A disturbing online drinking game that is all the craze on Facebook has spurred a local man to take a different stance.
In recent weeks the game of “neknominating,” where teens and young adults shotgun beer, consume a number of shots and, in many cases, perform a variety of crazy stunts while drinking in excess — all caught on film — has been the rage on Facebook. Following the stunt, others are then neknominated to complete a similar or more elaborate challenge, and they have just 24 hours to finish the task.
Alcohol deaths are on the rise, with many health officials saying that those deaths are being fuelled by these online drinking games. The game is believed to have originated in Australia and has swept across Europe, the U.S. and now Canada.
According to a recent story in the Daily Telegraph in the U.K., deaths due to accidental alcohol poisoning in England and Wales have increased by more than 200 per cent in the last 10 years, with health experts in those countries saying it is likely due to these social media drinking games. It’s a potentially dangerous and lethal way to have some fun with your friends.
But when 20-year-old Jake Downie, a Sechelt man and graduate of Chatelech Secondary School, was nominated last week, he had a much different game in mind.
Hearing about the deaths and the tragic stories due to the neknominations, Downie decided that the ‘game’ of giving to others was a much better idea. So he went online to check out what food items our local food bank was in need of, collected a bunch of items and had his boss film him delivering the food to the food bank.
He then nominated a number of friends to do the same.
His video went viral pretty quickly with more than 170 shares and growing.
This is a tremendous example of turning something with possible negative consequences into a very positive endeavour. And it’s all from a young person in our community, someone who can have a tremendous influence on his peers.
This trend has caught on as a group of teens in Kelowna did the same last weekend, making a major donation to their local food bank. We hope that it continues.
If you must neknominate somebody, why not challenge them to volunteer in your community, go to a local elementary school and offer to spend some time reading to young people, help clean up a local beach or street corner, pick up some trash in the park? There are countless ways to give back and do some good rather than shotgunning a beer in front of a camera.
Good on ya, Jake. Thanks for standing up and doing something pretty cool.
