Why are college people obsessed with drinking/ getting drunk??

Answer 1

Because they're young and experimenting.

Answer 2

For some it's their first taste of freedom, for some it's an infantile desire to do WHATEVER it takes to fit in, and for others still, the concept of college being a place for high learning is totally lost on them. I spent enough time in my first year away drinking, and I screwed up (academically) badly enough that I spent the last three years I was there, sober pretty much the whole time, and working my *** off. What do I have to show for it? A degree. The other people? Well I know of three of them who are still there, going on 7 years now, still trying to finish their undergrad but their partying gets in the way.

There's this "expectation" that you will party like crazy, spending every morning puking up the good time you had last night ... if that's what they want to do, that's fine, but that's a lot of $$$ to be spending on college tuition to do nothing worthwhile.

Answer 3

Because they finally have the freedom to do whatever they want, but are too afraid (for the most part) to do serious drugs, so they get the most readily available, non-lethal (generally) intoxicant they can find.

It's a do it because you can sort of thing. It's almost a right of passage in our society. From your question, I get the vibe that you are one of those people that are militantly against this behavior. My adivce: knock off the self-righteous crap and have fun while you are still young enough. I'm only 27, which is a weird age, because you can actually remember your youth vanishing like it was yesterday.

Have fun, enjoy life, and stop worrying about what others do to get off...your primary concern should be getting you off :)

Answer 4

Because this is their first time away from home with minimal control imposed upon them, and they want to try everything they never could before. You can spot the kids with more lenient parents- they're the ones carrying everyone else home at the end of the night. I was one of those. Why get drunk when alcohol isn't that big a deal? I understood, though, that the kids with ten-thirty curfews who couldn't even have wine with dinner at family gatherings wanted to break loose a little.

Answer 5

as previously mentioned, there are many reasons that the kids these days seem to like grandpa's old cough syrup. fun, experimentation, the forbidden fruit (or barley, as it were)
i think the biggest thing though is tradition - think about it, one of the first thing the older students do each year is get the incoming students drunk - to pop the collective freshman party-cherry. then of course drinking/partying as a pasttime gets institutionalized from your first day. by the time you're a senior, it's time to pass on the tradition to the new freshman. so it sort of becomes a self-sustaining habit.

Answer 6

I don't think it's JUST college people. I'm NOT a racist and PLEASE don't take what I'm about to say in offense, but based on MY personal obsevations (what I watch on TV, see on movies at the movie theatre, at the supermarket I work at and other supermarkets I have been to, AND bars and restaurants), it's MOSTLY (notice that I have said MOSTLY, not ALL) Caucasians who are obsessed with drinking or getting drunk. I apologize, but it's the truth.

Answer 7

Because they do not take a year off in between high school and college to get it out of their system. I would guess they come from my background, but are more sheltered and spoilt than I am. Upper-middle class suburban kids from two-parent, never-divorced families think they are the bomb and enjoy ruining their health with excessive alcohol and drug abuse. They believe they are invincible.

I'll never account for a guy who drops acid and then jumps off the back of a moving vehicle. He lands headfirst onto the highway after trying to do a summersault in mid-air. Then he wonders why he wakes up with damaged discs in his back, a concussion and broken legs while his girlfriend calls him an idiot.

Answer 8

Stereotype! Not all college kids are obsessed with drinking. People who are obsessed with drinking would be drinking even if they were not in college and probably were drinking before.

Answer 9

Although you will get all those "drinking type" answers, I truly think its because its that first perceived bridge between all the rules and voices of authority in childhood (the blah blah blahs) and the person truly being singular, up-righted on your own two legs and free of the voice of authority; the numbness brought on by booze allows one to silence realty and attempt a dry run of free flight.

Answer 10

I never got into the whole party scene while in college so I don't have much of an answer for you. Great question though, I'm looking forward to reading the answers as I have wondered this myself.

Answer 11

Many college age people, WHETHER OR NOT THEY GO TO COLLEGE, spend this time experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

The large majority (60-80%, depending on the study) of them quit or learn to moderate on their own when faced with adult responsibilities.

For the people in college, it can be peer pressure, lack of parental observation, or just the fact they can.