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yes. i think you need to crawl out from the rock you live under and realize that socializing at the high school/college level involves alcohol, and that this isn't necessarily wrong or unhealthy.
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<p>Where did you see that I am opposed to drinking in college? I have no problem with college kids drinking. Hard as it may be to believe, Momrath and I probably share a pretty similar view when it comes to moderate, even occasionally excessive, college drinking.</p>
<p>I have a problem when drinking reaches levels that are dangerous or disruptive to campus life -- as is the case today at many colleges and universities. When 80-something kids a year (out of 2000) are being admitted to the health center for drunkenness, there's a problem. When double-digit numbers are being rushed to the hospital for alcohol poisoning, there is a problem. When one out of five students is puking in a public place each year, there is a problem. When students who don't drink feel marginalized or disrupted by the social scene at their college, there is a problem.</p>
<p>If you don't drink, why are you defending high school drinking?</p>
<p>I think socializing at high school or college does (for the majority) involve alcohol (as it does for adults), and, frankly, I'm not particularly opposed to it. Moderation in all things. I don't think binge drinking (and in the case of my first post, the college defined redefined binge drinking, not Wechsler) is particularly healthy, for the student, for social relationships, or for campus quality of life. Others might feel differently, and I think that's why it is good to have choices out there, because, putting the abstainers aside, the prevalence of moderate drinkers on campuses differs radically, even at schools with similar academic and demographic characteristics. Two out of 7 drinkers being moderates is a lot different than 5 out of 7 (of course there's lots in-between), I would think, regardless of how one decides to define bingeing, and if the data were available to applicants, they could make the choices that suit them best. And they might not consider it to be an issue, one way or the other. Let the free market rule, by allowing the free flow of information, which is why I think the school cited in my first post is to be heartily commended.</p>