The drinkingage debate goes on and appears to be a hot topic with the development of the Amethyst Initiative. This is my second post on this subject this week. As I was reading the Wall Street Journal tonight and really got to thinking about the issue. If someone is starting college out of high school they would be either 17 or 18 years of age, once they graduate, if a 4 year school, they would just be turning 21 or a little older. Therefore most of the years in college are spent under the age of 21. The college presidents supporting this inititive don’t want to deal with the issue, don’t know how to handle it and would rather have the money from a bunch of party goers than support a healthy institution of higher education. It is probably easier for them to write an inititive, than put rules into action.
Underage Drinking Is A Major Problem In Colleges
No one today seems to want to deal with consequences and really look at the issues. Drinking in college is a problem it has always been a problem and will continue to be a problem. So we just give in and make it legal for a small group of kids. It is also a problem in our society today and this does not set the example or solve the problem. The reality is drugs and alcohol, are becoming more acceptable and it has become glamorous. Most of the popular teen celebrities have either been in rehab or jail. People are now making jokes about it. Does that make it acceptable? Celebrities can afford rehab., but what about those of us that cannot? A good rehab. program can cost over $10,000 a month, and rehab. doesn’t happen in 30 days. Who at the age of 18 -21 has the money for rehab. if you are not a celebrity. The WSJ’s article outlines statistics to promote keeping the drinking age at 21 and gives credit to the University of Rhode Island for being proactive in dealing with the issue of drinking on their campus. The school was known as a party school and made Princeton Review’s list of top party schools in the early 1990’s. The new President Robert L. Carothers eliminated all drinking at the university even among the faculty members. They stepped up the enforcement in the community which spurred the shutdown of half of the school’s 18 fraternities. They later received millions of dollars in grants to study the ways to stop drinking. There was a local ordinance that placed a big orange sticker on off-campus houses that had been visited by police for unruly parties. Landlords were required to terminate leases if renters received three violations of the ordinance. The University of Rhode Island is no longer on the list of party schools.
Colleges Need To Take Responsibility For Underage Drinking
Truthfully, if you are sending a teen to college, there is going to be drinking, but the schools need to take some of the responsibility and enforce consequences. This is what responsibility is about. I applaud the University of Rhode Island.
