Underage Drinking In College

When someone thinks about a Greek Community they normally associate it with what they have learned through stereotypes such as the movie Animal House. The members of the fraternity depicted in this film were not the definition of the ideal college student. They would have parties almost every day along with copious amounts of drinking. Their grades reflected on this when the main members of the movie were kicked out for not maintaining a high enough grade point average. This movie is completely fictional. The members of Kappa Alpha are held to an extremely high standard when it comes to academics and behavior. Robi Rini, the Corresponding Secretary of Kappa

A common myth is that hazing is a “reality” in Frats and sororities. We've all seen it in movies and we've all heard stories from our friends. Hazing can be defined as people or individuals who are forced to do something that is psychologically, physically, or emotionally harmful or damaging (Merriam Webster). Greek organizations all over the world have taken steps in developing human rights policies and strict “anti-hazing” policies to get rid of hazing in all forms from all campuses and fraternities. In the 1980s the movie “Animal House”, became a hit. The movie’s “mocking” of the wild side of fraternity life: binge drinking, hazing, sexual harassment, wild parties, drug use, and poor living conditions, became the American public’s view of Greek life. Many television movies and shows depict the ‘crazy side,’ of Greek life and choose to show its negative side. In doing so, many movies and shows do forget to showcase the beneficial side of joining a Sorority or fraternity and show its positive

Underage drinking is a problem within the US and has been for some time. No matter how hard many businesses try it still goes on because of the kid’s lucrative ways to obtain it. Many kids use fake IDs or have a person of age purchase it for them. This problem of alcohol abuse is most prominently seen it college. One college it often occurs at is Indiana University in Bloomington. The early habit of drinking alcohol can have many bad effects on one’s body at a young age and causes habits, decrease in grades, and other negative outcomes.

Fraternities and sororities are at the center of binge drinking on college campuses. It is proven that in fraternity houses, approximately 80% of students binge, and over 50% binge frequently. Fraternities attract people beyond their members, including high-school seniors, which are future college freshmen that are already being introduced to binge drinking as being a social norm. The majority of alcohol-related deaths of college students involve fraternity parties. College administrators are afraid of acting out against fraternities because they do not want to anger the generous alumni donors who themselves, too, were partying during their college years. Colleges should not wait until a tragic event happens to realize that something must be done about fraternities and the alcohol-related problems that they cause. Also, it is morally wrong to treat alumni better than students, giving them the privilege to drink at events such as homecoming activities and sports. Banning alcohol for just students is not an effective way to gain students’ support for any new alcohol-control policies. It is quite obvious that colleges base their decisions on

Even with all the efforts to enforce an alcohol-free campus, the hard work has fallen to the waste side throughout the life span of the policy. To this very day, students continue to drink illegally in the dorms, in Greek houses on campus property, and in some cases openly around campus. The alcohol policy was put into place to protect the well-being of all concerned in the University community. The history of alcohol consumption at OU was the leading cause of the once wet campus to become dry. The movement to a dry campus began after the death of a freshmen pledge into the Greek system. The freshman had dead from alcohol poising after a night of binge drinking at a fraternity house. The death of the young man promoted leadership at OU to reevaluate the current alcohol policy. Per NBC News “Oklahoma University president David Boren says the one death on his campus was one too many.” (Williams 2004). In January 2005, the campus officially went to a dry campus, with a three-stick policy attached. Students would be given three alcohol policy violations before being expelled from the university (2016) . The leadership at OU had sold grounds for implementing the zero-alcohol policy. As rational as this policy was to implement, it hasn’t been as effective as the University was hoping for. Eliminating alcohol on campus is a far cry from the once wet campus. There is a middle ground that could have

The problem with college drinking is not necessarily the drinking itself, but the negative consequences that occur from excessive drinking. Alcohol abuse takes an enormous toll on the intellectual and social lives of male students on campuses across the country. Almost sixty percent report drinking alcohol every day. Forty percent of college male binge drink in the past thirty days. Peer pressure get the good students and turn them into alcoholics. Severe Impairment such as speech, memory, attention, reaction time, balance significantly. Judgment and decision-making dangerously. You can loss of consciousness. Alcohol is abuse too much by college males.

Often partying, drinking, and hazing are key words that come to mine when talking about fraternities and sororities. “Since 1975, there has been at least one hazing-induced death per year across college campuses—and 82% of these have come as a result of binge drinking” (Glass, Nicole). Greek life leads to a culture of alcohol and drug abuse. Young, inexperienced drinkers find themselves running into trouble when trying to fit in around alcohol. Also there are some organizations that partake in “forcing new members to drink as much as possible” as part of a right of passage (“Joining”). The drinking habits being learned due to Greek life cause a serious threat to a student’s life in the present and in the future. Statistically, “75% of fraternity members engaging in heavy drinking compared with 49%” of non-fraternity members (“15”). Also like fraternity men, “62% of sorority members engage in binge drinking compared with 41%” of non-sorority women (“15”). The likelihood that members in Greek life are more likely to suffer from substance abuse after graduation scare away the timid potential new

Fraternity Policies state, “Chapters may co-sponsor events in men’s facilities such as dorms, lodges, or houses, if and only if, those facilities are alcohol-free. A request for an exception shall be directed to the Risk Management Director.” Chapters failing to follow this policy will be subject to disciplinary action.

One of the biggest stereotypes about being in a fraternity or sorority is that you party and drink a lot. Drinking alcohol is not a focal point of Greek life, although alcohol is at almost every social occasion in Greek life. In Blake’s article it is said that no matter what Greek organization you are a part of underage

has been alleviated at the University of Oklahoma (James 2010). After alcohol prohibited in fraternity and sorority houses and student housings at OU, the president of the inter-fraternity council said that there is less drinking activities on campuses. Instead of spending much time on entertainment or parties, fraternities are shifting their focus on academics and awards. Also, dry policy can actually depress the number of violations on campuses. The OU Student Conduct Office found that from 2007 to 2010, the reported violations fell from 191 to 75 (James 2010). By interviewing almost 100 colleges, including both regular and dry campuses, it was found that students who drank a lot at high school consumed less alcohol at dry campuses. Even

In recent years many universities have begun asking themselves, what can we do to solve the problem? Central Michigan University has alcohol policies for those that live in the dorms, first time that you are found drunk or alcohol is found in your room a fine of $100

The consumption of alcohol as a habitual behavior has long been associated with the American collegiate experience, despite the many known negative consequences a student who partakes in drinking can encounter. Because of the danger drunken students pose to a college’s reputation and the safety of its surrounding areas, much research has been done concerning the collegiate party and drinking scenes. This research mostly studied the demographics of the student body, so strategies developed to curtail the illegal or overconsumption of alcohol could be targeted towards the specific groups that demonstrated the highest likelihood of participating in these acts. When the strategies were implemented, however, there was little decline in the number of college students who chose to party and drink (Vander Ven 2011). This failure did not point toward a flaw in the research data, but instead a lack of research into the benefits a collegiate drinker receives that are rewarding to the point he or she cannot resist. This is the topic of Getting Wasted: Why College Students Drink Too Much and Party So Hard by Thomas Vander Ven.

For countless young adults after high school the next stepping stone is college, however, students are not only learning from the classes they attend, but also from the parties. Consequently, they are being introduced to alcohol and plenty of it; learning how to shotgun a beer or attempt a keg stand is all the rage. Suddenly, people are viewing college binge drinking as a right of passage for even their youngest students. Thus, demands the questioning of lowering the drinking age to counteract college binge drinking. “The reality is that at age 18 in this country, one is a legal adult. Young people view 21 as utterly arbitrary—which it is. And because the explanation given them is so condescending—that they lack maturity and judgment,

College life is filled with changes. It is filled with many new experiences. As college students, we are on our own, adults. As adults we are responsible for keeping up to date on information that affects us. One issue that affects college students nation wide is drinking. The current legal drinking age in the United States is twenty-one years of age. The Federal government raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 in 1984. Even with the current drinking age at twenty-one, many people under that age choose to drink anyway. In fact, a government survey from 1996 showed that 56% of high school seniors reported drinking in the last 30 days (Hanson). With so many underage drinkers, many people

Recently, the idea of partaking in a fraternity has become more prevalent. Young adults are captivated with wanting to live the Greek life. The clothes and parties seem to drawn in teens like a magnet. However what these teens do not realize is the terrible things associated with fraternities. Many fraternities have a reputation for turning college students into drunks, treating women vulgarly, enacting violent hazing against other fraternity members and disrupting the true reason why students go to college. For these reasons fraternities should be banned altogether on college campuses.