Enough Wild Oats

A new study reveals alarming levels of binge drinking, drug abuse, and assorted other risky behaviors among American college students.

• The proportion of students who drink (about 68 percent) and binge drink (40 percent) has changed little since 1993. But there have been substantial increases in the number of students who binge drink frequently (take five drinks at a time, three or more times in two weeks), who drink 10 or more times a month, and who get drunk three or more times in a month.

• Though still used by far fewer students than alcohol, hundreds of thousands more students are abusing prescription drugs including Ritalin, Adderall and OxyContin than during the early 1990s. The proportion of students using marijuana daily has more than doubled to about 4 percent. Though still used by far fewer students than alcohol, hundreds of thousands more students are abusing prescription drugs including Ritalin, Adderall and OxyContin than during the early 1990s. The proportion of students using marijuana daily has more than doubled to about 4 percent." type="hidden">

• Analyzing outside survey data, the Center calculated 23 percent of college students meet the medical criteria for substance abuse or dependence. That's about triple the proportion in the general population. MORE

It seems obvious that a legal drinking age of 21 does almost nothing to keep younger people from getting their hands on copious amounts of alcohol. The 23% substance abuse figure surprises me. College students have always sowed their wild oats, which is fine, but that's a far different thing from becoming addicted to alcohol or other substances. The study also found that college students drink more than their high school peers who did not go to college.

What does this tell us? Binge drinking is the first step down a long staircase. Today's college campuses are an anything-goes subculture. Take whatever substances you like into your body, in whatever quantities you like. Make your private parts public during Spring Break and Mardi Gras. Rut like animals with anonymous persons of any gender/species, secure in the knowledge that everyone around you will say nothing more than "whatever, dude." If your pelvic adventures result in something inconvenient, like the conception of a child, just kill it.

That is college life today, and not just from the student point of view. These attitudes also prevail among faculty, and indeed are official policy most places.

I am not a bit surprised that 18-21 year old kids, left on their own, will explore the outer limits of human depravity. What does surprise me are the parents who finance this sordid stage of life. You think your little darling studies all night long? Please. I don't care who much of a bookworm the kid may be. Faced with the kind of temptations that surround most campuses, and without anyone nearby for support, he or she will be transformed into a party animal faster than you can say "bottoms up."

Such is the state of affairs at all state universities and most of the formerly-religious ones as well. There remain a few small liberal-arts colleges that provide some semblance of adult supervision as well as academic rigor. Your kids can get in trouble at these places, too, but at least they won't be left alone to pursue whatever feels good.

The more basic question is why should we send 18-year-old kids to college in the first place? What does it accomplish? Is it worth the enormous amounts of money parents spend on elite universities? I think not. Many students would be much better off staying at home for another couple of years after high school while attending a community college or trade school.

Another alternative is to delay college and grow up for awhile by enlisting in the military. That is also an environment full of temptations and risks, but at least there are sergeants to serve as substitute parents. This option also allows the young person to earn benefits that pay their own way through college. In so doing, they are more likely to treat their educational experience seriously rather than as a long vacation paid for by mom and dad.

The sad fact is that college is vastly over-rated in this country. You can do just fine in life without a sheepskin on the wall. Plumbers make far more money than most college graduates. You can still party, if you are so inclined, but you won't have to listen to politically correct claptrap from overpaid professors who were unable to find jobs in the real world.

Try this sometime: ask people you know what their college major was, and how it relates to their current occupation. Most of the time the answer will be "not at all." The main exceptions will be in technical and scientific fields, most of which require specialized graduate training after college. A kid who has particular aptitude in science or math probably should go to college - preferably one close to home so parents can enforce reasonable limits on the party life.

Conversely, a degree in sociology, history or the like does practically nothing to get you a better career. The main thing you accomplish by getting such a degree is to rob yourself of 4-5 years of earnings from a job that will probably pay just as much as the one you get after college.

It would make a great bumper sticker, wouldn't it? College: Just Say No. If only people would believe it.