College Kids Drink Like Their Peers?

So this study just came out from Researchers from Oxford Brookes University in England. They reviewed 22 studies that included nearly 7,275 college students, most of themin the United States. They basically concluded that if they know their friends aren’t drinking as much as they think they are drinking, they will cut back their own drinking. Sort of like rising to meet the demands of your peers.

I kind of smile at studies like this, because they should probably note that these results tend to pertain to normal drinkers. Because frankly, when I was in college, I didn’t give a hoot how much my friends drank as long as I could drink as much as a wanted (or rather, needed).  In fact, I became acutely aware in my Junior year that I far outdrank my peers. My solution? Drink alone. In my dorm room. That helped me avoid the embarrassment of getting drunker than everyone else. Of course it also kept me isolated and had a pretty bad impact on my social life. I went from party girl to lonely drinker, and pretty much wasted the opportunities in my last two years of college in making binding, strong friendships. I often regret it, but there isn’t much I can do about it now other than continue to stay sober and make strong lasting friendships as a sober adult.

This is not to say that the culture of the institution didn’t influence me. I started college at a party school where excessive drinking, pot smoking, and various experimentation with other drugs was rampant. It didn’t really encourage me so much as make it easier to do what I was naturally inclined to do: abuse substances.  When I transfered in my junior year to a much tougher institution I found myself among people who were relatively judicious in their alcohol use and who didn’t really use illegal drugs.

I often wonder what my c0llege career would have been like if I’d started at the second institution right out of high school, but I think at most it would have slowed down my progression, not really changed my destiny.

So why am I writing about this? Because I think it can be a very serious issue where a young person goes to college if they have a propensity toward substance abuse. In fact, some schools might be downright dangerous for them.  I was fortunate in that I went to cities with subways, so I never risked driving. If I’d gone to school someplace that required a car, I would have been a truly bad hazard on campus.  I think parents need to be extremely aware of the environment their kids are in, and if they think they are abusing drugs or alcohol, don’t be shy about dealing with it.