With the Guild’s alcohol survey having finished last Friday, Kayley Gilbert pushes back against the prevalent student drinking culture and argues that choosing not to drink is normal and might even be better for our health and academic success.
Students and alcohol seem to go together like bread and butter. Many seem to make it their aim each weekend to get even more s**t-faced than the weekend before. As a result of this student life can seem to revolve around pubs and clubs especially, with many in the heart of the student campus and the majority of university outings involving some sort of alcohol plus a drinking game. You know, just in case you weren’t drunk enough already.
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Although this is a fun way to relax and create some rather hilarious stories, it’s not for everyone. There are people that don’t feel a need to drink themselves into oblivion and would rather remember what happened the night before. But people tend to shy away from this fact, fearing that they will be labelled ‘boring’ and not invited anywhere again. There is a student culture of drinking that means those who don’t enjoy it, or those who would rather drink in moderation, are the ones that stand out rather than those who drink until they pass out.
Even though drinking is fun, students are at university to get a degree and not to get their stomach pumped. When you’re able to go out every night if you wish and not turn up to lectures because you think no one will notice, it’s possible that students feel they can slip under the radar. This is especially true for students in their first year as many believe it doesn’t count, and that achieving 40% is all they need. But when it comes to applying for internships and jobs later on, students may look back and wish they’d worked harder and drunk slightly less.
Drinking alcohol on a regular basis, which many of us do, won’t only dent an already tight student budget, but has also been proven to cause a rise in stress levels, anxiety and depression. These aren’t issues we want to be dealing with when revising for exams or writing dissertations and shouldn’t be encouraged by drinking large volumes of alcohol every week.
Clearly, university is a huge change. For many students, moving to university is the first time away from their parents for any substantial amount of time. Students often experience homesickness, loneliness and stress in their first year at university and many use alcohol as a form of escapism from this. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that university is also an important transition into adult life and if drinking a lot on a regular basis becomes normal at the age of 20, it may become a lifelong problem. Students feeling stressed or depressed should try to avoid using alcohol as a way out and find other solutions.
The problem is that drinking has become part of university life. Even those with the best intentions are often pressured into having at least a few. I wouldn’t say the pressure to drink is forceful, but rather unrelenting. Even only having a few can spark encouragement like, “go on, have another” and, “you haven’t been drunk this week, let go” or even, “you’re so boring” which can really make students feel on the edge and excluded. It’s unfair to make people feel different or odd because they don’t want to drink or just don’t want to drink a lot. Not getting drunk isn’t boring. Not getting drunk isn’t strange. It’s this kind of behaviour that pushes even those students that try not to drink too much, to go too far. And yes, everyone drinks too much every now and again, but it’s unfair for students to feel pressured to get wasted every weekend if that’s not what they want.
Not drinking isn’t the end of the world, you can still have fun and you may not feel so homesick or anxious for it! People shouldn’t be pressured into drinking or made to feel bad for sticking to soft drinks, so don’t be the one badgering others to get drunk! Whether you’re drinking or not – have fun!
Kayley Gilbert
For an example of how alcohol can affect your abilities, see below.
Do you feel a pressure to drink on a night out? Can a balance between alcohol consumption and a healthy lifestyle be found? Leave a comment below or write to the Comment team at the Exeposé Comment Facebook Group or on Twitter@CommentExepose.
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