Last year there was a lot of negative attention concerning 'Carnage' after a drunken student urinated on a war memorial during the event.
It was because of this outrageous action that "several universities have banned the company that promotes student pub crawls" (The Daily Mail, 2009). But is it fair to place the entire blame on the company themselves? What about the student himself? Did he not have enough respect and common sense to know that urinating on a war memorial was going to do him no favours at all? (Image taken from The Daily Mail, 2009)Only last week, another incident occured related to the famous bar crawl. Yep, it was yet ANOTHER student caught on camera urinating on a war memorial, but this time it was a little closer to home - Southampton.
I understand why people may think it appropriate to place the blame on 'Carnage' because I do agree with the thought that it promotes binge drinking and getting far too drunk to function! However, I think that each individual is responsible for their actions. Whose to say that the student who urinated on the war memorial wouldn't have done so on any other ordinary night out when he was just as drunk? I myself have taken part in many 'Carnage' events during my time at university, and i'm not going to lie - myself and my friends end up probably more drunk than we intend to be! But none of us would ever dream of being disrespectful towards war heroes or acting offensive in anyway. I think it is down to individuals themselves, and it's not fair to blame a company who provides a fun and sociable night out for this sort of behaviour.
In this case I feel Carnage event organisers are to blame. The War Memorial in question was actually urinated on last year by a Carnage party-goer, it just never reached National Papers.
ReplyDeleteThis year the Carnage organisers vowed to have the memorial supervised at all times throughtout the night, to stop an incident like this from happening again. But lo and behold, along came a little student who decided 'oh here will do'. But where was anyone to stop him?
In defence of the kid that did it I know what it feels like to be THAT intoxicated and THAT desperate, but to do it on a War Memorial when there are plenty of other trees and bushes around, there's just no need. And as for the pap hiding round the corner reading to catch someone in the act....well that's just unlucky!
I have no interest in these big sponsored events and I don't get drunk all that often, but I can fully appreciate that people enjoy them and that getting drunk is fun, so good for them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can blame Carnage for capitalising on the fact that young people like to drink. I dont' think you can blame them for a guy urinating on a memorial either.
The thing that the government and the press seem to forget is that there are millions of students that go out, drink, have fun, and then get up the next day and go to class and do the work and enjoy their lives. You can't possibly be able to attend carnage AND go to the uni, of course.
The other thing to remember is that drinking, even to excess, doesn't destroy ALL reason. I've drunk to the point where I've been throwing up everywhere and I've never had the urge to urinate on a war memorial or go around looking for people to punch, just like the many thousands of students who attend Carnage every year and don't end up doing this stuff.
If you're the kind of person who's going to urinate on a war memorial purely becuase you are drunk, it's you that deserves to be punished, not everyone else having fun.
The company who organises the crawl must take some responsibility in the way the students behave. For example calling it 'Carnage' in a way promotes bad behaviour before its even started, its almost indirectly saying to the students its 'OK' to cause Carnage.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the urinated idiot, he only has himself to blame (or his parents for not bringing him up properly).