Deadly Ritual: 21 shots to celebrate age 21

Parent Cafe
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<p>NY Times</p>

<p>"The ritual of drinking 21 or more alcoholic beverages to celebrate the 21st birthday appears to be far more common than expected, according to new research.</p>

<p>Jesse Drews died in March on his 21st birthday after a drinking binge. It’s estimated that more than four out of every five American 21-year-olds drink alcohol to celebrate the birthday milestone, which is the the legal drinking age in the United States. But a new study from University of Missouri researchers of 2,518 students shows that many young adults aren’t just drinking to celebrate — they are drinking to extremes.</p>

<p>Among those students who drank alcohol to celebrate their 21st birthdays, 34 percent of the men and 24 percent of the women reported consuming 21 or more drinks, according to the research to be published in The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology… Although the findings likely can’t be applied to the general population, the data likely do reflect the drinking culture at large, public universities, say researchers…</p>

<p>Alcohol researchers have been searching for ways to curb the extreme drinking common on the 21st birthday. One concern is that interest in the ritual appears to be spreading because drinkers who attempt or succeed at downing 21 drinks post videos and photos of the drinking binges on YouTube or Flickr or social networking sites like MySpace.</p>

<p>One of the biggest worries about the ritual is alcohol poisoning. … But in some cases, as few as 10 drinks can push blood alcohol levels to 0.30, the point at which the respiratory system slows enough that death is possible.</p>

<p>That appears to be what happened to Jesse Drews, a 21-year-old Fox Lake, Wis., resident who died on March 24, his 21st birthday. Although the death is still under investigation, it’s believed he may have attempted to drink 21 shots to celebrate…"</p>

<p>[21st-birthday</a> booze ritual gains popularity - Health - MSNBC.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24004376/]21st-birthday”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24004376/)</p>

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<p>Stories like this just make me cry–think of the poor parents of young people who die this way, especially on their birthdays.</p>

<p>How about giving your mom 21 kisses for your 21st birthday instead of having 21 shots?</p>

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<p>The worst drinking at age 21 story that I’ve heard was when twins were allowed to drink by a friend who was bartending at a bar the night before the twins turned 21. As the twins were driving home, their car spun out of control while one of them was talking to their parents, who were driving to their college town to celebrate the twins’ birthday.</p>

<p>Both twins died in the crash.</p>

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<p>Is the 34% for men and 24% for women the number that attempted to do this? Because among my friends the numbers would be A LOT higher than that, probably like 85 or 90% had “bar crawls”. Many girls even made special scrap books for the event, complete with pictures, quotes from the night and their signature after each drink. I’d say that roughly half made it 21 for both genders, but plenty made it to 15 or 17. In general, girls usually received “easier” shots (various schnapps or drinks containing Pucker or other lower alcohol mixers), and were more likely to be given water in between, while guys were more likely to get things that were higher alcohol content (like a 3 wise men shot - equal parts Johnnie Walker, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels) and have beers in between (which counted towards the total drinks). The most one of my friends ever took on their birthday was 37…</p>

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<p>In case anyone thinks the story about the twins is apocryphal, here’s a link:</p>

<p>"The parents of Clearwater twins who died in a car crash just a day before their 21st birthday have settled lawsuits with two restaurants that provided them drinks before the crash…</p>

<p>Roman said the twins, together with a group of friends, met at Applebee’s to celebrate their upcoming 21st birthday. The Applebee’s server, Jessie Stickle, was a friend of the twins’ and knew they were not 21 when he served them numerous alcoholic drinks, including one called a “mind eraser.”</p>

<p>He also provided the Ward twins and their friends with rounds of free beer. Roman said a restaurant manager was in an office and was inattentive.</p>

<p>The twins then went to the T.G.I. Friday’s and had drinks there, Roman said.</p>

<p>The twins died a little more than an hour after leaving Applebee’s when Eddie Ward lost control of his car and crashed into trees."</p>

<p>Eddie and Suzie Ward were killed in a Nov. 23, 2002, crash in Tallahassee, where they attended college. They would have turned 21 the next day.</p>

<p>Investigators said Eddie Ward, who was driving, had a blood-alcohol count of 0.09 percent, while his sister’s count was 0.11, both above the level at which Florida law presumes impairment.</p>

<p>Investigators determined the twins, who graduated from Clearwater High School, had been drinking at an Applebee’s and a T.G.I. Friday’s in Tallahassee before the crash.</p>

<p>State agents later charged three servers with giving alcohol to minors the night of the crash. All three pleaded no contest to the charges and received varying amounts of fines and community service. A judge also ordered them to write letters of sympathy to the twins’ family."
[Northpinellas:</a> Twins’ parents settle lawsuits against restaurants](<a href=“http://www.sptimes.com/2006/02/04/Northpinellas/Twins__parents_settle.shtml]Northpinellas:”>http://www.sptimes.com/2006/02/04/Northpinellas/Twins__parents_settle.shtml)</p>

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<p>"Roman said the Ward family was in seclusion this week and not available for an interview. He said the family believes bars and restaurants must follow the law to ensure young people stay safe.</p>

<p>“There can be unfathomable consequences and the phone call every parent dreads,” Roman said."</p>

<p>It might help if the parents taught THEIR kids how to behave too. Not rely on the world to backstop their shortcomings.</p>

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<p>As rarely as I agree with Barrons, he’s right. These are situations where serious conversations BEFORE things happen should occur. Know your kids. If it takes the fear of god and a but kicking to get your point across…GET YOUR POINT ACROSS! I know these aren’t bad kids, but there are different levels of conversations one has with their children… make it clear what’s acceptable and what isn’t. </p>

<p>I feel sad for these families, but in the same token don’t raise your kids to be somebody else’s tool.</p>

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<p>I agree that parents need to talk to their children about the danger of this ritual. That’s exactly why I posted the story. I had no idea how prevalent this ritual was until I saw the story. </p>

<p>I never heard of such a ritual until a couple of years ago, and I’d thought it was something that only a few students with alcohol problems did. Hard for me to imagine that so many people think that something so dangerous and nauseating is fun.</p>

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<p>Natural selection.</p>

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<p>damn godsend, i was about to put that…</p>

<p>i feel bad for their families but that is so ridiculously stupid that i dont feel it can be labeled as “tragic”</p>

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<p>I sympathize with the family, it must be so terrible to lose a child, losing two together is unimaginable. But I don’t think the twins would have been any more mature 2 days later, when they finally turned 21. Yes, they should not have been served, but they weren’t killed because a waiter didn’t respect an arbitrary date. Didn’t their parents tell them of the dangers of drunk driving? Had they survived the crash, but killed some innocent people accidentally, would the blame still be on the waiter? It’s a terrible tragedy, and I can understand the parents feeling a need to scapegoat, but it isn’t healthy.</p>

<p>On another note, I don’t consider myself or my friends prudish by any measure, but I just turned 21, and I celebrated my birthday with two glasses of wine. I have never heard of this ritual, nor can I imagine willingly putting my body through so much abuse.</p>

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<p>The story about the twins is sad - but the alcohol would have been just as deadly the next day when they turned 21.</p>

<p>Alcohol is something I have talked to the kids about. Every parent needs to. We have a fair bit of alcoholism in our extended family so the kids have seen the negatives of drunken behaviour which opens the door for the conversation. I am not shocked if my kids have a drink - I have really emphasized the no driving after drinking and the not drinking to excess. I enjoy a margarita or a glass of wine with a meal - my kids have seen that if i am driving I do not indulge at all - if someone else is driving I do - though not to excess.</p>

<p>My son turned 21 last August. His friends were throwing him a party - most of his friend are older so had been waiting for him to be old enough to go to a bar. Their plan was the 21 shots. His plan was to not do 21 shots. My understanding is that he stuck to his guns - he is very stubborn and not easily influenced so was able to stick to his guns. Some kids are probably more likely to be talked into these dangerous behaviours.</p>

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<p>As much as parents would like to think their kids are above partying or under age drinking or over-consuming - well, they aren’t. Majority of them anyways. As part of my high school honors society (15 guys on it), we go to a bar Friday and drink the persons age (typically 18 but you always have a couple of young guys on it) Think about this…honor society? So why do we do it? The same reason any other guy does it, and despite parental and school warnings, guys just want to go out and have fun.</p>

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<p>

Do you want a medal or something?</p>

<p>

Agreed. Tragic is not an apt description. It’s difficult to have sympathy for people who willingly do this to themselves.</p>

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<p>I’ve never heard of this tradition. =/ I’m not going to follow it either. I’m never going to drink.</p>

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<p>“guys just want to go out and have fun.”</p>

<p>Absolutely no arguement Canada boy… but what part of a molson tastes best…the part going down or the part coming back up with some kraft dinner and sauasages mixed in exiting via your nose? :wink: </p>

<p>We were all young and dumb once. the goal is to become old and dumb…not dead. There’s dumb and there’s “stupid”… know the difference. What’s the point of spending all those loonies just to puke the stuff plus dinner back up?
I never met a Canadain girl (and I married one) who liked to kiss a guy covered in his own puke. </p>

<p>Know the difference… don’t be stupid… eh?</p>

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<p>That is why the drinking age should be 18 so you only have to do 18 shots.
But seriously binge drinking is very dangerous on several occasions I have seen people suffer alcohol poising and it is pretty scary. Just imagine the guilt of the people who peer pressured that person to consume 21 drinks. And I could not imagine what the parents are going through.</p>

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<p>Thank you Northstar Mom for posting this. I read the story to both kids (15 & 17) in order to raise awareness. I suspect since “everybody does it” many don’t realize the danger of the practice beyond driving under the influence. We were all blown away by the high percentages, and find what Bigredmed said about his knowledge of it especially frightening.</p>

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<p>I saw the mom of the 21 shots kid, Jesse, this morning on a national news show.
She looked so sad, as you can imagine. Among the educating things said was
that the time period was very short, in other words he left at 11;15 and was dragged in by friends at l:15, so this all happened within not much more than one hour to do the drinking of 21 shots. </p>

<p>She put him to sleep on her living room couch (that was a mistake; she should have called 911 at that point and handled it as a medical emergency instead).</p>

<p>Around 3 a.m., she awoke for a bathroom visit and meanwhile checked him to make sure he hadn’t vomited or choked (aspirated). He was snoring softly; she returned to sleep. </p>

<p>When her husband, who missed the entire exit and entry of his boy, awoke at 4:30 for his a,m, work shift, he checked on his son on the living room couch and shouted, “he isn’t breathing…” and then all heck broke loose in their home. </p>

<p>After the various newspeople asked her gentle questions just to clarify the story, she said softly, “He was a good boy and he’ll be missed.” It was truly sad.</p>

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<p>Thank you Northstarmom- I sent the article to my kids !</p>