<p>Where did I say that? I said parents need to teach their teens about alcohol. Study your history. We tried prohibition once and guess what? It was an abysmal failure.</p>
<p>GroovyGeek is the one who said I was prudish, not you. I should edit it to be clearer...</p>
<p>I think as future students we just want to make sure we at least have the opportunity to take part in the "college experience" if we want.</p>
<p>I'm all for other students having the college experience, but when it gets to the point of someone getting injured or it starts to really affect the schooling, THEN I think something should be done. After all, if I'm paying OOS tuition at a UC, I'm there for my education, and I wouldn't want a party-like atmosphere to get in the way. (I swear, this isn't a diss to all of the crazy frat kids out there ;), but I'd rather go to my state school than put up with a roomate's kegger at 2:00 a.m. on test day.)</p>
<p>I personally remember when kegs were driven right into the heart of campus. Students could freely and easily partake. Guess what? We didn't binge drink because we could fill our cup freely without worry of the dreaded campus police or RSO's. We drank and enjoyed without the need to binge. I think binge drinking has increased to alarming degrees because we are prudish and worried about a law suit. In the end students will binge in their rooms if told they can't have a beer or two at an activity.</p>
<p>The legal drinking age should be 18.</p>
<p>^Lol! CollegeMom, you're kids must be very glad to have you as a parent.</p>
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<p>Amen! At 18 a kid is old enough to die for their country, and a girl is old enough to be "employed" at a strip club, but she is not allowed to consume any alcohol at her "place of employment". I find it so ironic that the parents on this thread are the ones advocating fun in moderation, and the students are the prohibitionists. Perhaps the SD in UCSD indeed stands for "socially dead"</p>
<p>OK, that was baiting, my apologies :D</p>
<p>I haven't seen any prohibitionists posting on this thread.</p>
<p>They also all seem to want single rooms....is sex the new alcohol?</p>
<p>Hey, what are you thinking about that, in where I live (college town with a surely heavier drinking scene than UCSD), the following two pieces were on the front page of the local paper on the same day:
[ul]
[<em>]Guy got drunk, passed out in the Midwest winter, 6 fingers/toes amputated due to frostbite.
[</em>]Continuing the story about the student who beat a random 74-year old man in the latter's house after his customary 21-year-old drinking. CCTV shown he was kicked out of his last bar 7 minutes after entering.
[/ul]</p>
<p>I may want to ask, from when the main purpose of going to college is to have a good time? And from when the age of drinking is discussed before talking about when are they responsible for what they do?</p>
<p>I'm not a prohibitionist, at least not to other people.</p>
<p>I call that stupidity. You find it everywhere. Policies that promote binge drinking are stupid. Pretending drinking doesn't exist on college campuses is stupid.</p>
<p>Don't get it wrong; I never said binge drinking does not exist.</p>
<p>There are certain red flags that solidify the thin line between "having fun" and having a problem, which include blacking out (at all), violence, and binge drinking. As long as those (and the other signs of alcoholism) aren't appearing, I'm in favor of moderate drinking on campus (perhaps the added condition here should be that it doesn't interfere with what is inarguably the primary goal of college: getting an education). For many it is an essential part of the college experience.</p>
<p>Please understand...as a high school senior from Santa Cruz, i am somewhat of an anomaly in that i have never drank alcohol, although I've been given ample opportunities to do so. However, I don't see any problem in allowing others to drink, as long as the above mentioned conditions are met. Seriously though, stop it with calling people "prudes" because they choose not to drink. Especially if you're a parent posting on CC. You know what? It's true, there are other ways to have fun. Leave people alone if they choose not to drink, it doesn't make them a "prude" or a "prohibitionist" (good god).</p>
<p>golden130 I agree with you, but what about this comment?</p>
<p>"There are other ways to have fun that don't involve harming one's health or safety."</p>
<p>This is just as extreme in the opposite direction. You are going to be around all kinds of people doing all kinds of things you don't like or want to participate in during college. No one will make you join them. If you seriously want a dry campus don't go to a public school.</p>
<p>Yes, believe it or not drinking, even moderately, does negatively affect one's health (unless we are talking about red wine). Granted the effects are not huge, but they are cumulative. Collegemom16, you assume drinking ages (21) make kids binge drink, yet couldn't you argue that the relatively large amount of drinking done by students, including binge drinking, is just evidence that these people are still not responsible enough to handle alcohol and the drinking age should be higher? Part of the reason students drink in college is because society keeps telling them that its part of the college experience (Animal House), but it doesn't have to be. Other influences come from being away from home and parents and wanting to try something new etc.</p>
<p>Is anyone pretending that drinking doesn't exist on campuses? We are talking about alcohol use on the campus and its role in the social life of the school. Are you saying that students binge drink just because they are worried about getting busted? Wouldn’t it just be wiser then to not drink? Must one get drunk through binge drinking or a buzz from “freely and easily” partaking in a kegger? </p>
<p>Before one is responsible enough to drink one needs to realize that alcohol induces stupidity; thats just the nature of the drug. A full appreciation of how alcohol robs the mind of reasoning and takes away the ability to think is needed to become responsible enough to drink (yes this is something that you should fear). </p>
<p>Getting back to the social life of UCSD, the point is that one does not need alcohol to have a good time, especially here in San Diego, so a prospective student should not be discouraged from UCSD because of it partying/drinking attitudes because there are still plenty of ways to have fun here.</p>
<p>The ad hominem attacks are unnecessary (by definition, lol). </p>
<p>Have you ever considered that the best course of action is to not drink alcohol in the manner in which they are consumed at a party? And, btw, just because people didn’t like prohibition doesn’t mean it’s wrong. </p>
<p>Why should the drinking age be lowered to 18?</p>
<p>I've been sober 2 days this past quarter... trust me, it's not that hard to party if you want to. And for ****'s sake, our school puts more effort into planning fun events than any other UC. For example, we have endless amazing concerts, I mean, let's be serious... Afroman playing in price center at noon on some random day?</p>
<p>Beer for Health</p>
<p><a href="http://eggheadblog.ucdavis.edu/?p=915%5B/url%5D">http://eggheadblog.ucdavis.edu/?p=915</a></p>
<p>Why the drinking age should be lowered: An opinion based upon research </p>
<p>I never got why the drinking age was 21. To be honest, if the drinking age was a lot lower such as other European countries like Italy, there would be a lot more responsible drinkers. Parents tell their kids how to drink responsibly since they're young, and in return there are much less binge drinkers in Italy. </p>
<p>Also, you can get drafted and die for your country at age 18, but you can't drink? That's absurd.</p>
<p>Most kids drink underage in America, not all but a lot. It's kind of a process of growing up, as a teenager and young adult you want to go and party. </p>
<p>Yes, there are other fun things to do at UCSD besides party and drink. And if that's your calling, go ahead, but hell you bet I'll be looking for the party crowd.</p>
<p>collegemom16:</p>
<p>We're actually basically saying the same thing. What I'm saying is that personally, I don't care if other people are drinking on campus, as long as they're not harassing people who don't want to drink (and I'm a high school student, I can handle peer pressure, I just respect people more when they don't feel they need do this). I don't particularly CARE whether or not I'm at a dry campus, I just don't plan on drinking MYSELF.</p>
<p>And as for the statement: "There are other ways to have fun that don't involve harming one's health or safety."</p>
<p>Now, I did NOT make this statement. And while the part that implies that drinking harms one's health and safety may be taking things a bit far (in most cases, although at college parties it might often be accurate), I don't see this as an extreme statement. It basically boils down to the fact that many people don't need to drink in order to have fun. Now how is that an extreme statement?</p>
<p>golden130 you and I do agree, and I rarely drink. ;)</p>
<p>I totally agree that you can have fun without drinking. I don't agree that drinking harms one's health and safety. Health and safety IS harmed when we create policies that lead to binge drinking. Suggesting everyone not drink is not a solution, especially on a college campus.</p>