My topic hasn't changed since my last post, I'm still going to focus on why college kids binge drink even though it can be so detrimental for many reasons and I'm going to discuss what those reasons are. I was able to find a lot of easily available statistics about drinking by just doing a Google search. Also, I found an article that argued that college kids that binge drink are happier than students that don't. There are also multiple books written on this subject, some by Professors with first hand knowledge. By searching on Amazon I was able to find some of these books with reviews and some useful information.
Google:
http://youngadults.about.com/od/healthandsafety/a/Alcohol.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/08/20/binge-drinking-college-students-report-being-happier/
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/College-Drinking-Reframing-Social-Problem/dp/0275999815/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1360990021&sr=8-2&keywords=drinking+in+college
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/17/139713669/explaining-why-students-love-getting-wasted
A main reason for drinking that I've picked up on is for it's social aspect. Many kids drink because they feel it's necessary to fit in. It's a way of being accepted by everyone in college.
I think you are right about drinking being a way to "fit in" -- perhaps by not "standing out" academically. It almost seems like a conspiracy to reduce everyone's ability to focus on academic work so that professors will not be able to expect too much from students in general. I am not surprised that drinkers might be happier than non-drinkers: they get what matters to them, which is social acceptance. Academically oriented students can gain a different sort of social acceptance, in the "other" culture of academics. But they will always feel like they are missing out.
ReplyDeleteIt's as though there are "two cultures" at college: academic culture (encouraged by professors and followed by nerds) and "student life" or "party culture" (which becomes the social norm). The two are at war with each other. Anthropologist Michael Moffatt gets at this somewhat with what he calls "undergraduate cynical," by which students refuse to get too serious about their studies or allow serious discussion of academic issues within the extra-curricular space of the dorm or social life. In that space, academic concerns are just "bullshit."
I don't know if that idea might help you, but it seems like one explanation for the persistence of college drinking despite the seeming need for a focus on academics in the age of privatization. The culture of "student life" is anti-establishment, anti-academic -- and it has a life of its own as a living culture. I'm curious if one could define its norms and values, and explain why alcohol fits so well with those values. The culture seems to focus on "instant gratification" (versus delayed gratification required in academic work) and being "laid back" (as opposed to the nervous uptightness required for the highest academic success). But there seem to be other values at work too.
Just some thoughts. Ultimately, you want to try to frame a discussion of why drinking is the way of "being accepted." By what logic? Why is that still the case?