Summary and response for Seaman: ” How Bingeing Became the New College Sport”
Summary
“ Pregaming” or sitting in a dorm room or an off-campus apartment and drinking as much hard liquor as possible before heading out for the evening’s parties is a common practice in American campuses which came into exist among the college students in the 1990’s. Alcohol purchase or use is prohibited for students below 21 years of age in America which resulted in pregaming like activities and subsequent hospitalizations due to alcohol poisoning. When such incidents occur, the authorities will declare that they will strictly enforce the laws with respect to underage drinking which is not the right solution for this problem. According to the U. S laws, persons who completed 18 years of age are matured enough to vote whereas only after the completion of 21 years of age, they are matured enough to drink. Even though the above law helped saving the lives of many youths from alcohol related driving accidents and alcohol poisoning, it resulted in the creation of an unintended culture around forbidden alcoholism among the youths. College life is perceived also as an opportunity for drinking by the youths. “ Drinking has been an aspect of college life since the first Western universities in the 14th century” (Seaman). In the 90’s the beer culture in college campuses were shifted to hard liquor culture. It is better to lower the drink age to 18 even if some problems may occur initially. The initial thirst for drinking may settle after some time and the students will definitely concentrate more on studies thereafter, as witnessed in the Montreal’s McGill University. Montreal’s McGill University, which enrolls about 2, 000 American undergraduates a year, reported that many students, when they first arrive, go overboard, exploiting their ability to drink legally. “ But by midterms, when McGill’s demanding academic standards must be met, the vast majority has put drinking into its practical place among their priorities” (Seaman). In short, drink age should be lowered to 18 from 21.
Response
In my opinion, lowering of drink age from 21 to 18 is not a wise step. It is a fact that the voting rights were allotted to those who completed 18 years of age. At the same time we must visualize the voting right and drink age as two separate issues. Drinking will destroy the ability of a person to think rationally. Giving voting rights at 18 years of age is a strategy for developing political awareness and interest among students. Such tactics will motivate students to think deeply about politics and they will actively engage in the construction of the nation. On the other hand over exposing to alcohol at an early age may result in alcohol addiction. Alcoholism involves only destructive elements and there is no point in injecting such destructive elements at an early age itself. Students at their adolescent period are more vulnerable to social evils because of their risk taking attitudes and lack of rational thinking. It is difficult for them to evaluate things logically at this period because of the over activity of the growth hormones. Alcoholism may encourage them to engage in unfavorable activities like violence, sexual exploitation etc. In short, in my opinion, exposing of youths to alcoholism at 18 years of age is not a wise strategy at all.
Works Cited
1. Seaman Barrett. 2005. “ How Bingeing Became the New College Sport”. 31 May 2010.
