Admissions 101: College Admissions Advice From Jay Mathews

Dealing With the College Drinking Culture

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Dealing With the College Drinking Culture

posted at 2/17/2009 2:10 PM EST

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Jay_Mathews

First post: 5/21/2007
Last post: 11/19/2009
Total posts: 269

I received recently a press release about a speech for UVA parents on how their children can deal with the college drinking culture. The speech was going to include audience reaction, gathered by electronic devices that allowed parents to register their true feelings without actually saying anything that they with which they might be publicly identified. I think the weekend binge culture is one of the worst things about American higher education. I have no clue what to do about it, but would love some ideas. Has anyone found a college that has made strides in the area, and has been able to communicate its policies clearly to students and parents in the admission process?

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posted at 2/17/2009 2:23 PM EST

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Ironically, I pulled my own Facebook page down a few weeks ago. I just had this funny feeling about it. I get those, you know. ;-)

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Re: Dealing With the College Drinking Culture

posted at 2/17/2009 3:38 PM EST

Hobacks70

First post: 2/17/2009
Last post: 2/17/2009
Total posts: 2

Replying to:

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Re: Dealing With the College Drinking Culture

posted at 2/17/2009 3:43 PM EST

Hobacks70

First post: 2/17/2009
Last post: 2/17/2009
Total posts: 2

Lower the drinking age to 16;let children learn how/what to drink at home; therefore remove the "secrecy" of kids drinking; spend time/money on creating mechanisms for kids to get home safely rather than wasting money on trying to keep them from drinking. Thus, drinking is "no big deal" once in college--no need to binge. It works for US and other kids in Europe.

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Re: Dealing With the College Drinking Culture

posted at 2/17/2009 4:08 PM EST

KeyConcepts

First post: 9/30/2008
Last post: 11/6/2009
Total posts: 4

Replying to:

In fact the research does not support your contention. French 16 y.o.s are binge drinking at higher rates than US 16 yo's. All European countries have as high if not higher alcoholism rates as we do in the US. A variety of studies indicate that high school drinking patterns follow students to college and 75% of college binge drinkers were h.s. binge drinkers.

For more info see http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/underagedrinking/calltoaction.pdf

http://www.cspinet.org/booze/FactSheets/0311CollegeStudents.pdf

www.KeyConceptsForTeens.com

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College drinking culture

posted at 2/17/2009 4:54 PM EST

leslie5

First post: 2/17/2009
Last post: 2/17/2009
Total posts: 1

Alcohol has become less expensive over the past couple of decades. Students typically are on limited incomes and so are very sensitive to price. We should use taxation to limit consumption.

The same should be done with tobacco products, gasoline, etc. That's the way to modify behavior.

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College drinking culture

posted at 2/17/2009 5:04 PM EST

John9826

First post: 2/17/2009
Last post: 2/17/2009
Total posts: 2

Extensive discussion on the subject here:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/600887-any-other-parents-sick-all-drinking-schools.html

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I sure wouldn't outright legalize alcohol at 16

posted at 2/17/2009 5:14 PM EST

newageblues

First post: 4/3/2008
Last post: 7/2/2009
Total posts: 23

but the current system is absurd, with young adults supposed to completely abstain until they are 21, and then the spigot opens full tap. Shouldn't there be some kind of transition to adult privileges and responsibilities?

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Don't make rules - teach responsibility

posted at 2/17/2009 5:17 PM EST

JoeMN

First post: 2/6/2008
Last post: 6/17/2009
Total posts: 12

I don't have an answer for you, but offer a perspective:

I went to college on a "dry campus." This is an obvious misnomer, as we drank all the time. The problem was the policy attempted (and still does for current students) to shame us if we drank or wanted to. (Yes, it's also a college of the church.)

So, when we did want to drink we had to do it in secret. In dorm rooms, in the bowels of the library, in academic buildings in the middle of the night, in the woods, off-campus, or--irony be forgiven--the other college in town.

To be caught was to be dragged in front of a committee of peers, Resident Assistants, and the college substance abuse program administrator, state your case, and receive your sentence. This was usually some type of campus community service and a session with the substance abuse guy (who basically said be careful, know what's safe and resources for help, and let's watch Bill Cosby talk about how stupid drunk people are). Needless to say, it wasn't much of a deterrent.

Having some extended family with history of substance abuse, there was never much conversation in my youth about drinking, other than not to, ever. What's the first thing I did when I was old enough to figure it out? Duh.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun, a lot of closet binges (which I would argue is inherently MORE dangerous), and have grown up enough to be responsible and understand what I get myself into.

I still binge sometimes with friends, but that's because we are good during the week. Work hard, play hard, and watch out for each other.

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College drinking culture

posted at 2/17/2009 5:28 PM EST

swilkins1

First post: 12/12/2008
Last post: 3/23/2009
Total posts: 3

To the moderator: If your looking for a school that parents can send their kids to that does not have a drinking problem, try Brigham Young (BYU). There are three campuses: Utah, Idaho, and Hawaii with respective student bodies of 30,000; 12,000; and 2,500. If I'm not mistaken, it has been voted the number one stone cold campus in the nation for the last several years. As a graduate of BYU myself, I found my time there quite enjoyable. Most students are very amiable and the campus (Utah) is absolutely beautiful. Of course, you will have to deal with a fairly unique culture--which includes a strong discouragement of pre-marital sex (probably an appeal for worried parents)--that partly stems from most students being Mormon. Compared with the positives, however, I found that it wasn't really an issue.

I agree with leslie5 in that the answer for other universities with no religious background is to increase the alcohol taxes. An added benefit: as a medical student at Johns Hopkins University, I am aware of the well established link between higher alcohol taxes and lower rates of gonorrhea.

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No Answers

posted at 2/17/2009 5:44 PM EST

patrickmattimore1

First post: 6/12/2007
Last post: 11/18/2009
Total posts: 446

No answers but some thoughts...

http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2004/4/2/formerCollegeBingedrinkerOffersHisPearlsOfWisdomToStudents

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Talking to kids

posted at 2/17/2009 5:45 PM EST

madlyf

First post: 2/17/2009
Last post: 7/30/2009
Total posts: 2

Like most things, if your kid gets to college with no clear idea how you feel about an issue, it's too late to influence their behavior. My daughter and I, she's now 16, have ongoing discussions about sex, drugs and alcohol use. Unlike the previous poster, we lost a family member to alcohol abuse and instead of not talking about it we do so all the time.
She has refrained from drinking with her friends, and has instead observed the effects on them when they drink. She has seen me, and others, have a glass of wine with dinner and suffer no ill effects. We both watch in dismay when people around us drink too much in our presence, and we remove ourselves from those situations when possible and express our dismay in appropriate ways afterward. I hope this is enough to help her handle situations she runs into in college. I can't do anything about the fact that she also has to avoid someone else's drunken kid both in her dorms and on the roads.

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Some helpful links

posted at 2/17/2009 5:53 PM EST

John9826

First post: 2/17/2009
Last post: 2/17/2009
Total posts: 2

Middlebury's president criticizes the "work hard play hard" euphemism

http://www.middlebury.edu/about/president/addresses/baccalaureate_2008.htm

Link to the Gordie foundation:

http://www.gordie.org/home.aspx

Harvard School of Public Health Study, which finds that alcohol abuse is more prevalent where there is a large Greek population, rural location (especially northeast), emphasis on athletics, and upper middle class white students.

http://alcoholism.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas

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Everything in Moderation

posted at 2/17/2009 6:27 PM EST

celiamfd

First post: 2/17/2009
Last post: 2/17/2009
Total posts: 1

As a recent college grad and the child of parents who raised me to be independent, responsible and treated me with trust and respect I believe there are serious flaws in the way many Americans treat drinking.

Of my peers, those who did the most binge drinking in college and high school for that matter were the ones who came from households with strict "absolutely no drinking underage ever" policy. These kids watched their parents drink and then were told they were not allowed to. This seems like an obvious mistake - if you tell a teenager not to do something they are going to want to do it even more.

My parents and the parents of many of my friends allowed their children to drink small amounts at family gatherings from the early teen years. I saw my parents drink responsibly and they showed me how to do the same. I'm not saying that I did not have binge nights in college. I did. However, my binge nights were nothing compared to those of my friends coming from "no drinking for you young lady" households.

Some colleges have joined together to fight the 21 age minimum for legal drinking - acknowledging that there is a flaw in the current system and attempting to find ways to curb binge drinking. Many countries have a drinking age of 18 - whats so wrong with that?

Colleges often adopt policies which make sure students get home safely from their evenings out by turning a blind eye to underage drinking. They simultaneously discourage underage drinking and have policies in place for students with get caught drinking in places like freshman dorms. My college's policy was nicknamed "see it, smell it, hear it" and those categories were the only way a student would be cited for underage drinking. It worked well.

To put it this way - if prohibition didn't work on adults, why do people think telling teens not to drink at all will actually stop them from binging?

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University students and bankers team up to help local high schoolers

posted at 2/17/2009 6:57 PM EST

bkelbaug

First post: 2/17/2009
Last post: 2/17/2009
Total posts: 2

With the state that our economy is currently in, many questions have been raised as to how college-bound students will be able to afford their future education. Still, very little attention has been paid to the underserved, low-income students and families who have historically been left in the dark when it comes to accessing necessary college resources.

That is why a group of undergraduate students from the University of Maryland have created a college preparation program on behalf of the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), that is currently working with local Prince George's and Montgomery county students. The program combines accessible college preparation information and financial advice from CBA bank representatives to help students and their families who aren't exposed to a high level of support and resources.

As a member of this student group, I can say that it has been an eye-opening experience working with these fantastic kids who have all the ability to get to college, but have never had the help, support or belief that they could achieve their true goals.

One student at local Eleanor Roosevelt High School told me that she has always wanted to attend college but didn't think she could ever pay for it so she never took the idea seriously. The message that I delivered to her is one that this program rests upon: Even though it may be a difficult struggle to afford a higher education, in the end your college degree will be worth every penny. With proper planning in the classroom and financially, every student has the chance to earn that degree.

My group is holding a free college fair event at the Reckord Armory on the campus of the University of Maryland, on Saturday, February 21. The event will last from 11am-2pm. There will be representatives from local banks, student organizations, professors from UMD, financial aid officers and even a dance show/raffle.

I encourage any high school student or parent in the area to attend and I wish everyone thinking about college to check out our website, www.startdreaming.org.

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Re: Dealing With the College Drinking Culture

posted at 2/17/2009 7:40 PM EST

MikeJC

First post: 2/17/2009
Last post: 2/17/2009
Total posts: 1

I may be in the minority, but I'm not sure the "weekend binge culture" is such a crisis. Yes there are tradegies that are well reported resulting from drinking in college (like there are at any age), but the vast majority of individuals manage to drink "responsibly"... and have memories that last forever due to it.

And it may be heresy, but I don't think that for people aged 18-22, binge drinking every other weekend or so is something that should be seen as so reprehensible. Stictly enforcing drunk driving laws, education regarding sexually transmitted diseases and sexual assualt, and most importantly enforcing high academic standards that would weed out the far more problematic every day drinkers would be more effective than trying to guilt or prohibit the vast number of students who choose to go out and get drunk on a Friday or Saturday.

I simply don't agree with trying to kill a "culture" that works for the vast majority. It's cliche, but there is a time for everything... and it's usually college.

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Re: College drinking culture

posted at 2/17/2009 8:15 PM EST

brobrummell

First post: 2/17/2009
Last post: 2/17/2009
Total posts: 1

Replying to:

Excuse me? Taxation is the way to modify behavior? What happened to education?

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It's all about legal adulthood

posted at 2/17/2009 8:40 PM EST

jeffc6578

First post: 9/17/2008
Last post: 10/29/2009
Total posts: 34

The drinking age, the age to join the military, and therefor the age of legal adulthood should be aligned at 19 or twenty. You should be able to drink and have all the advantages of being a legal adult if you're old enough to die for your country.
The only other real choice is prohibition, and we know how well that works.
What few resources we do have need to be used to police worse things, like heroin and crystal meth.
Hell, the resources we spend policing pot should be redirected to more serious things. Just look at all the time and resources that were spent trying to prosecute Michael Phelps!

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Define "Binge"

posted at 2/17/2009 10:17 PM EST

jwrigh25

First post: 12/20/2007
Last post: 9/14/2009
Total posts: 39

I think some confusion comes from very different standards and definitions of "bingeing." When I was in college, my friends and I would have 3-5 drinks each when we went out at the start of the weekend. This doesn't seem like very much to me. Our (dry) school's materials stated that 5-7 drinks per week was a "very dangerous" level of consumption. With a few glasses of wine at lunch or dinner during the week, we were apparently living on the edge!

Bingeing is relative, but I define it as purposefully drinking until you are physically unable to continue drinking. How does everyone else define it?

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Re: Dealing With the College Drinking Culture

posted at 2/18/2009 1:23 AM EST

VirginiaResident2007

First post: 2/18/2009
Last post: 7/13/2009
Total posts: 2

I think that the "binge" culture is the result of what i see as the ridulous policy towards moderate drinking...kids are going to try drinking, in high school, college, and as long as we are not going to prohibition, beter to have a more tolerate additude towards high school and colege drinking and allow students to drink, but under limited supervised situations..then the urge to binge is diminished. back when I was in high school, students drank, but almost always at the home of friends, with parents who would insist everyone spend the night. Now, parents are too afraid to do this, so the student ssneak around and so do in a unsupervised manner. Likewise, in college, as a freshman, our dorm would host keg and grain punch parties..but again, in a supervised context. All it takes is getting sick one or two times and kids learn to moderate. Now, by driving the activity underground, it happens, but in an unsupervised context. I would suggest that parental supervised events for high school students of age 16 and above be permitted, just hold the parents responsible for preventing anyone from driving and require it be in private homes or parties. Likewise, in college, hold spurvised events, sell the old 3.2 beer in the student union bars and frat parties. We've had three kids go thru high school and college, and learned all the tricks after the fact (once they turn 21 they 'fess up)..camping trips to Burke Lake (the students drink in tents or the woods we later learned); We didn't let kids drink in our house, but learned they would just go drink under the deck of a neighbor who was out of town, or keep beer in their cars and drink there, then come in (but make repeat trips out to the cars). Only once, with the first, did we make the mistake of leaving a kid home along for the weekend..but a relative who stopped by the house suprised a party, and we've heard the same from other parents. Almost all the teen deaths we hear of occur in unsupervised situations..and I don't think this can be stopped, so I think allowing limited drinking in a safe supervised context is much preferable to the current situation. Let's face it, with cars, cell phones, text messaging, facebook and myspace, the kids find ways to plan and communicate that we cannot keep up with.

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