<p>Are any other parents appalled at the level of drinking that appears to go on at most college campuses today? I have to wonder why we parents pay to have our children immerse themselves in that sort of environment. I have to wonder why college administrators tolerate that sort of environment. </p>
<p>As parents and administrators, it seems we do more than simply tolerate the drinking on college campuses; we actually encourage it by our silence. Our society surely sends a strong message to college freshmen that drinking is expected of them now that they're in college, and we adults seem to do little to counter this expectation. </p>
<p>Do the adults in America need to provide some leadership on this issue? As things now stand, the tail is definitely wagging the dog!</p>
<p>I'd like to hear others' opinions about this. Thanks!</p>
<p>in the 1960's 'Society' decided that college students were 'adults'. As a result the universities no longer served as loco parentis (sic) . Thus the current situation, which was similar to my day in the late 70's ... </p>
<p>Our baby boom ideals now come home to roost</p>
<p>I was a college kid in the 80s. We drank a LOT. In fact, I can't imagine any kids could now be drinking more than we did back then. Maybe nothing has changed regarding kids or colleges; all that has changed is us.</p>
<p>Heartland: I hope my kids don't do what I did. However, I'll equip them as best as possible to make the right choices. However, there are "dry" campuses if it's of great concern for you.</p>
<p>okay im not a parent but in ap psychology i watched a video on drunk driving and it scared the s h i t out of me. so u guys should make ur kids take ap psychology. its boring but it scares u from alcohol at least.</p>
<p>I didn't have to make them take it. They chose to take it.</p>
<p>I'd say whether or not someone takes AP Psych, most health classes (which are required in most states, as opposed to AP Psych), cover drinking and driving, and most schools hold some sort of assembly or event right before prom to discourage it.</p>
<p>It seems to me that parents should be more worried about the rampant drinking at high schools than at colleges, because the drinking that goes on at high schools is done mostly by inexperienced children who are just drinking cheap alcohol to get drunk, not to enjoy the taste. Plus, the same kids who drink in high school are more likely to keep drinking in college, and the cycle of peer pressure continues. However, I think that the parents of today are probably overworried about the effect of drinking a couple years early: all of the parents reading this board right now are (we assume) productive members of society who care about their children and have the financial security to send them off to college, and most of said parents went to college in the late seventies and eighties, so it doesn't seem like drinking in college is a life-destroying behavior (up to a certain point, of course). If your kid comes home with a permanent hangover, you may have a problem, but if they are getting decent grades and still being a useful member of society, then I say that a little horizon-broadening never hurt anybody.</p>
<p>And before anyone gets suspicious, the only alcohol I've ever had--that I know of--was a sip of Heineken when I was in a European country where I was of legal age to drink. I'm just an eavesdropper and I hear things. And I walk in on people in my hotel room drinking straight vodka. That too.</p>
<p>The difference is today the drinking is with the intention to pass out. With beer you would actually get full and slow down, with the straight stuff, there is no check and you pass out before you know you're drunk. Girls are being sexually assualted in record numbers on college campuses.</p>
<p>Umm, if any of you are familiar with "campus" literature of bygone eras, you will know that excessive drinking among college students is by no means attributable to "boomer ideals" or anything remotely so modern. It shows up in Rabelais and the Carmina Burana, in Shakespeare, in Balzac, Flaubert, Baudelaire, Tolstoi, and Dostoievski, in Fitzgerald, Waugh, Salinger. Students drinking to excess is treated as commonplace in the operas La Boheme and Contes d'Hoffmann. It shows up in the literature of Africa and Asia, and even in that of the Islamic world.</p>
<p>What's different now is that we are LESS accepting of it than ever (or almost ever), and that college costs so much that the OP's question makes a lot of sense. But the issue isn't whether we want to go back to the good old days of in loco parentis, it's whether we want to try to achieve something never (or hardly ever) achieved before.</p>
<p>Are any other parents appalled at the level of drinking that appears to go on at most college campuses today?</p>
<p>Just as I haven't seen that high schoolers drink as much as students did 30 years ago, I haven't seen that students 18-21, today are much different than the percentage of the population that isn't attending college.</p>
<p>Kids drink. Kids have always drunk. Kids always will drink. The only thing that the pervasive "just say no" movement does is to interfere with having reasonable discussions with our children about the subject.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have to wonder why we parents pay to have our children immerse themselves in that sort of environment.
[/quote]
Because what is the alternative? At age 17 or 18, it's time for kids to go off to college and make their own decisions about many things, including whether/how much to drink. I for one would not want to keep my children at home (as if I could) simply so that they wouldn't be exposed to alcohol abuse. Nor do I want to choose their colleges for them (as if I could), based primarily upon which ones offer an environment in which there is no alcohol abuse. And what schools are those, anyway?</p>
<p>The schools that offer an environment in which there is no alcohol abuse tend to have strong religious affiliations, and most of them are not in the very top ranks, academically. Thus, while they may be great choices for some students, they are a poor fit for many others.</p>
<p>If your children aren't a good fit for those types of schools, there is little alternative to sending them to a college where alcohol abuse will be rampant. What choice do families have?</p>
<p>Statement by Joseph A. Califano, Jr. on release of Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America’s Colleges and Universities
One in Four Students Meet Criteria for Dependence
Since 1993, the number of college students who drink and binge drink has remained about the same, but the intensity of excessive drinking and rates of drug abuse have jumped sharply, according to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York City.
A four-year study of college alcohol and drug use, Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America's Colleges and Universities, reveals that each month 49 percent of full-time college students, about 3.8 million, binge drink and/or abuse prescription and illegal drugs. In 2005, approximately 1.8 million of those students, 22.9 percent, met the medical criteria for substance abuse and dependence.
Parents who pay $40,000 to $50,000 a year for room, board and tuition should not have to worry that their daughters will become one of the hundred thousand victims of sexual assault and rape that take place on college campuses every year, or that their children will become one of the 700,000 students assaulted by drunk classmates, or even one of the almost 2,000 students who die from alcohol poisoning and alcohol related injuries
In the general population, an estimated 8.5 percent meet the criteria for substance abuse and dependence, making the proportion almost three times higher for college students.
Partying More Intense
Despite prevention efforts on campuses over the past several years, the report found that there has been no change in the proportion of students who drink (70 compared with 68 percent) and binge drink (40 compared with 40 percent) from 1993 to 2005.
Perhaps more disturbing, the study found that the frequency of excessive drinking has increased sharply:
• Between 1993 and 2001, the proportion of students who binge drink three or more times in the past two weeks is up 16 percent.
• Students who drink on 10 or more occasions in a month, up 25 percent.
• Students who get drunk at least three times a month, increased 26 percent.
• Students who "drink to get drunk," rose 21 percent.</p>
<p>I believe this was discussed in another thread... wasn't the definition of 'binge drinking' changed? As far as prescription drug abuse- that has increased over the past 20 years, with ADD drugs playing a large part (I don't believe those in my generation even knew about ADD, much less a black market for "study enhancing" drugs).</p>
<p>I feel it is parents' responsibility to teach them about alocohol. If we do not believe it is right for our young adults, then it is better for us to educate them before they go off to college. It is unreasonable to expect colleges to become parents/guardians in our place.</p>
<p>I think I have probably done a lot worse things than my daughter has in HS or in college. It's because my parents had no clue of what went on in American schools and we never discussed it at home. I took my experience and talked extensively with my daughter about alcohol (and drugs) while she was in HS. At this point, I hope she has heard enough that she could make some sound decisions in college.</p>
<p>I am a believable of more discussions at home on drinking, rather than more rules by school or government. Kids abuse drinking for many reasons, by having more regulations is not going to make our kids drink more responsibly. I would think schools that do not allow alcohol would have just as many kids drinking, just underground, which is probably more dangerous.</p>
<p>I don't understand how kids going to 'good schools' have the time to constantly party. It makes me think that the schools aren't challenging enough.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have to wonder why we parents pay to have our children immerse themselves in that sort of environment. I have to wonder why college administrators tolerate that sort of environment.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Parents have to pay to get their kids a college education, and have to state their expectations that the kids will behave responsibly and take advantage of their opportunity. As for the administrators, I wonder if they have a feel for the number of kids that aren't allowed to attend away college because of the drinking/partying reputation? I would think the party reputation would hurt some colleges.</p>