New record at UGA-Florida game: Underage drinking citations
The AJC reports that Florida authorities issued a record 252 citations for underage possession of alcohol during the festivities in Jacksonville over the weekend related to the Georgia-Florida game.
Georgia fans at the UGA-Florida pre-game festivities over the weekend. Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com
The previous record was 213 citations set in 2004.
I am surprised at the widespread acceptance of college drinking. About 11 months ago I heard William Durden, president of Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, speak about this issue at a conference here in Atlanta.
He said he had received an irate e-mail from a parent warning that the institution was gaining a reputation as the place where “fun dies.” The e-mail urged Durden to relax the rules on students, to “loosen up and let them have fun.”
“Fun, in case you didn’t know it, is alcohol, ” Durden explained to his audience of education writers from around the country
While colleges are trying to respond to binge drinking on campuses,, they are confronting a cultural acceptance, even encouragement, of underage drinking, as demonstrated at the game this weekend.
Once Durden had to deal with parents moving their freshman into a dormitory with a case of Scotch. It took a lot of talking to get the parents to understand that the Scotch couldn’t stay with their son.
Legally, colleges are in a bind. They can’t promote responsible drinking among underage students because it’s a crime. If schools engage undergraduates in conversations about how too drink responsibly, only to have a student get drunk and die, the family might have grounds to sue.
According to alcohol surveys and government data, 1,70o college students die in alcohol-related accidents each year and 599,000 suffer injuries. Alcohol is reported as a factor in 97,000 sexual assaults and date rapes.
And even though freshmen increasingly arrive at college already hard-core boozers, some parents expect colleges to fix the problem, thrusting schools into yet another non-germane role, that of therapeutic agencies.
Is it reasonable for parents to expect universities to offer rehab, along with coffee bars, climbing walls and private bathrooms, none of which have anything to do with higher education?
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© 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
27 comments Add your comment
V for Vendetta
November 2nd, 2009
11:43 am
Kids drink at the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party? Imagine that. Oh, wait, we’re not supposed to call it that anymore, are we? Give me a break.
College kids drink. Is this really news to anyone? Some can balance fun and school, some can’t. Guess what? Some adults can balance fun and work, and some can’t. Do we make any allowances for them or provide them with any extra help? NO!
After stumbling into work with a mind-blasting headache and feeling like something the cat regurgitated all day long, I learned pretty quick that the real world does not care if you’re hung over. And you can’t just skip class to stay in bed, either . . . .
Johnny Too Good
November 2nd, 2009
1:07 pm
Not surprising at all, most college students drink on a regular and even some high school upperclassmen.
I had my first drink long before I was 21, and I’m sure its not uncommon for others
E
November 2nd, 2009
1:35 pm
I knew very few younger college students who drank (more than once or twice), and only a couple drank regularly.
They were quite frequently the sources of jokes, with people wondering how long until they blacked out somewhere dangerous, or at the least ended up permanent-markered by a local frat.
philosopher
November 2nd, 2009
2:15 pm
With all the competition for acceptance into colleges, why should colleges even consider catering to parents?! They are in a position to set rules, expect kids to abide by them, and stand up to stupid, irresponsible students. Kick the stupid kids out and they can come back when they are old enough to deal with college as what it is …a PRIVILEGE! And if kids are old enough to drink like adults, then they are old enough to pay for their own damned education.
RJ
November 2nd, 2009
2:22 pm
Im 40, this was going on when I was in school. How is this news?
SallyB
November 2nd, 2009
2:48 pm
I’m with V…..nothing else to add here.
Old School
November 2nd, 2009
2:58 pm
I’m “of a certain age” and I agree with RJ. How exactly IS this news?
Lee
November 2nd, 2009
4:21 pm
I remember the argument “I’m old enough to get drafted, handed a gun, and sent to fight and die in Vietnam, but I can’t drink a beer.”
Funny how all this stuff keeps circling back around…
Meme
November 2nd, 2009
4:54 pm
This was going on when I was in college (60′S). We drank a lot.
Lynn
November 2nd, 2009
7:34 pm
I think you have always had drinking in college and always will. I do understand the predicament it places colleges in. I think that is why so many college presidents signed on to the Amethyst Initiative a few years ago. Colleges are in an almost impossible situation. They are required to monitor, prohibit and ultimately treat 18+ year olds who cannot legally drink but are presumed to be adults in most other situations.
The rumors that abound at UGA are almost frightening concerning drinking and being caught. Students are convinced that one local hospital will report to police any underage drinker brought in for excess alcohol consumption. This belief true or not is going to delay treatment for someone who desperately needs it due to alcohol poisoning. Another rumor has it that police wait beside the bus stops looking for the drunk or stumbling student. That student is then charged as a “MIP” or Minor in Possession. Hence, students may choose to drive rather than take the bus. The consequences of underage drinking are fairly harsh from both the police and the university yet we still have high levels of underage drinking.
Sarge
November 3rd, 2009
12:53 am
The most practical “skill” I learned in college was driving with one eye closed so as to “eliminate those extra roads”…as “oldsters”, we can joke about our youthful indiscretions, the “cool stuff”, and marvel over the fact that, somehow, we “got away with it”, as evidenced by the fact that we’re still here. As it was in my time, the 60s, before, since, and most-likely well into the future, reckless boozing seems to have become a rite of passage, if you will, an activity which is to be expected of that confused age group. What’s the difference (if any) between the youth of yesteryear and those of today? Speaking for myself, I know there had to be a time or two when, faced with a judgement call (hey, it’s Friday, it’s been a tough week, the ladies are out in force, etc…) I had to consider the outside possibility of CONSEQUENCE. This consideration was born of earlier experiences when parent, teacher, or some influential adult in my life cared enough to impose those consequences…consequences which are next-to-non-existent in the lives of today’s youth.
You never know if the stove is really hot until, despite the warnings of others, you’ve been burned a time or two.
Sarge
November 3rd, 2009
1:09 am
Toss em in the clink! It won’t ruin their lives, unless they want it to. What this experience will do is place one hell of a burden upon them and, unfortunately, their parents. Talk and warnings are cheap…actions, unpleasant though they may be, will always serve as a catylist for future decisions.
philosopher
November 3rd, 2009
6:56 am
If the parents are paying for the kids’ education, the kids are their responsibility! If my kid drinks excessively and gets caught, he/she has just lost the PRIVILEGE of a parent-paid education and is now old enough to work his/her way through college! No big deal! Besides, why in the world, would I leave my son or daughter in a situation that allows them to become a binging alcoholic…I’ll pull him/her out and get them help…it’s that important!. Also, “I did it when I was in college” is a bogus argument…it might make you feel better about the problem,it doesn’t in any way make it right.
jim d
November 3rd, 2009
7:46 am
Lee,
There is truth to the old axioms.
My personal take is this. Mine was old enough to sign an Army contract and now the Government is funding is education. Therefore the issue of drinking or not is between he and his employer. Only involving me if he were to lose their financial support expecting me to buy back his contract (which ain’t gonna happen)
For the record—I will set and have a beer with him. and in some states a parent having a drink with their child (regardless of age) is totally legal
mystery poster
November 3rd, 2009
8:28 am
Georgia is one of those states, my 20 year old son can legally sit and have a beer with me in my own home.
John Doe
November 3rd, 2009
11:19 am
HAHAHA I <3 college parties
John Doe
November 3rd, 2009
11:19 am
>:)
philosopher
November 3rd, 2009
12:07 pm
There you go…as long as everyone thinks it’s funny… a rite of passage… great memories….why even deal with it? And so begins for many (not everyone) a lifetime of irresponsible drinking, alcoholism, DUI’s and innocent lives lost.
DeKalb Conservative
November 3rd, 2009
3:47 pm
@ philosopher
What about the silent victims here? In particular the young men that get so drunk that they engage in reckless sexual activity with women they would not find attractive when sober. These men awake the next day to wake up shamed.
DeKalb Conservative
November 3rd, 2009
3:55 pm
Two problems here:
1. This is a public school and unlike private schools, the rules of the school and laws of society are much more connected
2. These kids are acting reckless. They shouldn’t be doing this in public. They should be doing this in their dorm rooms, get drunk enough to stay buzzed for several hours and then go to the tailgating festivities. If they did it correctly they wouldn’t even need to add alcohol to their system and they would slowly start to sober up enough to read the numbers on the player’s jerseys.
Is what the kids are doing illegal, absolutely. Can the school tolerate, no — they have a legal exposure. Will this continue, yes. Do the kids need to not be so open about it and use discretion, yes.
philosopher
November 3rd, 2009
4:27 pm
DeKalb Conservative-ah…are you speaking from experience, here? I sincerely apologize for leaving these poor victims off my list!
DeKalb Conservative
November 3rd, 2009
5:46 pm
@ philosopher
If you’re going to get on your soap box and talk about underage drinking leading to “a lifetime of irresponsible drinking, alcoholism, DUI’s and innocent lives lost” then I feel its only fair to point out the absurdity of such a strong viewpoint with an equally absurd viewpoint.
If a young person wants to take a chance, they will have to live with the consequences of their actions. Besides, what exactly is ‘irresponsible drinking?’ Isn’t the purpose of drinking to get buzzed, if not drunk? Few people will declare they actually enjoy the taste of alcohol, but they still drink.
philosopher
November 3rd, 2009
6:02 pm
DeKalb Conservative : if you think this is a soapbox-you ain’t seen nuthin yet!
There’s a HUGE difference between getting “buzzed” and binge drinking. And the college kids who have yet to develop a sense of mortality need policing. Responsible use of alcohol is learned. And someone who is raised to believe that getting plastered every night with college friends is funny and great memories and “just what kids do” learn the irresponsible kind of drinking…just common sense.
jim d
November 4th, 2009
9:09 am
standing on a soap box when a beer keg will get you higher seems like a wasted effort.
DeKalb Conservative
November 4th, 2009
9:50 am
@ philosopher
But what is ‘responsible drinking?’ There is no correlation of getting plastered every night an the issue at hand here, which is underage drinking. I’m suggesting that most students view drinking, especially drinking at ages 18, 19, 20 as ‘go big, or go home.’ If they are going to do it and take the risk, then they are going all the way.
The underage drinking discussion is somewhat elementary and is better left in a Civics 101 debate. Want a real epidemic with how young people are abusing themselves? Let’s discuss the reality that alot of young people are both drinking underage and combining lots and lots of legally prescribed medications. Access to such medications are easy, its either prescribed to you, or you can essentially just ask your friends, plus there really isn’t alot of stigma, or consequences. In addition, unlike pot, you don’t smoke it, so there’s no scent in the air.
Underage drinking is clearly illegal. The enforcement, or enhanced enforcement is likely to only drive more young people towards abuse of pain killing medications such as vicodin, which is something that is probably easier to get addicted to.
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