have used cannabis (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003). The amount of drug users just in this territory of Australia is eye-opening to the country and should not be taken lightly. The enforcement of the no drug policy should be taken up stronger in parliament. The ABS also recorded that in the three year span from 2004-06, 78 young people died because of the use of drugs which accounted for 6% of all deaths in people aged between 15-24 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004-06).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Drug and alcohol abuse are a huge part of Generation Y and is part of the reason they are seen as one of the worst generations yet. The use of cannabis amongst 14 year olds is astounding to say the least. The fact that 14 year olds have used cannabis and had regularly consumed alcohol is frightening.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Cultural Analysis ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Generation Y have become individualistic through things like alcohol and drugs. A good example of how individualistic generation Y have become is a poll conducted by UK researcher Michelle Harrison, who recorded that in 1997, 70% of voters opted for the community first response when electing Tony Blair as Prime Minister. The community first approach works as a forefront of community development to improve quality of life (Harrison, M. 2007). Four years ago, Tony Blair left office into a much more selfish world than when he went in with 52% of voters opting to look after themselves and not vote for the community first approach (Harrison, M. 2007). Generation Y has become more individualistic as drugs and alcohol has risen in popularity and have become more socially acceptable.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The movement of drugs like cannabis to being completely unacceptable in all groups or social events to becoming a casual, socially acceptable thing to do has created a generation that is slowly destroying themselves through drugs. The most commonly abused is alcohol. Alcohol is also the more socially acceptable between it and cannabis. As it is so much more socially acceptable and is consumed everywhere it is the easiest thing to abuse. There are more advertisements about alcohol than fruit and vegetables.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The group affected by alcohol abuse and cannabis is generation Y. They are the ones that have grown up with such an overwhelming influence towards the drug. The subject of alcohol and drug abuse is so important and so many more people should be aware of it because it kills and ruins lives. The ABS has recorded countless statistics on the amount of people suffering from drug and alcohol abuse throughout the last 10 years. If the community were more aware of the implications of drug abuse and alcoholism then the death toll would decrease dramatically. Everyone who uses cannabis is affected by it. There are no cases where people gain anything from smoking it. Public health experts should focus on explaining the damage of cannabis and alcoholism to teenagers in school more frequently and the police should crack down hard on the drugs and underage drinking.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Analysis of Artefact ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The song, Young, Wild and Free by Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg featuring Bruno Mars represents Generation Y in more ways than one. It blatantly states the fact that they are Young, wild and free to do whatever they like but the main point is drinking and the use of cannabis. They also speak of sexual pleasures but this is irrelevant in the case that is being presented. The lyrics of the song state that they smoke weed, party all night, drink and most of all they are having fun doing all this. Generation Y has this care free attitude when it comes to doing things their way. Generation Y is stereotyped as the laziest generation yet and this could possibly be true which is also demonstrated in this song. The song is a good case to identify the issue of binge drinking and alcohol abuse as well as the over use of cannabis amongst young people aged between 14 and 25 which is the major age of generation Y. The song is the perfect representation of Generation Y’s care for the rules and how they only care about themselves and are rather individualistic. Personally, the song means that Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg are those typical Gen Yers fronting up to the media and saying what they feel. The irony is that the featuring artist, Bruno Mars, was arrested for cocaine use in September 2010 after a concert. Bruno Mars falls into the Generation Y category.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">** References **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Rey, J.M. Sawyer, M.G. Raphael, B. Patton, G.C. Lynskey, M. (2002). Mental Health of Teenagers who use Cannabis. //The British Journal of Psychiatry, 180//, 216-221. doi: 10.1192/bjp.180.3.216 []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing. (2004) [|//Alcohol Consumption Patterns among Australian 15-17 year ols from 2000-2004.//] [|Retrieved from:] []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Australian Government, Drug Strategy Branch in the Department of Health and Ageing, (2005) //Australian secondary school students’ use of alcohol in 2005.// Retrieved from: []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2004-05) //Alcohol Consumption in Australia: A Snapshot 2004-05.// Retrieved from: []

=<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Giancola, P.R. (2005) Alcohol-Related Aggression during the College Years: Theories, Risk Factors and Policy Implications. //Department of Psychology, University of Kentuckey.// Retrieved from: [] =

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2003) //Cannabis used by one third of young people in the ACT.// Retrieved from: []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2004-06) //Risk taking by Young People,// Retrieved from: []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Ziegbe, M. (2010, October 2) Bruno Mars Charged With Felony Drug Possession, //MTV News,// Retrieved from: []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Harrison, M. (2007) The Times – London: //Gen Y speaks: It’s all me, me, me.// Retrieved from: []