Spring Break
The Daily OrangeBoozing barrier: After turning 21, drinking habits change
By Ali Pickering
Posted: 11/4/07, 11:39 PM EST Section: News
Though turning 21 is a ticket to legal drinking, interviews with students and experts reveal that reaching this milestone only lessens alcohol consumption among students.
"Before I turned 21, I certainly drank a lot," said Woo Jin Koh, a 24-year-old sophomore. "Once I turned 21, I didn't drink as much."
The theory that drinking patterns of students change when they are able to buy and consume alcohol legally was confirmed by a 2000 study in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine titled "Environmental Correlates of Underage Alcohol Use and Related Problems of College Students."
With the return of Operation Prevent and bar raids to the Syracuse University Hill, crowds making the crawl to Marshall Street each weekend may consist of more legal drinkers and less from the underage demographic.
The change in drinking habits after the 21st birthday is prevalent on college campuses across the country, said Department of Public Safety Major Grant Williams.
Yet when it comes to arrests and disciplinary action, the number of underage students involved is "certainly not any less than those 21 and older," the assistant director of crime prevention and public relations said.
Enforcement such as the recent bar raids may scare underage students away from breaking drinking laws, but Williams doesn't believe it is enough.
"I don't condone young people breaking the law, but we need to bring a sense of sensitivity to this issue," he said. He added that providing better education on the effects of harmful drinking habits would be a better solution than using force.
It is the drinking laws - not the amount of educational information - that needs to change, said junior Meghan Lisson.
"In Europe, people don't binge drink like we do," Lisson said.
She argues that drinking age laws cause excessive drinking among students who cannot legally buy alcohol but have easy access to it. She is not surprised that gaining legal access to alcohol reduces an individual's binge drinking.
"Before I turned 21, I certainly drank a lot," said Woo Jin Koh, a 24-year-old sophomore. "Once I turned 21, I didn't drink as much."
The theory that drinking patterns of students change when they are able to buy and consume alcohol legally was confirmed by a 2000 study in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine titled "Environmental Correlates of Underage Alcohol Use and Related Problems of College Students."
With the return of Operation Prevent and bar raids to the Syracuse University Hill, crowds making the crawl to Marshall Street each weekend may consist of more legal drinkers and less from the underage demographic.
The change in drinking habits after the 21st birthday is prevalent on college campuses across the country, said Department of Public Safety Major Grant Williams.
Yet when it comes to arrests and disciplinary action, the number of underage students involved is "certainly not any less than those 21 and older," the assistant director of crime prevention and public relations said.
Enforcement such as the recent bar raids may scare underage students away from breaking drinking laws, but Williams doesn't believe it is enough.
"I don't condone young people breaking the law, but we need to bring a sense of sensitivity to this issue," he said. He added that providing better education on the effects of harmful drinking habits would be a better solution than using force.
It is the drinking laws - not the amount of educational information - that needs to change, said junior Meghan Lisson.
"In Europe, people don't binge drink like we do," Lisson said.
She argues that drinking age laws cause excessive drinking among students who cannot legally buy alcohol but have easy access to it. She is not surprised that gaining legal access to alcohol reduces an individual's binge drinking.
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