Why is drinking such a staple in the life of a college student?
- What activities should be promoted to students over drinking?
- Is it possible to have fun and make a lot of friends without drinking?
- What can be done to inform future college students of the negatives of drinking?
Thanks! Patrick (11:00 class)
11 comments:
I love this question because I've been wondering the same thing. I am the most sober person you'll meet. I don't go out and party because I see no reason for it. I don't use any sort of drugs to get high. I drink occasionally, but I don't drink beer and the only times I drink are with family (and by drink I mean like a margarita haha). So to answer your question I think it is very possible to have fun without drinking. College studnets can go to the movies, out to eat, to a ball game, or just hang out and do absolutely nothing. Alcohol never has to be involved to have fun. Students just think it's necessary, when it's truly not. How to tell students this, I'm not quite sure. Most of them are too stubborn to give a crap. These are their college years and they want to party- it's the reputation of a college kid. I guess colleges should really try to tell all students with advertising and their policies as best they can that drinking is not the way to go. There will always be the partiers, though.
Nigel Knop.
I definately don't think drinking is necessary to have a great time with friends! Colleges should try and offer more activities for their students and also get the word out how dangerous drinking and driving or just negative effects of drinking are. Possibly even give credit to students that attend events that are drug and alchohol FREE, or credit to students that help plan and come up with such events. Amy Marx
Well, the alcohol culture has been around a long time, and I doubt it's going to get better for a while. I think students today drink just a little more today than we did in the 1980s. The frat party system has been very strong here since the early 1970s, I think.
Drinking is fun, and when kids hit college they get their first taste of freedom and tend to take advantage, often to dangerous extremes. This happens with both alcohol and sex. I don't think there's much to be done about it because the more noise communities make about this issue, the more students resist and rebel, asserting their independence. They are ready to be grown up and to be treated that way, and along with that comes taking advantage of freedoms not offered to them before. I think it's human nature to push your limits, to find out what you can do, what you can get away with, and so much of that for college students involves drinking.
One thing that might be interesting is how many other cultures don't seem to be drawn into the drinking-to-excess, throwing-up, passing-out thing. Students who come here from Asia, for instance, seem to me more focused on their school work and less concerned about partying--but maybe I'm just stereotyping here.
I know in my own case that my family had always associated drinking with "the good life" (life of leisure)--we can't celebrate anything without having alcohol around. I guess we've been brainwashed somewhat by advertising, and I'm sure that happens with students, too.
To get your questions in a more specific way . . . I don't think it works for campuses to try to curb student drinking by offering other activities. If the activity is fun, students will do it, but they'll just bring their beer with them--or drink a bunch before the event. One thing that seems incompatible with drinking is sports, and you'd expect serious athletes to take better care of themselves and drink less, but in fact many college athletes tend to drink more than other students do.
It's certainly possible to have fun and make friends without drinking, but drinking adds an edge for some people. If they don't drink, they smoke something ot take other drugs, or they become sex addicts or turn to violent computer games or drive way too fast on country roads or whatever--there's nearly always a need to push limits in one way or another. The students who I've known who can avoid this are those who have something tragic happen to them . . . losing a parent early, losing a friend in a drunk-driving accident, having their own life endangered somehow. These students seem to get a more mature perspective on things earlier than others and avoid developing dangerous habits.
I do think a bunch of well-done films, both long ones and short ones that pop up on My Space or whereever, that show gory scenes from drunk-driving accidents would help some people drink and drive less. I think a lot of high schools are hitting this issue pretty hard through video, but I'm not sure what the results have been so far.
John Wentworth
Yes, I believe it is possible to have fun and make friends in college without drinking. However, alcohol can sometimes enhance the fun you are having. Like John said, once students get to college they experience a freedom that most of them never had. That freedom often leads to staying out all night and drinking heavily. As a college student, i do go out and drink on the weekends, but i limit myself to ONLY the weekends. I feel that as long as you dont do anything stupid (ex. drive) and keep the grades up in school, there is no problem with going out every now and then and drinking. I'm not really sure anything can be done about heavy drinking in college. It is something that will continue to happen. Maybe some sort of mandatory education on the dangers of binge drinking could help students be more careful.
I believe that anyone can go out with friends and have fun without drinking. People at the U of I may drink a lot because the campus is near many bars. Also when you turn 19, you can go into a bar. Even though there are bars, it doesn't mean to get as many drinks and get drunk. Universities should think of more activities that could be fun for everyone and not just certain people.
Katrina Burkhardt
Yes, I believe it is possible to have fun and make friends in college without drinking. However, alcohol can sometimes enhance the fun you are having. Like John said, once students get to college they experience a freedom that most of them never had. That freedom often leads to staying out all night and drinking heavily. As a college student, i do go out and drink on the weekends, but i limit myself to ONLY the weekends. I feel that as long as you dont do anything stupid (ex. drive) and keep the grades up in school, there is no problem with going out every now and then and drinking. I'm not really sure anything can be done about heavy drinking in college. It is something that will continue to happen. Maybe some sort of mandatory education on the dangers of binge drinking could help students be more careful. Matt Lindsay
I don't know why drinking is such a staple in the life of a college student, but I don't think that drinking alcohol, if that is what you are referring to, is the only populace that it affects. All teenagers and young adults indulge. Activities that should be promoted to students is making available other activities that would interest them. Yes, it is possible to have fun and make a lot of friends without drinking. You have to be true to yourself and accept yourself for who you are and surrounding yourself with people who accept you for who you are. Education is one way to inform college students of the negatives of drinking.
Linda Francis for the response above.
Being in a collegetown we are fully aware of the effects of college students drinking. Through my yearsin champaign i have watched the number of bars increase. Even with the large amount of bars on campus, lines form outside the bars. The lines have gotten longer and more severe throughout the years. This can mean one of two things: either more students are going to bars or more students are drinking. I think the latter is the case, more students are drinking Movies help the students make their decisions to drink,; the movies portray college life as a constant drinking party. These same movies are targeted towards kids younger than college students, therefore, when the kids get to college they re-enact the drinking and partying. they have lost the concept of why college students should drink. I believe that college students are under a lot of stress, whereas drinking occasionally can benefit them. Relieving stress by drinking only helps when you drink in moderation, however, students have resolved to drinking excessively too often. This is unhealthy for the students and even increases the stress. College students take advantage of being away from home by partying, but they are unsure on the dangers that face them. They want to get drunk as fast as possible, so they partake in drinking games. In these games there are rules on how much you drink and when you drink. They had to get drunk by abiding by the rules, is the mentality. the college students then have gotten too drunk too fast; they couldn't have possibly been able to enjoy it. Another problem is overdrinking,this can be witnessed by walking down campus sunday morning. Vomit is all over the ground that one must dodge itwhile walking. The city spent alot of money to "streetscape" Green street for studentsto initially vomit on, and tear up in a drunken rage. All this hasn't slowed the bar industry down. Bars continue to pop up all over town; as long as they can get a liquor license they will continue to pop up. The number one thing college students must learn is moderation. In moderationdrinking can still be healthy, however, when exceeded it becomes dangerous.
Aaron Peters
I think the reason for most people drinking is becasue it is something that a lot of college students like to do and it is against the law and people like to break the law anyway they can. also it makes for a lot of good stories to tell you friends, that might sound dumb but it is funny to compare all your drunken stories. Also there is not a whole lot of other things that a large group of people can relate and meet each other rather than drinking.
Phillip Poppe
Like what i've read from everyones comments...drinking is a big thing for college students...just the year before they came to college, they had to live at home and sneak drinking...now they can live on their own, drink all they want, come home drunk, not have to worry about being loud, wake up where ever they want...the worst place the better...if you wake up on the kitchen counter..your god..lol ,but anyway the college kids dont know how to act when they drink...i myself like to go out and have a few drinks, but i stay calm, dont over do it, and i've never woke up on that so called "kitchen counter"
Justin Crowley
Post a Comment