Guess what Thursday was? Thirsty Thursday! And if you do not already know what that means across college campuses; it means that many students went out that night to consume heavy amounts of alcohol. Some of us might have class tomorrow, but so what? That does not seem to be stopping many from going out until early in the morning. However, I read about a study in Wisconsin that believes scheduling more classes on Friday mornings would lead to fewer students binge drinking on Thursday nights. Seriously? I know students that have 8AM classes that stay out until 2AM or later because they want to have fun too!
The only thing that I think would really stop students from participating in Thirsty Thursday is lowering the drinking age. Let’s face it, the main reason students drink is because the experience gives them a thrill. I am not exactly sure how the day of Thirsty Thursday came to be, but I know that many students celebrate the day, including myself. I feel that if the drinking age were lowered, Thirsty Thursday would not be such a big event. Thursday would just be seen as another weekday because this day of the week is just a reason for students to go out and get trashed on a school night. You might think that students would drink every night if alcohol was legal for them, but trust me, this would get old. Students would soon start to feel the exhaustion during classes and realize that they do not need to necessarily drink every night.
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I first encountered the term "Thirsty Thursday" when one of my friends was out late on a Thursday night drinking because there are always parties at that bar on Thursday nights. I have also heard of other terms for days of the week such as "Wasted Wednesday" and "Trashed Tuesday."
ReplyDeleteEven though college students do have early morning classes on Fridays, they still participate in Thirsty Thursday because it is just plain fun, to put it in simple terms :p.
Yes, I agree with you on that if the drinking age were lowered, then events such as Thirsty Thursday would not be as popular. Drinking may then seem to be a casual thing, not just something to do at crazy parties.
Heh, just to stir waters up a little, I have to say that the situation is not as simple as you have outlined. Lowering the drinking age is not going to eliminate the popularity of drinking, because the wrongness of drinking is not tied up solely in its legal status.
ReplyDeleteWhile it being illegal may be part of the reason why underage drinking is viewed as rebellion (and since rebellion is cool, as you point out in your earlier post, more people feel compelled to do it), a larger part of the drinking-as-vice attitude is shaped by society. This means that even if the age were lowered, a good portion of American society would still frown on drinking. Their reasons may be religious or otherwise, but the fact remains that insofar as the social court rules, alcohol is still bad. Hence, lowering the age alone is not going to lower the popularity of drinking.
On the contrary, it will simply make alcohol more accessible to teenage and college drinkers, AND, it is likely to set high-schoolers clamouring to be let in on the drinking deal. One is definitely going to hear the arguement, if we can drive at 16, why can't we drink at 16?
I have also thought about this Jane. I understand that lowering the drinking age may not lower its popularity, but I do believe that it will help. Even if the lowering the drinking age has just a small effect on the accidents associated with alcohol, at least it helps somehow. Lowering the drinking age could mean saving one life. If at least a few lives can be saved, isn't it worth lowering the drinking age?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I feel that no matter what the drinking age is, there are still going to be people that do not agree with it. These people will present valid reasons of why alcohol is wrong, but the businesses that distribute alcohol are going to be fighting twice as hard to keep their business going. That is just the way that it is going to be.
Never heard the term "thirsty Tuesday" before,but I have taken part of it. The first class that I missed in college was because some friends told me to go with them to a bar, I had never drunk before in high school so a few drinks were enough to get me tipsy and miss biology at 9 am the next day. I agree with you that if the drinking age was lowered college students would feel the need to binge drink, they will probably drink daily, but not excessively.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem with lowering the drinking age is that beer will be more accessible for minors, because an 18 year old has 16 and 15 year old friends so they will buy it for them.
I would have to agree with Jelly Bean in that lowering the drinking age would be most beneficial. The mere idea of "Thirsty Thursday" is to glorify drinking because it is the rebellious thing to do. If the drinking age were lowered then there would be no glamor in drinking on a Thursday night because college students could drink every night. I know that sounds outrageous and like I am encouraging drinking but what it would really mean is that students would drink in moderation.
ReplyDeleteAs far as underage drinking in students who are in high school I hate to break it to drugs for a safer world but drinking is already occurring in high school. If the drinking age were lowered yes this probably would mean an immediate spike in high school students drinking but this would also plateau. What needs to be considered is the long term affects this would have on society. In my eyes all of the results would be positive.