- I should clarify that it's not the parents that are the problem (unless they're extremely restrictive, then they are), I think the problem is that since the government prohibits drinking until 21, kids don't get to ease into alcohol. If kids could go out and get a few drinks at 18 or 19 at a bar or restaurant, they would learn a lot more about drinking than if they show up at college and start slamming plastic handle vodka (and mixing liquor) because all the older more experienced kids are doing it, and that's all that's accessible to them as underage kids.
I do think that parents have to be realistic and accept that there’s going to be booze at college, and should therefore teach their kids about not mixing liquor, about blood alcohol levels, and about how weight, gender, etc can impact a person’s ability to drink copious amounts of liquor.
- About the sexual assaults being related to alcohol, I think we need to separate two things. Sexual assault as far as unwanted groping, attention, remarks, etc, are definitely related to alcohol, masculinity (particularly the confidence that comes with alcohol). But I don't think alcohol is what causes it. I think it's the toxic masculinity complex that a lot of people are taught by their fathers. That they have to "be a man" and go out and get what they want. I was fortunate enough to grow up with a single mother so I didn't get that, but my stepfather tried to enforce it when he came into the picture (and I moved out of my house once I was 18 to get away from that toxic attitude). You can see the failure of parenting so clearly with people like Brock Turner. His parents, and all the people supporting his family, don't see this as a problem with the American culture, but I think that's what it is.