Unknominate: One jumps in front of a passing train drinking an unknown drink through a straw, another surfs while downing a beer, another defecates in a glass, which is then filled with beer and drinks (!) another downs his drink and jumps off a bridge to sea, another climbs a tree drinking from a different drink on each branch. There is no end to the videos that one can find on YouTube under the heading "neknominate", the new on-line drinking game [online game] that in recent months has been sweeping the USA and Britain (with reasonable fears that it will also reach our parts...).
Εν συντομία, οι παίκτες καλούνται να πιουν μονορούφι ένα αλκοολούχο ποτό, κάνοντας ταυτόχρονα κάτι επικίνδυνο, να βιντεοσκοπήσουν αυτήν την τρέλα και να την ανεβάσουν στο Ιντερνετ (κυρίως στο Facebook), αφού πρώτα προκαλέσουν άλλους two φίλους τους να κάνουν το ίδιο σε λιγότερο από 24 ώρες. Θυμίζει το δημοφιλές ice bucket challenge, μόνο που αντί οι χρήστες να λούζονται με τον κουβά, τον πίνουν, ενώ δεν γίνεται για κάποιον ευγενή σκοπό, όπως στην άλλη περίπτωση ήταν η χρηματοδότηση της έρευνας για το ALS (τη σπάνια ασθένεια από την οποία πάσχει ο Στίβεν Χόκινγκ). Αντίθετα, δημοσιεύματα συνδέουν το παιχνίδι με πέντε θανάτους ατόμων κάτω των 30 ετών σε Αγγλία και Ιρλανδία, μεταξύ των οποίων ενός εργαζομένου σε ξενοδοχείο στο Λονδίνο, που κατανάλωσε ένα μπουκάλι λευκό κρασί, ένα τέταρτο φιάλης ουίσκι, ένα μικρό μπουκάλι βότκα και ένα κουτάκι μπίρα.
Although drinking games, games involving the consumption of alcohol, are as old as man and alcohol, their spread in the age of social networks is almost uncontrollable. Neknominate started in Australia in early 2014 and very quickly via Facebook moved to countries with high rates of alcoholism. Almost simultaneously, another similar binge drinking game (Baijiu Challenge), in which users are also asked to reveal their feat online, became popular in China. However, when Facebook was asked not to allow the posting of videos and content in general with the hashtag #neknominate, the platform issued a statement that "we do not tolerate content that is directly harmful, such as bullying, but behavior that some may find offensive or controversial is not necessarily against our rules." However, they invited users not to hesitate to report posts on the platform that they consider to be inappropriate.
According to experts, the "disguise" of alcohol use in play can have very negative effects, especially among the young population. The data on the problematic consumption of the substance among children in our country are already worrying. According to WHERE, 30% of teenagers in Greece state that they drink an alcoholic beverage once or twice a week. The average age for boys to start drinking is 11 and for girls 13, while around 20% of teenagers admit to getting drunk more than three times in a year. In all three of the leading causes of death among 14-24 year olds, which are car accidents, suicides and murders, alcohol is highly involved.
The highest rates of frequent drinking (≥10 times) last month in pupils (13-19 years) are observed in the prefectures of Kastoria, Pieria, Evros, Halkidiki, Serres and Lesvos.
Source: kathimerini.gr
