An incident at
the University of Tennessee involving a Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and alcohol
enemas (never a good combination) led to a student's hospitalization as a
result of his five times the legal limit blood alcohol level. CNN's article
touches on the true issue of over-indulgence, "According to the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1,825 college students between the
ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional
injuries." Although the usage of enemas as a means of delivery for alcohol
isn't a widespread phenomenon according to Aaron White, an administrator of the
National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the root of the problem is
education. Binge drinking is America's way of reflecting ignorance and immaturity
to the rest of the world, and yes, binge drinking is the direct result of
outdated, unreasonable drinking laws such as the Zero Tolerance law. If you
compare alcohol related incidents in any European country (where the drinking
laws are either nonexistent or extremely liberal) with U.S. drinking incidents,
you'll notice the difference. When one of the Lake County 19th District Court
Judges stopped by DHS to patronize half of DHS' population, it was clear that
there is a clear gap between teenagers desires to have a good time and the law.
I am trying to describe reality without incriminating my peers and me. Why can
my parents enjoy a glass of wine, but the law says I can't enjoy that same
exact wine? Age isn't the problem when it comes to drinking. Developmental age
is the true problem. I know that I am more responsible than the 78 adults (all
of whom were much older than 21) I saw get arrested for DUI in one night in
Scottsdale, AZ on one of National Geographic's alcohol documentaries. Alcohol
will remain a part of America's society for the rest of its existence, so we
must adjust our laws to demonstrate the importance of understanding the
overwhelming effect alcohol has on mind alteration. I have a suggestion for
District 113's administration: in eighth grade a recovering cocaine addict
influenced me more than any other "Say no to drugs" educator
including the patronizing judge who stated laws and consequences. He told me
the "say no to drugs" doesn't work (obviously). He then went on to
say one simple, but immensely significant thing, "Care about your
life." This was the most powerful thing anyone has ever said to me,
especially when it comes from the addict who was the only one of the 80 addicts
in his halfway house to get clean. It is speakers like the recovering cocaine
addict who influence and educate in the best manner.
Sam this was a very interesting article and I agree with many of your points you have made about the alcohol enemas in different schools. These schools need to be able to enforce their rules to their students so such tragedies don't occur anymore like the ones in this article. I also agree that the administration needs to try and influence the kids at a young age like in middle school as you refered to.
ReplyDelete-Corey