Will lowering the drinking age solve the problem of binge drinking among college students
Drinking on College Campuses
Beer bongs, keg stands, and a million new drinks to discover, these are what college is all about. First-year students are introduced to a whole new world of parties that last until 3 a.m. and drinking beer for the usual breakfast. The week consists of concentrating on school for about 4 days of the week and partying 3 days. The money that was supposed to go towards books and gas to get home has been hoarded for the latest beer run or was used to get into the bar.
This trend is getting into the habit of drinking as you enter college; it seems the two go hand in hand. It has become a rite of passage that weaved its way into the introduction of university life (National Institute, October 2002). Those students who never drank in high school seem to think drinking is suddenly okay when they start studying for their bachelor’s degree. This addition of responsibility is then balanced by the act of partying. It seems completely absurd that students choose to drink while investing around $20,000 a year in school.
It all starts at high school graduation. Drinking is suddenly endorsed, or protested less, by parents, coaches, adults, organizations, and businesses. When seniors in high school finally graduate, it is common for a party to be thrown in their honor. Some of these parties include alcohol, and we can be pretty sure it wasn’t bought by the graduate unless they flunked a few times and are of legal age. Parents, other adults, and older friends supply the liquor and beer for the underage partiers.
When the graduates make the next major step in their life and head for college, they are confronted with many opportunities to get hammered, sloshed, annihilated, drunk, inebriated, intoxicated, wasted, and totally smashed. Other college students are eager to help their young, new friends out by taking them for a trip to the liquor store. Since some bars are legal to those over the age of eighteen, it’s not a problem getting
Beer bongs, keg stands, and a million new drinks to discover, these are what college is all about. First-year students are introduced to a whole new world of parties that last until 3 a.m. and drinking beer for the usual breakfast. The week consists of concentrating on school for about 4 days of the week and partying 3 days. The money that was supposed to go towards books and gas to get home has been hoarded for the latest beer run or was used to get into the bar.
This trend is getting into the habit of drinking as you enter college; it seems the two go hand in hand. It has become a rite of passage that weaved its way into the introduction of university life (National Institute, October 2002). Those students who never drank in high school seem to think drinking is suddenly okay when they start studying for their bachelor’s degree. This addition of responsibility is then balanced by the act of partying. It seems completely absurd that students choose to drink while investing around $20,000 a year in school.
It all starts at high school graduation. Drinking is suddenly endorsed, or protested less, by parents, coaches, adults, organizations, and businesses. When seniors in high school finally graduate, it is common for a party to be thrown in their honor. Some of these parties include alcohol, and we can be pretty sure it wasn’t bought by the graduate unless they flunked a few times and are of legal age. Parents, other adults, and older friends supply the liquor and beer for the underage partiers.
When the graduates make the next major step in their life and head for college, they are confronted with many opportunities to get hammered, sloshed, annihilated, drunk, inebriated, intoxicated, wasted, and totally smashed. Other college students are eager to help their young, new friends out by taking them for a trip to the liquor store. Since some bars are legal to those over the age of eighteen, it’s not a problem getting
References: Center for Science in the Public Interest. (2000, March). Fact sheet: Binge drinking on college campuses. Retrieved March 17, 2004, from the World Wide Web: http://www.cspinet. org/booze/collfact1.htm. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2002, October). Alcohol Alert, 58. Retrieved March 17, 2004, from the World Wide Web: http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/ publications/aa58.htm. A Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking Consequences. (2002). Retrieved May 11, 2004, from the World Wide Web: http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/facts /snapshot.aspx.