Let’s draw a picture. After a very long week of homework and classes, Friday is finally here. Completed college students are essentially drunk as they congregate in a small living space for the night’s “pre-game” and prepare to get even more drunk later at the party. A student asks his friends to inspire them to drink New Amsterdam vodka. Her face contorts violently as she lowers, and her friends applaud her bravery. The group drank as many mixed drinks, beers, and shots as needed to feel intoxicated enough to eliminate the possibility of sobering up at the function (horrible). On a trek that knows who knows which fraternity, the group stumbles and laughs, occasionally stopping to piss on the stranger’s front lawn. After arriving at the party, they go straight to the bar and become inebriated enough to last through the night.
The next day, some of the group members who drank too much of Solo’s Jungle Juice emailed friends about what happened last night. Some of them vomit profusely. The rest suffer from mild to severe hangovers that interfere with their ability to function normally the next day. symptoms, and even severe depression the next day. After a day of recovery, the friends prepare to start all over again on Saturday.
America’s college drinking culture is fascinating in the sense that it is used for “both celebration and sympathy.” With so much socially acceptable drinking, college students find themselves drinking alcohol with surprising regularity. Several studies have found that “more education (such as attending college) promotes cognitive development and enables us to make more informed and effective health decisions. Despite the fact that it has been found that more educated Americans have better health behaviors — many college students’ drinking patterns directly contradict these findings. Ironically, the dichotomy between attending an institution that promotes education and critical thinking while at the same time defying our understanding of the well-known dangers of alcohol overdose. Although the University of Michigan student community is required to complete alcohol education courses that directly address the dangers of binge drinking and alcohol abuse, the drinking culture on campus is unhealthily ubiquitous.
It is important to be clear at this point that I am not criticizing students for their decision to drink at university. I want to find out what I can do to normalize a healthier relationship with my girlfriend.
Despite the fact that the United States has one of the lowest per capita alcohol consumption rates in the Western world, it has a higher rate of alcohol abuse than any other Western country. Our country’s rocky relationship with alcohol stems from the constant swings in alcohol acceptance, oscillating between the over-normalization of alcohol and the ridiculous regulation of the product. The Atlantic’s Kate Julian explains: Americans tend to be more dysfunctional drinkers than people in other societies, and they just become critical of almost all drinking. ”
This pendulum swing was not as easily observable as it was in college. As college students, as we transition from adolescence to adulthood, we are likely to internalize different messages about alcohol, requiring us to integrate disparate norms about alcohol. is for adult consumption only and there are severe penalties for those who violate this code.
Misunderstanding the ubiquitous substances in our society results in confusion among young people. From movies to TV shows to advertising, why are our media dominated by booze and beer? Why is there so much underage drinking? Suddenly, our negative perception of this “adult” substance turns into curiosity, producing the forbidden fruit that feels inevitable once you enter college.
For college students who feel their drinking habits were held back by their high school environment (strict parents, lack of access to alcohol, etc.), college is a time when we are adults now that we think of ourselves. It’s a chance to fully indulge in what you consider to be the experience of…independence. In our new and full exposure to the world of alcohol, our younger generation’s perception of the dangers surrounding drinking has almost always been traded for the other extreme: a radical acceptance of drinking and drinking culture. has been abandoned by
Despite the serious legal liability (ranging from misdemeanor to felony) for underage students who use fake IDs, a survey of 246 Ohio State University students found an overwhelming We found that 69% claimed to use or possess a fake ID. Pay to have access to alcohol or a space dedicated to drinking. On some Michigan game days, tailgates can start as early as 9 a.m., allowing students to drink heavily during the most socially unacceptable hours before making their way to the Big House drunk. I can do it. Some students pass out with alarming frequency. This indicates that the body processed too quickly, reducing the hippocampus’ ability to process and store memories.
Unfortunately, the normalization of heavy drinking comes from so many different sources that it will take considerable effort to escape this culture on American college campuses. Some argue that it will allow families to expose their children to alcohol in healthier and more casual ways (perhaps to reduce the effects of alcohol-related forbidden fruit), but unfortunately , teenagers in European countries with lower drinking ages drink more. In countries with a higher drinking age, more often than teenagers. Given the current unhealthy relationship with alcohol, this could backfire in the United States.
However, attempts to stop the binge eating and drinking of American college students have resulted in overuse of legal enforcement, such as increased crackdowns on college student drinking, surrounding the harm of crackdowns within specific communities. Ignoring nuances. For example, one study found that “underage drinkers were 47 times more likely to be arrested for alcohol possession than vendors who were arrested for selling alcohol to underage drinkers.” Additionally, Native American, Black, and Asian youths (especially men) were found to be two to three times more likely than white youths to be arrested for alcohol offenses. The study further concluded that these laws were more strongly enforced against people of lower socioeconomic status than among middle- and upper-class citizens. If we want to fight the violent drinking culture on American college campuses, we need to be more creative with our solutions to ensure that certain groups are not unfairly harmed.
With so little research on effective ways to deter binge drinking and other unhealthy drinking habits on college campuses, perhaps we need to start dismantling the drinking culture on an individual level. eventually begins and ends on itself. Most of us are equipped with all the information we need to make good decisions about alcohol, but this cannot be done without our individual motivation to engage in the drinking culture in a healthy way.
This can start with deciding to have mixed drinks all night instead of taking shots (thus lowering blood alcohol levels and reducing binge drinking). Set a timer on your phone between drinks to pace yourself as you drink. (reducing the amount of alcohol entering your system at one time so that it can be metabolized) and reassessing what “drinking” means to you. Then drink until you feel a nice warm buzz while maintaining body consistency and control. Eating a good meal before going out for the night is another preventive measure that goes a long way in preventing blackouts from happening.
I hope that by fighting the unhealthy drinking culture on an individual level, I will be able to become immune to the social pressures surrounding binge drinking on American college campuses. One night, you can challenge yourself and your friends to maintain only a healthy amount of drunkenness. This encourages people to re-evaluate what “good time” means to them, while also ensuring that a hangover doesn’t plague the group the next day. The more positive experiences they have with alcohol, the more likely they are to engage in the behavior again (rather than binge drinking).To encourage Michigan community members to consider their relationship with alcohol more critically. If we can, we can create an environment that truly fosters greatness in all aspects of college life.
Sophia Lehrbaum is an opinion columnist and can be reached at lehrbaum@umich.edu.
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