<p>dude she is a mom..she will never see it our way. thats why i dont argue with her.</p>
<p>i have no point idmom, whats yours?</p>
<p>Let me explain "your logic" and the reason why I brought up the Honor Code as an example (not a superceeding topic, as you suggest was my intention).</p>
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[quote]
i believe it is agreed upon that the purpose of the law is not to wipe out underage drinking but to limit its excess. just because underage drinking is technically illegal does not mean we want it removed from our society completely, just limited as much as a law and a police force can realistically limit.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You're welcome to your opinion, of course, but the law states that the purchase or providing of alcohol to persons under 21 is illegal. It doesn't give an exemption for, oh, say, the first 500 people in a month or any other bit of leeway that might imply that its intent is to merely limit and not eradicate drinking under that age. The fact that the practical limitations of enforcement can't stop underage drinking completely, and therefore is only capable of limiting the amount that does occur, does not imply any intent into the law.</p>
<p>Now... why did I bring up the Honor Code? Well, thankfully, you've made my point. You state that you believe that no cheating at all should be allowed. What makes the Honor Code such a zero-tolerance issue in your mind versus underage drinking? They're both rules set forth by some subset of society and imposed on a larger group. What makes one more special than the other? In fact, underage drinking has a much greater chance of ruining or even ending the lives of innocent people whereas cheating at Rice and getting suspended or thrown out only directly affects the lives of those involved. In a general case, I'd prefer someone take their chances cheating at Rice than drinking while underage.</p>
<p>In no way did I mean to imply that the Honor Code was more important a topic, nor did I mean to steer the thread elsewhere, but it IS a valid example in the context I've provided.</p>
<p>Finally, you ask me to back up my earlier statements. No problem, there's plenty out there. Thanks to my friends at the National</a> Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Acoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health:</p>
<p>Maturing</a> Out of Problematic Alcohol Use by Patrick M. O'Malley, Ph.D., professor, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research</p>
<p>Environmental</a> Influences on Young Adult Drinking by Wagenaar (University of Florida College of Medicine), Toomey and Lenk (School of Public Health, University of Minnesota)
which provides a very to-the-point passage:</p>
<p>
[quote]
The primary and most-studied alcohol control measure relevant to underage youth is the establishment of the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) at 21. Many well-controlled longitudinal studies have shown that an MLDA of 21 is effective in reducing alcohol consumption and traffic crashes among 18- to 20-year-olds, and some investigators have found that the age-21 MLDA is associated with reductions in other problems among underage youth, such as alcohol-related suicide and vandalism (Wagenaar and Toomey 2002). One study examined whether the age-21 MLDA had a spillover effect on the drinking behavior of 21- to 25-year-olds (OMalley and Wagenaar 1991). This research found that college students who had been high school seniors in States with an MLDA of 18 drank more while in college than their counterparts who had been high school seniors in States with an MLDA of 21. High school graduates of the same age who were not attending college also drank more on average if they had been seniors in States with an MLDA of 18.
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<p>There are many more articles and studies available if you'll take the time to dig for them. I have a feeling you won't be convinced no matter what the argument, so I'll stop there. But do go visit the NIAAA, lots of stuff to read. Enjoy.</p>
<p>I know the consequences of drinking alcohol and that is why I asked the original question. If I send my kid to Rice - at great expense, am I really setting him/her up for much pressure to drink? </p>
<p>Rice students, in your best estimate, what percentage of students at Rice are well-established drinkers vs. 100% abstainers? What are people's viewpoints there about nondrinkers?</p>
<p>I never felt any pressure to drink. In fact, the only pressure I felt with regard to alcohol while at Rice was an overwhelming pressure to not judge other people simply based upon their partaking-preferences. You can drink, or you can not drink, but the peer pressure is primarily directed towards <em>not</em> pressuring anybody to drink or not to drink, one way or the other.</p>
<p>Unless things have drastically changed in two years, and I seriously doubt that they have, since it was such a pervasive attitude of non-pressure, I wouldn't worry about sending my son or daughter to Rice as a parent concerned with subjecting my teen to pressure to drink alcohol.</p>
<p>Agreed. I was <em>never</em> in a social situation that pressured me to drink, even when I was off-campus at parties where alcohol was being served (and consumed by nearly everyone else at the time). I made friends that would drink occasionally, I made friends that would drink regularly (never to excess), and I made friends that never consumed a drop. All three groups overlapped somewhat and it was NEVER an issue.</p>
<p>I chose not to associate with people who obviously drank too much, and they do exist at Rice. I can't say what the peer-pressure is like in those situations, but drinking is certainly not a requirement for social status at Rice UNLESS an individual <em>chooses</em> to let it become one. If your child tends to jump on a bandwagon -- any bandwagon -- to feel "secure" or "popular," then there's an increased chance that he/she will take up drinking (or something else); the stuff exists, and it's available. </p>
<p>If your child wishes to consume alcohol, s/he will be able to find it. If your child doesn't want to, they won't feel pressured. Pure and simple.</p>
<p>no pressure man...</p>
<p>Yeah, there's a ton of other stuff to do, and no pressure to do anything in particular. According to Wellness Center surveys, about 22% of Rice students completely abstain, and a very large portion drink lightly or moderately.</p>
<p>Now, you have to know yourself (or your child). Are you the kind of person who takes a lot of risks? Do you have trouble thinking for yourself? If so, then you might be more likely to drink (heavily) in college. But that wouldn't be specific to Rice.</p>
<p>Thanks to all.</p>