Re: be thankful for wisdom
I don't think that young people today are more foolish about alcohol than they were in the past. They may have readier access to things that don't mix well with alcohol, such as motor vehicles and absurd misconceptions about self-respect (not so sure about that latter) -- and yes, perhaps the power of social media to spread bad ideas. But the majority of young people have always lacked a sense of their own fragility, as well as good judgment. There's a backcountry saying, "Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment." Any hiker knows that while you can learn some things by rote, you really learn how to prevent blisters by getting a few, or how to guard hypothermia by making a bad clothing choice and getting chilled. That's human nature. It's to be expected that young people will lack good judgment because of their lack of experience, but in a world where most people are insulated from certain consequences by the convenient car, the heated house, the police presence, there are many adults with a similar lack.
It sounds callous, but the young people who witnessed the incident Ewen described now have several different kinds of experience. It remains to be seen if that will translate into good judgment, but I'd expect they'd do about as well as young people ever have (meaning, quite a few will now get it).
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