What adults and children see on television serves as a model for their behavior. Scenes such as these contribute to social norms concerning what constitutes acceptable and desirable behavior. If viewers are exposed on TV to unrealistically high levels of heavy drinking, they might come to identify with the heavy TV drinkers and increase their own consumption levels.
Changing the way in which alcohol consumption is portrayed on television and in the movies might contribute to the prevention of alcoholism.
Adults and children watch television several hours each day.
How does the depiction of alcohol's use on TV influence the public's concept of how much drinking is acceptable or desirable?
There is ample evidence of the influential role the mass media play in influencing behavioral patterns and life styles in general and alcohol usage in particular.
If some of the following suggestions were adopted by the produce rs of television shows , they might contribute to the prevention of alcohol consumption levels that are self-defeating and that pose community problems.
1. Try not to glamorize the drinking or serving of alcohol as a sophisticated or an adult pursuit. 2. Avoid showing the use of alcohol in those cases in which another beverage might be easily and fittingly substituted . 3. Try not to show drinking alcohol as an activity that is so "normal" that everyone must indulge. Allow characters a chance to refuse an alcoholic drink by including nonalcoholic alternatives. 4. Try not to show excessive drinking. 5. Demonstrate that there are no miraculous recoveries from alcoholism; normally it is a most difficult task. 6. Don't associate drinking alcohol with "macho" pursuits in such a way that heavy drinking is a requirement for proving one's self as a man. 7. Portray the reaction of others to heavy alcohol drinking, especially when it may be a criticism.