It seems accurate to say that middle school and high school aged students are taught only the dangers of drinking. Not even the danger of drinking a lot or a few shots and an assortment of alcoholic drinks. Historically, we are handed a sheet of paper that lists the effects a certain level of alcohol have on a person, all under the umbrella of: You Should Never, Never Drink.
Consequently, many teenagers--notorious for a rebellious flare--do it, and with the conviction that they are invincible. It's a major fuck you to their parents, health teachers, and anyone else who ever warned against it. But we are not taught our limits. We were given BAC charts, yes; but not real life limits that we could understand. Those teens, then, drink without any concrete understanding of when to stop.
Then there are others, like me, who were afraid to even look at a bottle of alcohol in their first year of college and don't want to look lame at a party but don't want to feel the big, bad inebriated wolf. So they warily hold a red cup to their chest, watching as their fellow party-goers let mixed drinks slip down their throats and, later, freaking out when they walk down a set of stairs and feel slightly dizzy.
It's time to find a middle ground. Alcohol is not something to fear, or to wave off so casually. In Europe, it is an addition to social events: and I'm not talking about basement parties. At pubs, with friends; a summer barbecue; holiday celebrations and other festivities with families. The drinking culture there is not surrounded by so much distaste as it is here. Nobody even wants to discuss it. Then we're left to figure it out for ourselves, and it's brushed off with the statement, "Oh, you'll figure it out. You'll probably spend a few nights by the toilet, but you'll get it."
No matter where in the world you've grow up (or how old you are), there will always be nights of people lying on the tile floors of a bathroom. But I don't think we should have to figure it out that way. Americans need to stop tiptoeing around such an important conversation, because therein lies problem. If it weren't so frowned upon, it might not seem as novel or exciting to underage drinkers. And if it were done true justice in its effects and our limits, we would have a more open culture ourselves.
Let's talk about alcohol, and let's talk about it fully and honestly.
