Sept. 17 was the first game under the new Sorority Council restrictions on fraternity tailgates. Though changes were made, ranging from requiring guest lists to banning hard liquor entirely, hospitalization was still a problem. Out of the several hospitals in Columbia, my friend, who had fainted from dehydration, said that there were at least seven students at the one she was at, and that was only 10 minutes after the start of the game.
Though she was not intoxicated, it was obvious that everyone around thought that she was. The only person who reacted to her collapse to the ground was the worker who demanded we get out from behind the counter, as if she had any choice as to where she fell. Such a scene is so common at games that not one of the thousands of people around us even batted an eye, and the fall gave her a concussion that easily could have been avoided had even one person stopped to help.
It is not only socially acceptable to act drunk in public, but promoted by the media and our peers to the point that unsafe activity has become the new normal. Students come in with that expectation, and as long as consequences lie only in rules and not in social construct, there will be no real motivation for students to see such behavior as a problem.
“Kids will be kids” still applies when it comes to the risks associated with alcohol abuse. Rules are never able to be entirely enforced, and students who want to get drunk will find a way around whatever policies are enacted. Those who choose to abide by the new rules, likely only due to the fear of penalty, are also usually the cautious drinkers by default. Removing responsible students from the party scene will actually make parties more out of control.
Historically, banning alcohol not only failed but also resulted in an era of organized crime that the country has never recovered from. Just like in the 1920s, prohibiting access to alcohol is only pushing it behind closed doors, making it more reckless. On Saturday, students simply drank before the game and elsewhere, which actually made the environment less controlled and less accessible for medical assistance. The blazing sun and expensive water are enough to put anyone over the edge, intoxicated or not.
Research by the World Health Organization discovered that in European countries with an unenforced drinking age of 18 or lower, an average of one in 10 drinking occasions results in intoxication, compared to half of the American drinking occasions. Culture is the determining factor in the way alcohol use is perceived and should be treated as such.
No rule will be able to change the fact that collapsing to the ground did not catch the attention of anyone. Creating rules avoids the big picture by isolating a specific issue and placing the same restriction on everyone. In reality, each student is of a different background and tolerance and may likely need more or less of what is enforced. Nothing is more powerful and effective than each student making their own decision to monitor themselves and their peers.
Instead of using force, draw attention to the paramedics who push through years of school to take care of students who push themselves past their limit. Acknowledge the children at tailgates, who watch the beer and glass bottles fly through the air, wondering if this is all that 13 years of public school results in. The cycle will continue unless the culture starts to mold into a safer one.