The
Underage Drinking epidemic on College Campuses
Thomas
S. Porricolo
University
of Denver
Introduction
When one is to look at the
American college experience what comes to mind? A large football stadium filled
with roughly students ready to lose their voices for weeks to make sure the
opposing quarterback hears that his “mother is a whore.” Maybe you take a more
scholarly approach to the thought of kids in multi-million dollar libraries and
classrooms diligently studying. Both would be correct assumptions about
colleges and universities across America however what seems to be most
popularly associated stigma is drinking. Kids outside of large “frat” houses
holding red solo cups playing drinking games involving ping pong balls chugging
copious amounts of beer when they lose.
Nevertheless it is extremely paradoxical
that most of the kids doing that drinking are technically breaking a federal
law of the United States of America. Let's rewind a little to Vietnam War era
America, the youth in the country are fighting for representation after so many
were drafted and forced off to war. A popular saying was coined “If you’re old
enough to fight and die for your country, why can’t you vote?” (Haynes, 2003).
This along with momentous backing from across the country lowered the voting
age from 21 to 18 so that those teenagers going off to war at least had a say
in their countries affairs. After this successful movement the saying was then
adopted to for drinking “If you’re old enough to fight and die for your
country, why can’t you vote?”1 This secondary movement for more liberties for
America's youth was also successful; between 1970 and 1976 29 states lowered
their drinking age below 21. However it was short lived as the changes in the
law had disastrous effects. Traffic deaths in young teens skyrocketed due to a
massive increase in drunk driving amongst young adults. This lead almost
instantly for calls to revoke the new lower drinking age and in 1984 Congress
passed the Uniform Drinking Age Act which required all states to raise the age
to 21 for any kind of alcohol consumption. Fast forward to present day we and
the laws haven’t changed, every state across the nation has this same drinking
age with little indication that it has slowed underage consumption much
especially on college campuses. Upon surveying students at Harvard two separate
times, 4 years apart, they found that around exactly the same amount of
students said they binge drink, 44% in 1993 and 53% in 1997 (Draves, 2008) So
even at a university prestigious as Harvard over half the student body say they
binge drink. This all just begs the question have we just accepted underage
drinking as a part of our collegiate culture? Is it socially and culturally
acceptable at our colleges and universities across our vast nation?
Methods
To inquire more on this topic I
took the University of Denver campus to observe the drinking culture and try to
get a better understanding of what students and faculty think of it. What a
better way to discover this aspect of American culture than witness it first
hand on campus. I interviewed with an employee of the University of Denver, an
RA in a first year residence hall and asked her questions regarding her
experiences with first year students drinking habits such as “What’s the worst
situation you’ve had to deal with regarding a resident and alcohol?” I made an
anonymous survey of which 50 randomly selected students partook in together a
general conciseness of students view of drinking. I found this random group of
DU students by posting a link to survey on my Facebook and randomly asked
undergrads on campus to take it. I asked questions like “Would you consider
drinking a large part of undergrad student culture at DU”. I also did some
person observation of the nightlife at DU by going to a party at an unnamed
location on a Thursday night on the 22nd of October around 10:15.
The around 12:15 I observed the behavior of the student coming in and out of
the bars on University Boulevard between Asbury and E. Evans Ave. What I was
looking for was how heavily students were drinking and the general feel of the
age groups attending both events on that Thursday night.
Results
Through anonymous surveys of
about 50 students attending the University of Denver I found that nearly 90%
found it “socially acceptable” and a “large part of student culture” at school.
These results were only shocking not only because of the large number who were
okay with drinking but what they said they found could go wrong with it. In the
comments section of the survey many students talked about the importance of
balancing drinking and having fun but at the same time making sure it wasn’t
getting in the way of school. Also concerns that were voiced were of safety,
many students talked about the legality sometimes leading to mistakes. For
instance a drunken student with a friend who is clearly far too drunk fears to
call and agency like campus police for fear of the repercussions both may have
because of it (DU does NOT have a good Samaritan policy). So it seems what is
wrong with the drinking culture might not be the students themselves but rather
the policies surrounding it.
Upon collection of this data I decided to
take a look at what some of the faculty dealing with underage drinking in campus
thought of drinking at DU and whether or not they approved of the policies set
forth by the university. To do this I interview a second year Resident
Assistant or RA who works in Centennial Towers a freshman dorm. It must be
noted that RA’s are also students of the university but I thought the unique
balance they had between being a student while also being employed by the
university would offer inimitable insight. I opened the interview with very
simple questions about her job: “How many residents live on your floor?”, “How
many in the building?”, “What tasks does your job entail?” I did this to get a
general feel and sense of her day-to-day life as an RA. She has 22 residents
who live on her and there are around 400 in the dorm. As an RA she is required
to work the front desk which is employed 24/7 and also do rounds of the
building time to time to make sure the students are behaving. I then began to
prod about the drinking culture amongst the first years in the building. At DU
all first year dorm rooms are alcohol free meaning even if your 21 you can’t
bring alcohol in the building. Also all residents of freshman dorms are below
the age of 21, if a freshman is 21 or older they live in second year housing.
Nevertheless she admitted that it didn’t stop large numbers of residents
drinking in the building. I asked her then what the worst experience she’s had
to deal with regarding a resident and drinking and she shared a story of a girl
violently throwing up in the lobby and needed assistance of the paramedics. She
shared though that this was an isolated incident and is far from common, “That
night was very far from an average night working the front desk… I’d say
students generally compose themselves well when drinking.” I asked her how
dangerous she thought drinking was for first years to which she said, “It
depends on the resident, the background they come from… like did they drink in
high school were there parents okay with it.” She also said, “students who
haven’t drank before college are at a much higher risk of ending up in the
hospital because of their lack of experience with drinking paired with the
abundant accessibility of alcohol.” She also spoke to the campus police detox
policy. Technically any student, of age or not, on campus who is above the
legal limit of .08 blood alcohol content or BAC is deemed unfit to stay on
campus and is sent to the city of Denver detox facility. She was not a
supporter of the policy, “I understand the liability problems but sending
students downtown to a city owned drunk tank is excessive and a waste of
money.”
As a student of DU I was able to get a
really good sense of drinking cultural through some first hand observations at
various parties around campus. It must first be said that since this is a sensitive
topic I will not be disclosing any names or address of parties I observed. A
typical night out for the DU student seemed to entail a few steps… First was
the pregame with friends, which was small and usually entailed about 5-10
people in someone’s dorm room, apartment, house etc. Second was the house
party, the groups of students pre-gaming all around campus would go off to sed
house party where their other friends would all meet; alcohol here was usually
bought by someone underage. At the house parties there usually was a keg bought
by someone who was 21. This was because many kids said it was too “high risk”
for anyone underage to get one. Also most of the students who own houses are
upperclassmen and are of age. Nevertheless many of the people at the house
parties were underclassmen, I found this interesting and inquired some student
in attendance of the parties as to why. The synonymous answer was that most
upperclassmen especially juniors were A abroad and B had far more work than the
freshman and sophomores still taking the “easier” classes. Ergo I’d say about
75% of the party attendees were underage. The night was still not over after
the party though; the next move was to the bars around campus. You may think
because only about 25% of the party was of age then that would mean there would
not be a very large crowd. You’d be wrong however the scene outside the bars
was large and bustling at 12:30 at night. The lines out the door with waits
that looked they could last 30 minutes. I’m going to have to be very carful
here but you should be able to figure out the ways the underage kids got into
bars that require you to show ID every time you enter. The answer is something
that isn’t quite legal it’s an ID that isn’t real but says sed person is of age.
Discussion
So what is abundantly clear from
this research and really shouldn’t be a surprise to any of us is underage
drinking at DU is ramped like many colleges across the country. According to
the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcholism in the US, About 8.7
million people ages 12–20 (22.7 percent of this age group) reported drinking
alcohol in the past month (23 percent of males and 22.5 percent of females) (“Underage
Drinking”, 2015). This was expected of my
research but nevertheless it isn’t the point I’m pushing here. The culture of
drinking at DU was what I was looking at and having interviewed and observed
students from across campus it is clear that it is not only very socially
accepted and almost encouraged but is an extremely large part of the experience.
Nevertheless the students weren’t as reckless as you might have expected with
their drinking. Almost all found the safety behind it concerning… a feeling a
distrust of the authority due it’s legality seemed to pose and issue. All also
agreed it need to come in perfect balance with schoolwork amongst other
obligations. This was almost exactly inline with the research findings in the
“AN EXAMINATION OF UNDERAGE DRINKING IN A SAMPLE OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS” where various grad students researched the impact underage drinking
on students at smaller universities like DU. They found that they generally
where much better at balancing their obligations with their vices.
Many articles in my secondary
research were very anti drinking and talked about the dangers of binge drinking
and how common it is on college campuses. One article highlighted some extreme
measures that she said “needed” to take place to slow the underage drinking
rate such as no one with a record of serving minors or caught drinking while
they were minors should be allowed to buy kegs or kicking everyone not over 21
out of restaurant bars at 9pm (Miller, 2000). Based on my observations however
I don’t actually see this doing that much for slowing underage drinking. I
don’t think it possible to ever stop the older generation for buying and
serving booze to minors. I’m sure your first thought after that sentence you
pictured your older friend let call him “Chad” buying your friends a rack for
your pregame but the field of view is much more extensive than that. For
instance I come from an Italian family so my parents have been serving me wine
since I was 16. In the same respect they have bought me alcohol before as have
a lot of parents of underage kids. If the people who raised you supply it to
you how wrong can it be? Its funny We are one of 12 countries in the world that
have a drinking age of 21 or older in every other country in the world where
drinking is legal it is below that. 60% of countries in the world the drinking
age is either 18 or 19 and in 21% of countries it is even lower than that. So
that means that an 18 year old, the average age of a first year college
undergrad, can drink in 81% of countries in the world, which is staggering
(“Minimum Legal Drinking Age”, 2015). Also not to mention the current
Chancellor of DU signed a petition in 2008 to lower the legal drinking age in
the United States (“Amethyst
Initiative” 2015). Why
should students be getting in trouble with the school for this then it like if
your mom told you drinking was okay but every time you came home drunk she
grounded you, it just doesn’t make sense.
Limitations
The limitations of the piece varied
in nature but the time constraint of a quarter was the largest. On top of
taking 16 credit hours and working two jobs its not easy to have time to really
get good primary research. Other limitations include my topics nature. Since I have
to comply with IRB regulations a lot had to be left out because they are deemed
inappropriate by the University of Denver
Yes the negatives of underage
drinking can be very bad to a young student's life, but to those people like C.
T. Main who was a psychologist who broke down the wrongs of underage drinking
and how to curb the dangers of it by scaring students and educating them on the
dangers (Main 45), I think need to accept how acceptable it is on college
campuses. For sure it’s exactly promoted or condoned by universities but it is
happening everywhere right in front. This sort of “blind-eye” application
clearly has it dangers like the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy in the military.
Conclusion
The answer to all this research
is that YES it is overwhelmingly popular and accessible to drink underage at
college. Especially at DU it almost seems like a little bubble where the 21
drinking age doesn’t apply. 100$ sent to china will give u access to quite a
few bars and 20$ will get you a 30 rack from the liquor store. Maybe it's time
to pull the blind eye approach to this epidemic across the nation.
Appendix A:
“How long have you been an RA?”
“What does the job entail?”
“How many residents live on your floor?”
“What is the worst situation you’ve dealt with regarding
a resident and drinking?”
“What are the universities polices for intoxicated
students? Do you agree?”
“How dangerous is drinking for first year
students?”
Appendix B:
“What year are you?”
“Is drinking a large part of culture on campus?”
“What are the dangers?”
“Does drinking make it difficult to manage school
work?”
“Would you can the legal drinking age in the United
States?”
IRB Consent Form:
Reference:
Dunnagan,
T., Haynes, G., Linkenbach, J., & Shatwell, P. (2003). Developing
theoretical and environmental policy for underage drinking. American Journal
of Health Behavior, 27(5), 508-523. Retrieved from
http://0-search.proquest.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/docview/211878874?accountid=14608
Coll,
J. E., Draves, P. R., & Major, M. E. (2008). AN EXAMINATION OF UNDERAGE
DRINKING IN A SAMPLE OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. College Student
Journal, 42(4), 982-985. Retrieved from
http://0-search.proquest.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/docview/236588640?accountid=14608
Miller,
N. S., M.D., Stout, A. W., B.A., & Sheppard, L. M., M.A. (2000). Underage
drinking among college students. Psychiatric Annals, 30(9), 597-601.
Retrieved from
http://0-search.proquest.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/docview/217045030?accountid=14608
Main, C. T. (2009). Underage
drinking and the drinking age. Policy Review, (155), 33-46. Retrieved
from http://0-search.proquest.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/docview/216455758?accountid=14608
Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) in 190 Countries
- Minimum Legal Drinking Age - ProCon.org. (2015, August 25). Retrieved
November 3, 2015, from http://drinkingage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004294
Amethyst Initiative.
(n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2015, from http://www.theamethystinitiative.org/signatories/
Underage Drinking.
(n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015, from
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/special-populations-co-occurring-disorders/underage-drinking
No comments:
Post a Comment