<p>Thank you RoxSox!</p>
<p>And yes Wis75 I am definitely an alcoholic. Come on, let’s get real.</p>
<p>^ Good match - you picked a legendary university for mass consumption of alcoholic beverages.</p>
<p>Young people can be alcoholics before they are of legal age. Binge drinking on weekends and not daily drinking can be part of it. Not good for your liver. Hopefully you will outgrow this immature behavior. It is sad that parents condone alcohol use and you need it for a crutch to have a “good time”. You are not coming from the most elite HS culture nor joining it in college, despite any popularity among your peer group.</p>
<p>Guess wis75 has never been to an elite east coast prep school or a party at a Princeton eating club. Drinking and/or drugs are pretty much par among the elite.
UW studies have found most move on after college and are not problem drinkers later in life.</p>
<p>This is one of the saddest posts on CC that I have seen. As a daughter of an alcoholic (now sober 25 years) I know that propensity for alcoholism is hereditary and although most students gets through college without being addicted, some do end up as alcoholics. Its just so sad to know that some students are going to eventually ruin their lives. There is nothing anybody can do about this because everyone makes their own choices. However adults should discourage underage drinking rather than condone it.</p>
<p>Well, if it is hereditary it would be pretty hard to avoid now would it not. And you would likely know that and maybe act accordingly just like people with seafood allergies. . But for most that is not an issue and you have your fun and grow up. Part of the human development model. Young adults test limits in all ways. Nothing sad about that. But there will be a few sad outcomes and that’s just as necessary too. You cannot protect people from every threat. You test your own limits and learn from that.
Outside BYU and Liberty U you will not find many places such things don’t go on.</p>
<p>Just because I want my parents to get me alcohol and I want to sneak it in the dorms doesn’t mean I’m going to binge drink and get wasted every day of the week. I partied in high school, I’ve partied with my friends all this summer, we know how to have fun without it, we have had fun without it, we do like to have fun with it, no harm in that!</p>
<p>^I’d say that’s the general opinion of most people on campus.</p>
<p>Kjcphmom, I agree with you-- this is sad.</p>
<p>On a somewhat positive note, I was encouraged at SOAR by the talks given to parents by Police/University Health Officials. I felt they presented a realistic picture of the problems that binge drinking causes at Madison. (Yes, I am well aware, the problems are similar elsewhere.) If I recall correctly, they said there were 151 emergency room admissions for alcohol toxicity during the last school year. They said that many of the admissions are during the fall term, when freshmen go too far with their new freedom.</p>
<p>The alcohol talks came just prior to a lunch break, and we had really interesting conversations during the break with other parents–who I thought had a realistic level of concern about alcohol abuse. There was no down playing of the problems–and none of the usual “rite of passage” rationalizations.</p>
<p>One parent told of a very recent death from alcohol toxicity of a 15 year old from her child’s high school.</p>
<p>Another mother told the story about what happened to her son a few years ago–at a different mid western college. She said that she received a phone call from her son’s roommates saying that they hadn’t seen him for 24 hours and were concerned. This mother frantically called all the hospital emergency rooms in the area repeatedly. She was told that since he was over age 18, they couldn’t give out any information, even if they had it. Finally, after many calls and several days, the person at the hospital took pity on her–mother to mother, and said that she could lose her job for telling her this information. She said her son had been admitted to the ER for an alcohol overdose, and had been discharged at 4 am. She had no information on where to or how he was discharged --or what kind of shape he was in when discharged. Was he discharged to his own devices? Did he even have a coat etc? (There were subzero temps at the time.) The mom fortunately had a friend- of- a -friend relationship with local law enforcement and they tracked the son down to a detox facility several hours away from the college. (I’m guessing closer facilities were full.) You could see the fear in this poor mother as she told this story. I think her son was “missing” for about four days.</p>
<p>There were other stories, but none quite so dramatic as those above. My wife and I commented that this was one of the most honest, revealing conversations we had ever had with other parents. We were pleased at what I think was an appropriate level of concern about alcohol. And I’m guessing that none of these parents were going to “load up” their students with alcohol during the move in. I tip my cap to the police/health speakers at SOAR for setting the tone.</p>
<p>I think that one thing that baby boomer parents are not aware of is the ratcheting up of the binge drinking culture amongst college students since we were of college age. There have been several cultural changes–students have moved away from beer and more towards the hard stuff. Students “pregame”–ie take a bunch of shots prior to going out to a bar or party. Drinking games, that (surprise!) encourage over consumption are the norm.</p>
<p>Here is a thought provoking essay about alcohol culture written by a student:</p>
<p>[Sober</a> in the Animal House - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/sober-in-the-animal-house/]Sober”>Sober in the Animal House - The New York Times)</p>
<p>NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” had a segment on alcohol abuse on college campuses Wednesday:</p>
<p>[Talk</a> of the Nation : NPR](<a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=5&prgDate=08-17-2011]Talk”>http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=5&prgDate=08-17-2011)</p>
<p>Another worthy link:</p>
<p>[#1</a> Party School | This American Life](<a href=“http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/396/1-party-school]#1”>http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/396/1-party-school)</p>
<p>MNflyer- There are horrible stories of students who push their alcohol consumption too far. This happens nationwide, but Madison does indeed have a high level of alcohol use. Because of this, most parents (usually the overbearing ones) are scared to death that their child who has only been drunk once is going to drink themselves to death within the first couple months at Madison. Most of this comes from a psychological phenomenon called the availability heuristic - people often overestimate the frequency of events if they can recall vivid examples easily. The truth is that the majority of students quickly develop the capacity and skill set to balance academics for 5 days, then relieving stress during the weekend, which often involves alcohol.</p>
<p>@MNFlyer</p>
<p>I read the NYT article and I have to say it’s sort of what I expected. Someone who is totally sober decrying the evils of drinking while citing over the top and wild anecdotes as supporting evidence. Of course some (maybe a lot) of people take drinking too far, but you can easily binge drink every week and stay out of the hospital, avoid throwing up, and if you have good tolerance even avoid a hangover! It’s all about knowing your limits and being smart, while also hanging out with people who have the same mindset. Drinking is fun and it’s one of the few drugs that’s socially acceptable, so enjoy it!</p>
<p>I believe we have so many incidents of kids not knowing their limits and binge drinking is due to the conservative views many people have here. People tell their kids “don’t drink” “you’ll end up an alcoholic” etc. And when kids finally get their freedom and go to college they binge drink because many haven’t had the opportunity to get drunk.</p>
<p>I went to school for a semester in England this past semester. I was surprised that 3 dorms buildings had bars in the lobby. The student center had a big night club in it, and the university promoted its bars and club to the students. And this was a school that was ranked in the top 10 in the UK. That would be crazy if a school in the USA did that. </p>
<p>But even with that type of drinking culture I never heard of students getting drunk to the point where they need to get taken to the hospital. While back here in the USA I would here of an acquaintance getting taken to the hospital every 1-2 weeks. </p>
<p>Also, I am the type that drinks on average 3 nights during the school year, I’ve also gone about 7 straight days drinking once while also at school. However during the summer(3 months) I’ve only gotten drunk 2 times. My roommate was just like me. People need to relax, we’re in college and people just want to have a good time.</p>
<p>It is better to not develop a dependency on alcohol as your crutch for relaxation. You need to find a better way to relax. A good, or even better, time can be had when sober. You can be just as silly et al without alcohol supressed brain functions. Your habits sound like those of an alcoholic. “7 straight days” is not alcohol free- try for a month or two. </p>
<p>Wisconsin is NOT known for a conservative drinking culture- your statement about that is not a reason for problems. Going to the hospital is not the the criteria to use to guage the severity of alcohol related problems.</p>
<p>UW promotes beer in its Union. England also has alcohol problems in its culture. Anecdotal posts like the one above do not offer good logic for drinking.</p>
<p>People round the world drink because it is often a part of socializing and fun. That goes from Paris to Madrid to Oslo to Tokyo. You just need to learn how to handle it within normal bounds. The idea that it is to be absolutely avoided is just absurd in most Western cultures. And in colleges world 'round.</p>
<p>The definition of “normal” depends on the culture. There is a difference in abstinence normal drinking and the posted drinking proposed here. Planning on regular drinking as stated sounds like a dependency and sends red flag warnings. Alcohol can be enjoyed but students should also plan on being able to party and enjoy themselves without that addicting crutch. The ability to handle large quantities of alcohol is not to be admired- it speaks of problems. </p>
<p>No student should feel they need to drink to fit in or that the students who boast of capacity, quantity to have on hand or plans to do regular drinking are to be admired.</p>
<p>For most alcohol is hardly that addicting. It’s a phase, but drinking and blanking out regularly is too much drinking. </p>
<p>[Why</a> some phase out of college binge drinking and others are alcoholic | Psychology Today](<a href=“http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-high-functioning-alcoholic/200906/why-some-phase-out-college-binge-drinking-and-others-are-]Why”>Why some phase out of college binge drinking and others are alcoholic | Psychology Today)</p>
<p>[Greek</a> Membership Does Not Predict Post-College Drinking Levels](<a href=“http://mentalhealth.about.com/library/sci/0301/blcoldrnk301.htm]Greek”>Stop Worrying by Staying Present With Mindfulness)</p>
<p><a href=“http://my.ilstu.edu/~dfgrayb/Personal/College%20Students%20and%20Problematic%20Drinking.pdf[/url]”>http://my.ilstu.edu/~dfgrayb/Personal/College%20Students%20and%20Problematic%20Drinking.pdf</a></p>
<p>Recently I attended a talk given by the Dean of Students from a LAC. The topic was related to chemical health issues on college campuses. He said that approximately 60% of his and his staff’s time was spent on chemical health related problems–mainly alcohol. He’s read the studies, attended the conferences and talked with his peers. And, of course, he’s dealt with the issue in real life. In real life, there are students who don’t fit nicely into the “work hard, play hard” mold. They’ve been hospitalized, had issues with the police, been on either end of some sexual victimization incidents, had academic problems etc.</p>
<p>He said a couple of things that, to me, were surprising–and contradict some of the comments from people above on this thread. The ideas concerned “learning how to drink”. There is the idea that if alcohol wasn’t somewhat taboo, if young people learned how to drink moderately at home–like in Europe–that there would be less excessive behavior amongst college aged students. The Dean debunked this idea–saying that Europeans are also experiencing the over-the-top kind of excessive alcohol related behaviors that we are experiencing. (a quick google search seems to confirm this.) </p>
<p>The other idea is that the students who have experienced alcohol related consequences on campus are the inexperienced, naive students–those kept on a short leash in high school by their over zealous parents. These students “haven’t learned how to drink”. The Dean said that this is not at all true. In fact, the students who have the most problems are those who already had well established drinking habits in high school. (Maybe this shouldn’t be too surprising–considering that perhaps 50-75% of high schoolers are drinkers.)</p>
<p>It is good to note, as Barrons does, that most people survive their college drinking escapades intact. However, I’m concerned about those who don’t. I’m also not a big fan of the “work hard, play hard” idea. I can’t see how someone who is under the influence of alcohol three to four days a week can possibly be making the most of the tremendous opportunities available on college campuses–academic and otherwise.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago, an incoming UW-Madison freshman fell from a balcony during a party the week before classes started. He is paralyzed. I believe it was alcohol related. BE CAREFUL.</p>
<p>MNFlyer- are you a student? Good information.</p>