I’m not sure to what extent there is an actual “problem” 1, and I’m not sure how other “elite” LACs compare, but I do know that alcohol and pot use at Carleton is higher (sorry, pun) than the national average.
Oh, there definitely is alcohol and drug use. It was probably greater when I was there, back when the drinking age was 19 and the administration was much more laissez-faire with respect to student residential life. It sometimes seemed like I was just about the only person who didn’t drink or use pot, LSD or mushrooms, but actually there were others who didn’t drink or do drugs; you just had to go out and look for them. Today, the college provides substance free housing (which didn’t exist when I was there) as well as activities that don’t involve alcohol.
[1] To me, the thing I’m most concerned about is driving under the influence; we weren’t allowed to have cars in my time, but today’s Carls do drive cars and driving under the influence endangers others as well as themselves. Other people may focus more on different concerns. Parents may worry about impact on their student’s academic performance and health. Administrators may worry about impact on a school’s vaguely-defined “image”.
[2] Note overall numbers do not equal [(male + female) / 2]. Possible reasons: different response rates between M & F; large number of LGBTQA+ declining to specify gender.
Coed bathrooms in college dorms or recycling (at least glass, metal cans, and newspapers) were not that unheard of back then, since I remember those things back then (far away from Carleton).
And does “amphetamines” include things like non-prescribed use of Adderall or Ritalin as a “study aid”?
Brings to mind the old Onion article (note sure if linking would be allowed, but a search for the title’ll bring it right up) “Adderall Receives Honorary Degree From Harvard”.
I don’t know how to do the quote feature some of you have used but in post #136@Sue22 said “Another option is to go to a party and socialize without drinking. As my daughter, who does (legally) drink says, “No one cares if you drink.” It’s not a binary choice, between going to the library and wild bacchanalia.” While it’s true of course you can go to a party and socialize without drinking, some do not find it fun to be sober while being around a lot of drunk kids. So I do think it’s important for a kid to feel they will have a tribe that doesn’t drink to socialize with if that is something that will bug the kid.
It can also depend on if the party is one where some people are drinking in moderation, versus a party where the purpose is to binge drink and get drunk to the point of stupidity. Too many college parties are the latter type, and if the campus culture is such that most parties are that way, a non-drinker will not find them appealing.
My personal hunch is that the major difference is the breakdown between drug and alcohol use rather than % of kids using any kind of substance at all.
And while I do think that isolated schools have more partying on campus – less to do off campus and more students living on campus – it is more the sense of being surrounded by it that makes it feel pervasive. At a less isolated school, students with IDs might drink in a bar off campus rather than down the hall…
@bigfandave The Clery report, available on every school’s website, would be a good starting point, with alcohol and drug infractions and arrests listed separately, as well as sex offenses. It’s easy to take the data and adjust for student population, to get a comparable rate from school to school. Again Clery is just a starting point because there are differences in how harshly schools police parties/events/dorms, both on and off campus.
Most schools also do student surveys from time to time, sometimes those results are available in online reports (e.g., Dartmouth does a comprehensive biannual health survey), sometimes the school newspaper reports the data, just takes some digging.
This is really just a test. I’ve been a member since 2012 and have never been able to get this to work. At my D’s school they give a warning then a suspension then you get expelled.
Being close to a town, especially walking distance or a short Uber, keeps alot of the drinking off campus for the 21+ crowd who really dont’ want to hang with the freshman anyways lol. I know at my D’s school, there are some parties in the dorms but most take place in the upperclass apartments and even then, according to her, its mostly pre-gaming before they head into town. All the kids know where to find the cheap brew and food and can walk there.
Counter therory: large universities in urban areas are easily “served” by local community with access to anything, less people are “watching”, and there is simply more volume of activity. Plus, one would think the smaller LACs would have its allotment of abstained and kids who simply “know better” for themselves focused on their own end-game. I’d also add, that the school policies atsmaller LACs are more strictly enforced and often self-policed vs. a reliance on local enforcement often busy elsewhere.