Drinking in Greekl ife is a major part in college organizations. Even though drinkingi s illegal when a person is under 21 greek life opens up oppurtunities to drink at an underage with less of a cost. There has been many attempts to ban drinking and have sorority and fraternities go dry, however, they really are not dry. The answer is because of the importance of alcohol in social ritual, connection, and behavior for college students and has become integral to the meaning of fraternities and sororities. Drinkign is used for ritual, hazing, loyalty and connection. In college drinking is used to get people tot he party and help have fun and relax.
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The reasons students drink often and too much are 2-fold:
ReplyDelete1) Just like a hungry eater at a buffet, when students are surrounded by lots of liquor at a party and enjoy a small amount of it to start with, there's nothing really telling them to stop. Its like a dog and chocolate.
2) When others drink often and frequently, the social norms adjust. If a student stood out for their excessive drinking, yes, it would be clear they have a problem. But being around lots of drinkers i.e. in the Greek world, it seems totally okay.
-greg, honestcollege.blogspot.com