Underaged drinking, problem of our time?
In many was pop culture has drastically changed. There have been many occasions were my parents give me the all to familiar line…”We I was your age…(fill in the blank, by alluding to a much simpler more moral decade). I have always wondered if my parents nostalgic sentences had any value to them. Are times getting worse? Are the youth of today becoming more promiscuous? More sexually forward? And lastly, if the progression us up and up, at what point will the “scandalous” behavior of teenage stop?In order to tackle this question perhaps it is best to talk about underage drinking. On college campuses today, most of the social activities circulate around alcohol and parties. Many teenager think that it is harmless. But along with underage drinking also comes larger social problems such as; sexism, rape, gangs or physical violence. Although teenage drinking is not necessarily the cause for such problems, there is most definitely a correlation between them. For instance, earlier this year a fraternity email was sent to the school saying that at their parties, boys should find a drunk girl and create physical contact with her (different syntax was used to describe this in the email). The fraternity email represents a cultural mindset of America youth. Many times students will drink so that they get engage in sexual activity. This mindset, in many was perpetuates sexist roles and the lack of respect for others in society. For teenage males, they can often think that girls are just physical objects. For teenage females, they act accordingly trying to fill in the role that has been placed before them culturally. These statements are of course drastically generalized, but if you watch the modern day tv shows, they are completely void of morals or gender respect (shows like Gossip Girls, Entourage, or other MTV reality shows). Undoubtably, popular culture entertainment and lifestyles has had an grand effect on the American youth, and in return the American youth will have a grand effect on society as a whole.
I am a firm believer that everything has consequences. I wonder what the consequences of teen drinking and promiscuous behavior will be for our generation as a whole.
December 9th, 2008 at 12:07 am
I am definitely in agreeance with you about wondering what the consequences of this teen drinking culture will be. I think that the general consensus among teens themselves is that its not a big deal, and they also feel that the outcomes of their actions, i.e. whatever happens when they are intoxicated, are dismissable because “they were drunk.”
We had a small discussion in class about this, and people seemed to think that drinking on campus was such a big deal because being drunk allows one to, in a way, create the self they always wanted to be, for example, outgoing, funny, or confident. Its an automatic excuse to try new things, and act in a way that might be classified as fun and exciting. This is a somewhat scary thought: if a person isn’t ok with just being themselves, what are they to do? And if people are putting up this veil over their real selves all the time, then how do we know if we trluly know someone?
As far as the sexism and rape that comes from alcohol, is it possible that these things seem prevalent because they grab our attention? I’m not arguing these things don’t happen, or anything like that, but I do believe that more people go out and drink and do not act sexist or commit rape than those who do go out and drink and do these things.