<p>Well, son if freshman at Penn State and as I stated earlier does not drink. Penn State states that 20% of students do not drink. He is and will continue to find these kids. His other friends are not drinking all the time and he does hang with them during the day and for pick up sports games etc. Works for him and he seems happy enough. He is in the honors program and meets plenty of serious students this way although they have their major partiers too. He seems to study late alot when everyone else is off at parties. So you can make it work but you have to be dedicated to your lifestyle and immune to peer pressure.</p>
<p>My son is a junior at a flagship state school known for heavy partying, and he cannot drink because of a medical problem. He manages. He feels a bit left out of the college culture sometimes, but he has friends and finds things to do. </p>
<p>On a 10,000-student campus, even if 90% of the kids drink, there are still 1,000 who don’t.</p>
<p>That is still a pretty depressing statistic, Marian.</p>
<p>I took it the opposite. 1000 people is a lot of people. And that’s at a relatively small school. The school my son will most likely attend has 50,000. So the possibility that there may be 5000-10000 potentially like-minded people is heartening.</p>
<p>
I for one have never done or said anything while drunk that I now regret. College students drink with their friends, not people in a work environment. If I’m drunk and want to explain my problems in a relationship to my friends, that’s no problem since they’re my friends and would have been told anyway. If I behave or say things that I wouldn’t while sober, 1) I am conscious of doing so, and 2) my friends know that I’m drunk. They get drunk, too, or they’re used to people who do, and it and everything that goes along with drinking are kind of an accepted thing.
It’s true–instead of drinking on a Friday or Saturday night I could be doing my work. But how many students do that? Student clubs don’t meet Friday or Saturday nights, and campus activities normally end by 10:00 or 11:00 PM, before parties get going. Watching TV in the dorm is pretty senseless, useless, and expensive, too, but that’s a substitute of going out and drinking. Most forms of entertainment have no actual use, and most of them are expensive (transportation into the city, movie, popcorn, transportation home would run to, what, $20?). Being hungover isn’t all that big a deal, usually. If you drink with any kind of intelligence, you’ll drink clear alcohols (such as vodka), intersperce drinks with water, munch on some crackers, and take some time drinking water before going to bed. If possible, it’s also a good idea to stick to one kind of drink. For variety, change the mixer, but switching between beer, vodka, red wine, and whiskey will probably get you hung over. You may be tired or have a slight headache after a night of hard drinking, but it’s generally nothing that would keep one from being productive.
Well, speaking for myself, I’ll say that I enjoy drinking. I like the taste and the way it makes me feel, and I like being drunk. I like drinking with friends and opening up and being close and having fun. Nothing bad has come of it for me, so I see no reason to stop. It’s also not very expensive for college students unless they’re frat brothers.</p>
<p>Maybe this thread should reflect other things that are consumed in excess…like mayonaise. "Do you have a mayonaise problem? Do you mind if I have some mayonaise? with respects to Jim Gafigan.</p>
<p>Not everyone who consumes an alcoholic beverage is going to get drunk, become a drunk or have a terrible social life. There are admitedly people with addictive personalities but their addiction can range from booze to Jesus. And while we might want the latter over the former, we might change our minds when locked in a room with them.</p>
<p>Encourage common sense in lifestyle choices. Over doing anything to often will create some sort of physical problem down the road.</p>
<p>“Well, speaking for myself, I’ll say that I enjoy drinking. I like the taste and the way it makes me feel, and I like being drunk. I like drinking with friends and opening up and being close and having fun. Nothing bad has come of it for me, so I see no reason to stop”.
At PSU this weekend, a drunk student driver killed one young man and critically injured another student. He faces criminal homicide charges. Last year, a drunk student fell six stories and was hospitalized for months. At other campuses in the past year (UDEL, UVA), students were found dead from alcohol poisoining. One student at TCNJ was found in a landfill (fell into a dumpster chute after drinking). I’m sure that these students also “enjoyed” getting drunk. Binge drinking is not something to mess around with. I’m a realist though. I don’t think we can stop kids from drinking …but it would be a big win if we could help them understand how to drink responsibly. This is very scary stuff…</p>
<p>I can tell that my S is quite upset about the death toneranger mentioned. He’s a non-drinker. There were 343 emergency room admittances for alcohol poisioning at PSU in the past year. I think it’s wise to emphasize to our kids the numbers of kids who do not drink at all, or are at least responsible drinkers, as lealdragon said–certainly there are enough of these kids at any large university to enable the others to avoid the idiots (yes, idiots, you heard me right). ;)</p>
<p>The real question is why they should have to.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s the real question, but having read CC for quite awhile now, in my opinion it’s not a question many parents seem to be willing to grapple with. They’d rather discuss mayonnaise or Jesus.</p>
<p>My parents and relatives didn’t drink really- so I didn’t have much experience with it- until I started drinking myself.
At family dinners with extended family we never had wine or after dinner drinks- ever-
Which because that was the way I was raised- I didnt think anything about- but I also didn’t understand the way it was used elsewhere.
My parents on very rare occasions would have beer when they had friends over to play cards & my mother would make a liquer to give to friends on new years that took a year to steep.
But this also meant I had no idea how attractive alcohol could be, and when I started drinking in high school at parties, I was drawn to how relaxed it could make you.</p>
<p>Luckily- I don’t have an addictive personality or body type ( hush to those who are commenting on my number of posts- that is over years! plus also ADD), although I did marry someone who was an alcoholic- mainly I think because I didn’t realize at the time- just how that affects everyone.</p>
<p>I also have friends with the same experience- when you are in your early 20s- it can be hard to differentiate between people who drink a lot for several reasons. One is that a lot of people do seem to drink more when they are younger- and it was more accepted. That was one reason why I left the hairdressing profession in the early 80s, because partying together as a group, was expected- and it wasnt just champagne.</p>
<p>To me now however drinking a lot would be drinking to get drunk period, because I consciously take steps not to- When I was 21- parties always included alcohol and we didn’t have the culture of designated drivers either.</p>
<p>Now I do often find myself at gatherings with alcohol. Wine of course is a huge industry in washington and a frequent auction item is a wine cellar.People brew their own beer and there are lots of local microbreweries.My H doesn’t drink anymore thank god-although I still don’t like his driving when I am sober 
But I am very careful to limit myself to 2 drinks- with food and to drink at least one bottle of water in between each drink.
I am alarmed at the numbers of women that I read about getting really drunk. I usually hate playing to traditional “female” concerns- but this is an area where I feel no punches can afford to be pulled.</p>
<p>I would be for campaigns reminding women how caloric alcohol is & that water has no calories- or whatever it takes to get them to start thinking about the effects on their bodies</p>
<p>I would also say that while I understand that at some schools it does seem much more difficult to participate in social events without alcohol/drinking- and I don’t know how to change that- I also know that there are schools where drinking isn’t a given and not the main focus even at parties where it is offered.
Neither one of my kids likes loss of control- I don’t know if my 16 year old had ever had anything to drink- I would say that perhaps she might have at a slumber party- but she isn’t the partying type.
My 24 year old waited several months when she turned 21 before celebrating with alcohol- although she did go to the corner store to buy a hard lemonade- which sat in the fridge for months. ( by which I assume she had at least tasted it before)
Since their father is alcoholic back several generations- they are both concerned about that tendency and are pretty careful and frankly scared of going down the same road.
So they are much more aware of the effects than I was- & they also see me model responsible alcohol use- I use it for cooking or maybe a glass of wine with dinner & I never come home drunk even when H & I go out to a club.
As an adult- I do not have time for a hangover- even if I wanted to get drunk which I don’t.
I do have to remind myself and my older daughter about the dangers of drinking fruity drinks though- I was just at a event where they had some sort of punch that had alcohol in it- but you couldn’t taste it at all- and it packed a wallop.
I think that that could be a point toward drinking at a club, where drinks are mixed by a bartender- as opposed to a house party where they just slosh things in.
I still would be against lowering drinking age though. I am more for raising the driving age</p>
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</p>
<p>A tempting thought, but it would cause problems with the behind-the-wheel practice with a licensed driver during the learner’s permit period because many of the people with learner’s permits would no longer be living with their parents.</p>
<p>True- but i know many states are extending the time that someone has to have their liscense before they can drive others around- which I think is a great idea
<a href=“http://www.progressive.com/teens/graduated_license.aspx[/url]”>http://www.progressive.com/teens/graduated_license.aspx</a></p>
<p>
Kids who drink and drive are stupid. End of story. None of my close friends has ever driven drunk, and none that I know of would even see that as a possibility. I do not know the story of the student falling out the window (Was he fooling around? Jumping? Pushed? Was the window open? etc.), but I do know that if I know my balance is off and a screen isn’t tight, I don’t hang out by the window. In fact, at a party one of my friends had a few weeks ago, when people started to get warm and she opened the windows (not enough space for someone to fall through very easily, either) we all moved any furniture from the area that people could potentially trip on.</p>
<p>It is possible to get drunk but not get stupid. Last weekend while drunk I wanted to go back to my dorm, but my friends told me I shouldn’t go, and I trusted them, so I slept on an empty bed down the hall. I’ll tell people who are drunk to skip a drink and get some water, and they’d all do the same for me. No friend or otherwise good citizen would let someone get drunk enough to end up in the hospital because of alcohol poisoning. For someone to get that drunk, there must have been numerous people who made the decision to do nothing about it. It’s stupid for the student drinking to let himself get that drunk (you know when you’re drunk–it’s not like you can go from sober to hospital with no stages in between), and it’s despicable that none of his friends or fellow partiers helped him out. </p>
<p>At every party I’ve ever been at (and this is apparently specific to the crowds I hang around with), people are continually looking out for each other. Whether it’s asking someone else “Should I drunk dial so-and-so?”, not letting someone go to another party, making sure someone drunk doesn’t try to head home, giving someone water, or listening to the people who give that advice, there are smart ways to be drunk, and there are stupid ways to be drunk. </p>
<p>Also, Toneranger, please notice that in my post I said: “Nothing bad has come of it for me,” not nothing bad has ever happened. If students drink smart, and they have good friends who drink smart, all of those serious problems you mentioned become much more unlikely.</p>
<p>One of the problems with drinking to excess is that one’s judgment gets impaired. It’s a scientific, demonstrable fact. One can speak quite logically about how they can intelligently handle becoming drunk but realistically, once drunk, or once even more drunk, one can make poor judgments that can get themselves or others hurt. It happens all the time - the evidence is overwhelming. This includes otherwise very intelligent people. It even incudes those who believe they can routinely get drunk and have no adverse circumstances resulting from it. Often these are young people who just have been lucky so far. </p>
<p>One also can’t predict the tolerance level of someone else so the idea that one can stop a person from becoming ‘too drunk’, i.e. letting them become drunk but not ‘too’ according to someone’s definition, is false. People come in all shapes and sizes and have different metabolisms and therefore process alcohol differently. Drinking to excess, i.e. drinking to get drunk, is simply a dangerous activity for anyone - especially those without enough life experience to have witnessed the dangers.</p>
<p>corranged - the kid who fell out the window was trying to escape a busted party at a dorm (tying together sheets - I’m sure he thought this was a smart move at the time). Many who suffer alchohol poisoning (like the kid at UVA) go to sleep (at least that’s what their friends think they’re doing) and never wake up. Bottom line is that kids do very stupid things when they’re drunk. Sure, most of the time it leads to minor problems (like a student who fell down the stairs last week and lost both her front teeth - she dressed up as a 6 year old for Halloween - is this supposed to be funny?)
In any case, I still think drinking to get smashed is dangerous. And it’s incomprehensible to me that kids are drinking to excess and driving (the lastest report on the drunk driver was that he was going 60mph without headlights. at night, in a 35mph zone). Blood everyhwere…shattered lives and families. I doubt this kid would say that drinking and driving is cool when he was sober (who would?) - he was probably too drunk to even know what he was doing.</p>
<p>corranged…search the forum for Lucifer. There is no better teacher.</p>
<p>lets hope to god people show good sense when they drink</p>
<p>
Now this is an intelligent response. </p>
<p>As for the first, I know that when I drink my judgement is impaired, and that is something I take into account. Looking back, though, my “bad decisions” are all things I would do while sober, or at least things I consider fine to do while drunk. Not drinking and driving is something that should be so ingrained that you don’t even think about the option. The only thing I can say is that a smart drinker wouldn’t let himself get so drunk as to lose all major sense of right/wrong/stupid.</p>
<p>It is of course true that people have completely different tolerance levels. Two friends and I went to a party last weekend. One of my friends drank about the same as I did and was obviously inebriated. We went back, hung out in her room while she had some water, and then she went to sleep. I was practically sober, not even flushed. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t bring the girl I was with to the party I went to afterward. The other boy I was with had drank more than me at the first party and didn’t drink any more the rest of the night since he was already drunk. </p>
<p>While helping out friends (or strangers), it’s just the basics: promote water and food, discourage another drink for someone who’s drunk already, make sure everyone can get home or somewhere else safely, keep the mood light, and act appropriately if someone gets sick. All of this should be somewhat supervised by someone who’s sober. I’ve never been to a party where I didn’t know someone who wasn’t drinking or a sober friend who was nearby. Obviously someone who’s sick needs more help than that of a bunch of equally trashed kids.</p>
<p>It’s not perfect, and there are obviously dangers involved in drinking. Nevertheless, these dangers are significantly reduced by making smart(er) decisions before, while, and after drinking. I know the dangers of drinking, and I’ve decided that, for me, the benefits and enjoyment I get from drinking outweigh the potential risk. But then again, I’m just a college student–too young to vote, too young to drink, and probably too young to make intelligent decisions regarding the latter.</p>
<p>Got that right.</p>