[HPFGU-OTChatter] College drinking outsid the US

[Shaun Hately]

On 1 Mar 2007 at 17:04, kemper mentor wrote:

> Question: is drinking a problem at colleges in other countries?

Well, this is my perspective having just spent four years at the University of Melbourne in 
Australia.

No, not really.
    
>   If yes, what do the problems look like?
>    
>   If no, why not?

Well, in Australia, very few kids go away to college in the way they seem to in the US. Most 
kids stay at home with their parents while they go to university, but if they do leave home, 
they are more likely to live in flats or sharehouses off campus than they are to live on campus 
(in fact, at most universities that have on campus housing, the kids who live in it tend to be 
coming from quite wealthy backgrounds, and the 'colleges' still take a somewhat outdated 
approach to supervising and controlling their behaviour, that they are able to take because of 
the historical practices that have built up at the colleges).

Alcohol abuse among teens and young adults is a problem in Australia, but it's just not one 
that is particularly associated with college or university.  Kids do get drunk at parties, but the 
parties will have relatively little to do with their university life.

It's also perfectly legal to purchase alcohol here at 18, and a lot of uni students do drink - but 
most of them do it in at least relative moderation. I think the fact that you don't have to break 
the law to do it, tends to reduce the pressure to go too far. Not for all kids - some do drink a 
lot, some far too much. But most really don't.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
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