To drink or not to drink

Assembly Hall seats 17,472 people.

The number of students enrolled at IU this fall is about 2 1/2 times the maximum capacity of this venue.

Even when it feels as if everyone goes to Hoosier home basketball games, it’s simply not true.

There are plenty of students who are supposedly missing out.

A similar misconception occurs with drinking.

Sure, we hear our peers talking about alcoholic escapades day in and day out.

Alcohol is new to most of us, and it is a huge aspect of the social scene at many Big Ten schools.

Still, not every person who lives in Collins LLC is a Harry-Potter-loving, hula-hooping hipster. Not every fraternity member finishes every sentence with “bro.”

And not every IU student is a thirsty binge-drinker.

Some students choose a social life without alcohol. There are several staff members on the Editorial Board who don’t drink. This is not a problem.

There is a problem, though, with the way we separate ourselves as drinkers and non-drinkers.

Each side is often characterized by the other with outrageous stereotypes.

In the eyes of non-drinkers, those who drink are wild and out of control.

These degenerates don’t value their education, their health, their safety or their future.

They are irresponsible drunken sluts and man-whores who don’t care about anything more than instant gratification.

In the eyes of drinkers, those who abstain from alcohol are prissy and weird.

These nerds are nothing but abnormal, stuck up and flaky. Instead of living life how they should be in college, all they want is straight As, a PG-rated relationship and sleep.

These strong biases for and against alcohol consumption instill fear.

Drinking is sold as the normal thing to do, the fun thing to do, and if you don’t do it you’re lame.

To avoid looking like a dweeb, new drinkers often test their limits among their peers, challenging one another to see who can go further.

Unfortunately, in the United States there isn’t a drinking age that allows young adults to get an idea of their limits before coming to college, so, binge drinking at a party with acquaintances who may not be trusted friends is a reality.

Studies have shown that people our age are highly influenced by peers when it comes to drinking.

Whether the people we are around are best friends or distant acquaintances, popular or unpopular, we are likely to drink if they do, too.

It’s important that we learn our limits with people we trust. That being said, the intoxicated person is not the only one to blame when something goes awry.

About 1,700 college students die every year from alcohol-related injuries, and thousands more sustain non-fatal injuries caused by drinking.

By pushing others away for their drinking decisions, we shrink our support systems.

Both sides of the issue can be more understanding and less judgmental.

All of us, no matter our opinions of drinking, are responsible as bystanders to look out for one another.

Recent tragedies at IU and across the country don’t allow for any alternative.

­— opinion@idsnews.com
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