There is no doubt in my mind that college-aged students have a “problem” with alcohol. We consume large amounts of it, binge drink on it, and even sometimes mix it with other substances. But more prevalent on campus than the problem we have with alcohol, is the problem we have with sobriety.
Whether you’re the DD, or the sober sibling of your Greek life party, being the seemingly ONLY ONE in the room not fucked up seems to be a major buzzkill. From what I’ve seen, people can have a serious issue with having to be sober and out at parties, even for just one night.
Yeah, “Levels” by Avicii while your grinding in the smelly basement of a frat is definitely not gonna be a good time abstemious, it is beginning to worry me that some of my friends can’t even think about walking to DJ’s without first downing at least four mixed drinks. We now have to pre-game the pre-game, and even drink before the after-party.
To spend a night in eating Hagen Daas and watching Netflix, is a lesser crime then going out and “not feeling” like drinking.
That really, really sober kid at a party leaves with a worse rap than the really, really drunk kid.
Similarly, we view drinking as a social activity, so our tales of drinking and drunkenness become the most widely regarded means of social interaction. Our timelines on twitter are scattered with blurry, dark instagram photos of our friends and peers passed out in the grass the night before; filled with tweets with hashtags that sound like they belong in Katy Perry’s “TGIF” song. You walk through the dining hall on any given Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning and the only words heard while standing in line for eggs are “I was literally so drunk last night, literally.”
My point is, not only is drinking glamorized in our society; it’s counterpart, sobriety, has now been absolutely shunned from the college community.
It’s no longer drinking that is the problem, it god-awful sobriety with a much worse connotation.
– Deanna Viel
