<p>That’s sad…but the last line echos many students and young people…" the glorious upsides are temporary anaesthesia" I guess it’s sad that so many want to feel numb so young. I hear 20 year olds saying that they just want to forget. It doesn’t scare them that much to black out, they brag about it, but deep down, they must feel a big hole somewhere in their lives.</p>
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<p>I wonder if that is more of a commentary on the colleges or a commentary on what people that age are prone to doing?</p>
<p>On the other hand, a residential college tends to have living environments concentrating people of that age, perhaps making such things both easier to do and more visible.</p>
<p>the highest percentage of heavy drinkers in the US are found in the 18-25 year old age group. The peak for drinking is between ages 20-21, for the entire population. Heavy drinkers are defined as having had five or more drinks on the same occaison on at least five different days within a month. The incidence of heavy drinking is about 15 percent with a peak occurance of 20% at twenty one. This is self-reported, which is always underestimated, but not corrected for within the study.</p>
<p>So, if you look at the mean age of some college campuses, you are simply going to have a heavy drinking demographic as your residents. </p>
<p>This number has stayed pretty consistent for quite some time.</p>
<p>These numbers are from the NIAA, in Bethesda MD.</p>
<p>My daughter is abroad on a gap year, with a program that draws from 6 countries where the drinking age is 18, which it is in the host country as well. There is A LOT of drinking going on. Especially in remote rural locations with little else to do. Just like here.</p>