bee> ...
Guess we are reading different studies ... The info I have read about the drinking age and why it was changed back ... for the better, I believe ... apparently is not the same as what you have read. As far as the binge drinking is concerned ... I believe in the theory of the self-fulfilling prophecy and if we keep telling young people that this happens, that this is a part of life they will be challenged with, that they need to learn to handle, and perhaps even expected to accept, then they will do just that, and then take the next step and participate instead of obvserve. I think there are way too many "news" stories that are intended to discourage such things, intended to inform the public about the extent of such things, which only goes to show the young people that this is common ... and far too many think that common = acceptable and/or expected.
To anyone who cares to read ...
Over the past couple of years, there have been several threads started where "we" have discussed underage drinking. A few of us have very conservative attitudes about it, have shared our family's and our personal feelings on the subject, and been consistent in our opinions and feelings in every discussion ... even tho we may feel like we are swimming against the tide. Somehow we who are conservative about this subject ... or in my case adament about it ... always seem to be told that this happpens, we just need to accept it, hope our sons deal with it the way we raised them yada yada yada. Well, I know it happens and I can't change that but I am still a believer that if I am not a part of the solution, I am a part of the problem. I will continue to speak against it, hoping that more people will become vocal about it instead of acquiesing and maybe just maybe someday the tide will turn and it will no longer be considered something that "kids" do as tho it is a natural stage in their development. Seeing a young man I watched grow up lying in a coffin before his 20th birthday only added to the strength of my convictions.
But all personal opinions aside on the reality of underage drinking, etc. I understood this thread to be about our opinions regarding drinking on official visits ... whether offered by a player or somebody else at a party ... and the bottom line is that it is ILLEGAL in every state, whether it happens on campus or not, and I would strongly discourage my son from attending a school where this happened on his official visit. I really don't care that it is a part of campus life ... it is not something that has to be introduced to him on an official visit and I would expect more of the coaches in their selection of players who are responsible for the visiting recruit. Whether I know he will be exposed to it in college or not, he is NOT there for the purpose of being exposed to all things college ... he is there to find out about the college's academics, the baseball team and program, etc., and the official visit does not need to be an introduction into EVERY aspect of college life. There are a lot of things that regularly and routinely happen at college which go against everything we taught our son ... engaging in pre-marital ***, cheating on tests, smoking marijuana ... but I do not feel that these are things he needs to experience on an official visit, and being exposed to alcohol falls right in there as far as I am concerned.
I am not naive enough to think that our son was not exposed to alcohol when he was at school ... one roommate in his apt the first year was old enough to drink legally and there was always booze in the apartment. I know my son consumed alcohol several times ... and even had the headaches to prove it. But that doesn't mean he needed to experience that or be exposed to that during his official visits.
Jump, thump ... that is me getting off my soapbox before I get accused again of being "preachy and condescending" because of my personal beliefs ...