Christina Domenico | A healthier alcohol culture

With the start of every school year, students and parents are bombarded with reminders about the dangers of drinking on college campuses. Don't drink. If you're going to drink, don't drink too much. If - and when - you drink too much, something bad will happen (since that's what why you're being warned), so just don't drink.

And, of course, most people don't listen, and a whole new set of numbers dampens the back-to-school mood.

This year, that barrage of warnings was accompanied by the Amethyst Initiative, which declares on its Web site that "21 is not working." The 129 college presidents and chancellors who have signed the initiative are calling for elected officials to open a debate about the legal drinking age and alcohol education for young adults.

Lowering the drinking age to 18 may seem to be a quick fix to the nation's binge drinking problem, but a Gallup poll last year found that 77 percent of Americans oppose putting a beer in the hands of an 18-year-old. Reevaluating alcohol education, however, could hold the most promise in changing the alcohol culture among college students.

Because what the problem boils down to is the negative perception of drinking in the United States. And that needs to change.

More often than not, the media machine presents drinking (especially among young people) as a high-risk activity with consistently negative consequences. You'll never see the Gossip Girl gang simply relaxing with an underage cocktail - there must be a scandalous act to follow.

Julie Lyzinski, interim director of the Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives, said that "the small percentage of students that do drink a lot are the most visible and are what we see on TV." For incoming freshmen, she added, what they see online or on television is their first socialized experience with alcohol.

As a counter message, young adults are taught to practice abstinence more often than moderation. Rather than shutting young people off from alcohol, introducing it as a positive experience in life would help to curb the over-indulgence that plagues the higher-education landscape.

The contrast with European culture may seem obvious - maybe even cliched at this point - but it's still a living example of how to incorporate drinking into everyday life, without leaving a trail of destruction. True, not all European countries have a healthy approach to drinking.

Even so, the World Health Organization found that Americans have a higher rate of intoxication than countries with a lower drinking age and higher consumption levels.

During my study abroad experience in Spain last year, my evenings were spent traveling from bar to bar and, yes, drinking along the way. People younger and older than me participated in the evening ritual, but it was rare to see any Spaniard completely out of control. Drinking was simply a social experience.

There's no reason we can't build a positive culture around drinking in the United States, though reversing the nation's entire line of thinking would take some time. Still, there's already a strong base of college students that don't practice unhealthy drinking behavior.

Lyzinski told me that 16 percent of Penn undergraduate students don't drink at all, and 22 percent of undergraduates drink a few times a semester or less. In other words, 38 percent of Penn students are very low-end drinkers at most. The remaining 62 percent of undergrads, she added, are considered to be moderate drinkers.

That's the good news about the alcohol culture on our own campus - though it isn't true everywhere. But Penn's efforts in promoting healthy, responsible drinking can serve as a model of how to work toward breaking the stigma of college drinking.

With any luck, the Amethyst Initiative's goal to open a debate about alcohol education will get off the ground, and a more positive drinking culture will form at colleges across the country. Until then, you can count on seeing most parents scowl when the word "alcohol" comes up.

Christina Domenico is a College senior from North Wildwood, N.J. Her e-mail is domenico@dailypennsylvanian.com. The Undersized Undergrad appears on Wednesdays.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.