Having come from Latin america and studied in a US college, it's always jarring just how much students in the US drink. Don't get me wrong, whenever I went back home we had a few drinks and some who definitely had bad habits. But US Students were just animals, entire bottles of liquor for a single person, keg stands, passing out for hours just to do it again later tonight.
Frats are definitely the main culprit of spreading this unhealthy lifestyle but I also find that having the drinking age be so high (21 in the US) really gives kids this insane pressure to show off or glamorizes it as an "adult thing" to do.
My family let have a few drinks once I hit 16 during family events and was regularly going out at 18 without ever feeling the need to get wasted or having peer pressure of drinking. I learned my limits early on and rarely got wasted since it just didn't appeal to me.
Meanwhile, the frat parties were the only way to meet girls on campus and gladly supplied alcohol to anyone who paid. Definitely a recipe for disaster and after a few mishaps I just skipped out on them entirely.
I think they should just lower the age and put the onus on parents to guide their kids toward better drinking habits, smoking is way worse for both you and those around you and the age is 18.
Frats are definitely the main culprit of spreading this unhealthy lifestyle but I also find that having the drinking age be so high (21 in the US) really gives kids this insane pressure to show off or glamorizes it as an "adult thing" to do.
My family let have a few drinks once I hit 16 during family events and was regularly going out at 18 without ever feeling the need to get wasted or having peer pressure of drinking. I learned my limits early on and rarely got wasted since it just didn't appeal to me.
Meanwhile, the frat parties were the only way to meet girls on campus and gladly supplied alcohol to anyone who paid. Definitely a recipe for disaster and after a few mishaps I just skipped out on them entirely.
I think they should just lower the age and put the onus on parents to guide their kids toward better drinking habits, smoking is way worse for both you and those around you and the age is 18.