You wake up in a cold, dark room that reeks of vomit. The curtain over the window inhibits you from knowing what time of day it is or where you are. You hear the breath of another, but the thought of finding out whose it is or where it's coming from frightens you.
Maybe you've experienced this or maybe you know someone who has. It's possible that ending up in such a scary type of situation is a normal occurrence for you, or it could be that it's your worst fear ever. Either way, imagining such an event is a frightening thought to say the least.
Heavy drinking has become a popular trend, accepted by society as part of the “college scene.” We see these types of things these in the movies we watch, on television, and across social media. But it’s not just a form of the imagination anymore. The use of alcohol and binge drinking more specifically, has caused unethical behavior and is being abused by college students. If the legal drinking age was to become 18 rather than 21, I believe that we would see a huge decrease in how dependent college students have become on alcohol.
When I got to college, I realized how big an issue all this really was. I felt like, and I still feel sometimes, that if I don’t go out on the weekends to party or get drunk, that I’m no longer “cool” or “fun.” I feel that sometimes going to a party or a kickback is the only way to meet people. The reason why I don’t find joy in these things though is because alcoholism has exposed me to a world that I am resolved to never be a part of. I have experienced its abuse firsthand, and I have seen how destructive it can be.
It’s no secret as to why drinking is so popular though. Among many other things, drinking makes people feel relaxed. It limits the social restrictions one would normally have and provides them with a carefree attitude that makes it easier to meet new friends and to step outside of their comfort zone.
But what happens when that person drinks too much and later finds out that they have HIV? Or when the girl who all the guys are in love with suddenly becomes pregnant? What happens when you get fired from your job because of a picture that ended up online and wasn’t supposed to? When you get the call, telling you that your friend just died in a car accident because nobody at the party was sober enough to take away his keys?
All of the things that once seemed “cool” suddenly become a stupid mistake that no matter what you do, they can’t be undone...and you’re back to the same feeling of doubt — the same feeling of loneliness and insecurity that you had before. My grandpa once said that, “Whenever you think about doing something to alter your reality, you should stop and ask yourself why.”
The National Institute of Health proved in 2015 that four out of five college students drink alcohol, and that out of those who do consume alcohol, half of them don’t just drink — but they binge drink. Meaning that, a student will consume four to five drinks in a row with the sole purpose of becoming intoxicated. Beth Mcmurtrie works for The New York Times and wrote in 2010 that,
“The binge drinking rate among college students has hovered above 40 percent for two decades, and signs are that partying is getting even harder. More students now drink to get drunk, choose hard liquor over beer and drink in advance of social events. For many the goal is to black out.”
This in turn, is what results in disastrous consequences that people aren’t willing to pay the price of. There was a study done on students between the ages of 18 to 24 that worked to find out some of the numbers in which alcohol has been the cause of. According research done, approximately 1,825 deaths occur each year, in addition to 690,000 cases of assault, 97,000 victims of sexual abuse, 599,000 injuries and 150,000 health problems. 3.3 million drive intoxicated, 13 percent of people have unprotected sex while under the influence, 25 percent struggle academically, and 1.2 to 1.5 percent have attempted suicide.
College presidents, organizations and concerned parents all over are trying to attack the issue of underage drinking. According to the Center for Disease and Control in 2015, so far, some ideas for prevention include: education and awareness programs, behavioral interventions, national media campaigns, enforcement of the drinking laws, and more. This in my opinion, is one of the most superficial things I’ve ever heard. Because it doesn’t matter how many billboards get put up or how hard police start to hammer down on laws. One way or another, people will continue to get what they want.
In 2015 Gabrielle Glaser, from the New York Times put it this way: “Raising the drinking age hasn’t reduced drinking —it’s merely driven it underground, to the riskiest of settings: unsupervised school blowouts and fraternity parties that make 'Animal House' look quaint.”
There is a skybridge on the campus of Portland State that reads “Let Knowledge Serve the City.” How’re we supposed to do that though, when we have people deciding for us what is right and wrong? If I remember correctly, college is the time when you mature into adulthood and begin to make your own decisions. Even outside of Portland, all these laws are doing is making adults feel like children who can't be trusted.
So many places in our world have already been exposed to a legal drinking age of 18, and America hasn't changed theirs since 1984. In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette there was a story told by Bill Schackner, of a college student named Sarah Rafson who attends school in Canada and has experienced both of these laws. Compared to being in America, Schackner says that Sarah “swears she sees fewer instances of her peers slamming down drink after drink than she does in the United States. Her own birthday celebration in November, the day she sipped her first legal drop of alcohol, stopped at a couple of drinks, and she’s been a light drinker since." Sarah expressed that it's legal, therefore it's not a big deal.
Obviously not every college student is like Sarah. No matter where you go, there will always be people who only drink to get drunk and don’t weigh out the consequences first. However, I do believe that if the drinking age was lowered, so many of the bad situations students find themselves in could very well be solved. For example, going to a public place when you do decide to drink, being able call a friend or the police when an accident does happen instead of trying to deal with it yourself, having the ability to be honest with your doctor and so much more.
New York Times Gabrielle Glaser also said in 2015 that, “American 18-year olds have the right to vote, marry, buy guns and join the military. They’re astute enough to defend their country, decide elected officials and serve on a jury -- but not regulate their own appetites? They deserve the chance to learn.”
Yes, we will choose poorly at times. There will be days when we look in the mirror and think, “What the hell was I thinking?” There will be times when disappointment and failure seem to be the only thing surrounding us. But making the right choices and actually committing to change comes much easier when you’re the one choosing for yourself; not somebody else.
