The Forbidden Fruit of alcohol

A few days ago, I was sitting in the back of calculus class listening to a few of my friends discuss a party they had been to the night before. One boy bragged about how trashed he had gotten, while another told tales of how he had played beer pong until he started puking, for approximately an hour and a half. As I listened I though about how typical of a conversation this was, the way in which there is almost no middle ground: so many kids drink recklessly, drink to forget, drink to have fun, drink just to drink, while almost all of the rest abstain almost religiously from the pernicious liquid, villifying Sam Adams along with Benito Mussolini.

Before I went to Portugal as an exchange student, I was one of those teenagers. Never had a drop touched my lips and I vowed that would remain as fact. However, upon arriving in Portugal, I realized that the American law and culture played a large part in my vow and in the extremism of youth culture.

During lunch breaks at school, students would drink a beer with their lunch. Other times, they would sit around at a bar for hours, playing cards, chatting, and just passing the time together. At first I was confused by this, wondering what affects they were hoping that one beer would have on them, or why they wished to get drunk in the middle of the day. But, I soon came to realize what should have been obvious from the beginning: these teenagers were not trying to get trashed, they were merely socializing.

In a culture where alcohol is not a forbidden fruit, students do not feel pressured to overuse it, but can rather enjoy it. Nowadays, when I go for coffee with friends, spending an hour sipping at a latte and chatting, I am reminded of doing the same with a beer with friends in Portugal.

American law however, banning any consumption of alcohol until the age of 21, is often seen by teenagers as a challenge: they try to prove how hardcore, how badass they are by the indulgence of such drinks, the joy coming from the adrenaline rush of doing something forbidden rather than the simple joy of socializing with friends.

But what can be done?

This idea of the forbidden fruit is already embedded in the minds of American teens. If one day the drinking age were lowered, most would celebrate by drinking until they were sick. Even so, almost everyone will admit there is a problem. Not only is it a forbidden fruit, but alcohol is an easily accessible one at that, available to most any teen who wishes to spend ten minutes in the process of obtaining it. Peer pressure will sway many students in their decisions of whether or not to drink alcohol, and most times this pressure is not telling them to abstain.

My proposition is this: parents need to take action. I don't mean they should give their kids a bottle of vodka, telling them they would rather their son or daughter drank at home. I am saying that they should offer their teenagers wine with dinner, allow them to share a beer on a hot day, show to them that alcohol is not illustrious or amazing, that drinking in moderation is an everyday social activity. Furthermore, parents and teachers should stress the negative results of heavy drinking. Put away the statistics about liver damage and failure, everyone has heard that before. Instead, bring pictures and stories of that senior from two years ago who died choking on his own puke, the mother of three who lived three blocks away from the school but was killed by a drunk driver, the nineteen year old who is in jail for the next twenty-five years without parole because he told his friends he was fine to drive himself home.

So many lives, families, and communities have been shattered by misuse of alcohol. We must learn that lectures of total abstinence will not convince most teenagers. It is time to take action.