<p>Is this because of age restrictions on alcohol? Or because kids don't know other ways to socialize?</p>
<p>Probably both. They should lower the drinking age to something reasonable.</p>
<p>The drinking on campus was just as bad back in the day when the age in most States was 18. Why are we failing at erasing this as a right of passage? Truly confounding.</p>
<p>why is there so much smoking in high school (well and in college)..</p>
<p>sort of hard to explain really...a lot of factors...boredom for a few, the novelty for some, the desire for release for a lot...the smoking...hmm...well it depends on which kind, but nicotine does give a buzz, as does marijuana, obviously.</p>
<p>why is there so much smoking in high school (well and in college)..</p>
<p>Thats a damn good question - its beyond terrible for you... COPD, anyone?</p>
<p>It's probably because kids are away from home for the first time and many kind of go wild with the freedom -- it seems exciting and it is a taste of a forbidden fruit -- and of course, "everybody" is doing it.</p>
<p>mamochka, I wsh I had the answer for you. What makes an intelligent student bend under the desire to belong to the group and drink shots of alchohol or water until they die? Unfortunately, there are probably as many answers as there are students.</p>
<p>Peer pressure, forbidden fruit and the all pervasive idea that it's normal to have a drinking stage in college are the obvious reasons. I've found a trend though, around my kids friends, not to drink at college. I'm not going to say that they haven't gone to any drinking parties at all but that I don't think any of them have gotten into that habit. As we've been looking at colleges, my son and I have visited four schools with my son's or daughters College freshman friends and all talked frankly about how they have managed to find like minded people that don't drink. I do know someone that went to a state college and had a very difficult first semester because she couldn't find "her people". She's sort of a straight-edge punkish person with artsy tendencies, majoring in musical education. She did find them though, and now loves her school.</p>
<p>"Everybody" is doing it, and, somehow, "everybody" (including many parents) finds it to be a good enough reason...</p>
<p>
[quote]
What makes an intelligent student bend under the desire to belong to the group and drink shots of alchohol or water until they die?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Fraternities.</p>
<p>Football....and fear of sex (or the hunt for it.)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.duke.edu/%7Eamwhite/Adolescence/adolescent3.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.duke.edu/~amwhite/Adolescence/adolescent3.html</a>
some studies have found the reasoning part of brain doesn't mature till 23 or so.</p>
<p>...stupidity?</p>
<p>Good times. Same reason they drive too fast, ski too fast, etc. Time to explore boundaries.</p>
<p>Location. Much more drinking in rural schools than in city schools (or at least that I've seen). This goes to boredom.</p>
<p>Stress. Doctors and lawyers have some of the highest rates of alcoholism; you need some way to get a release. </p>
<p>Then the usual immaturity/rite of passage/fitting in/newfound freedom/pledging fraternities (although some allow "dry pledges")</p>
<p>puritanical parents.</p>
<p>The idea that college is time for drinking. A lot of my classmates who dont drinnk in HS (and many do drink now), assume they'll drink in college, even while underage b/c "you know, everyone drinks in college." Pop culture really perpetuates the myth that all college is about is getting boozed up. It's hard to fight</p>
<p>Okay, though i agree that some of what has been mentioned is relevant, I have another angle on this to consider.</p>
<p>We have a cluture where there is amost zero delineation between being a kid and an adult-- EXCEPT adults get to drink, smoke & have sex, and kids don't. There is no coming of age ritual that brings the positive elements of adulthood into focus, marks the passage to adulthood, celebrates the important stuff, etc. How, in our culture, can a teenager feel different, older, & more important-- what are available formal routes... employment, college, yes-- but maybe the need is there earlier? Many other cultures mark this passage better than ours does.</p>
<p>This was one of the main reasons our family encouraged our kids to have a bat & bar mitzvah. We are not particularly religious, but we wanted to celebrate the passage in a positive way, and to mark a ritual division between childhood & adulthood. </p>
<p>Learning Hebrew is an intellectual task (based on the notion that an adult should be able to read the bible in Hebrew) and it is difficult; it takes a lot of preparation, and it is a big acccomplishment; thus it's much more meaningful as a "bridge" than simply lighting up or pounding jello shots. Also, there are the mitzvot (good works) that the kid picks and does-- taking on the adult responsibility of making the world a better place.</p>
<p>Obviously the bar mitzvah is not a cure-all and plenty of kids manage to find other ways of feeling grown up without getting bombed, but I do think it is a pity that there are not more positive rites of passage out there for kids.</p>
<p>My S's school says it dies down a lot by junior year as the newfound freedom accounts for a lot of it. They also said some of it is brought to campus by kids who drink in HS. It is an ongoing issue for all schools and it is interesting how differently it is approached. Schools that are very strict seeem to send drinking off campus and then drinking and driving becomes a huge issue.</p>