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Friday, February 15, 2013

Sex and Alcohol: College Misconceptions

There are two things that most people think about when they think of college: SEX and ALCOHOL. College is a time for going to crazy parties, drinking too much, and going home with random guy or gal… or is it? Let’s talk about these two ideas and to what extent they're true.
 

#1: Everybody is having sex

No they aren’t. That’s the simple answer. This is true in high school, college, and even adulthood. Some people are having sex and some people are not.

            Everyone is different and has different preferences and experiences. This is a pretty good rule to follow in life in general: you will find people who don’t like chocolate or sunshine or even puppies (gasp!). Don’t feel bad if you dislike something that everyone seems to like and don’t hate on others who dislike stuff you think they should like.

            But, I’m getting off track. This isn’t (typically) about what people like, it’s a matter of what they want or what they’re comfortable with or what is best for them. No matter the reason, it’s totally normal to be celibate or to be a virgin in college. (According to this study almost 20% of 21 year old women are still virgins.)


#2: Everyone is drinking… a lot
Again, the answer is no. Some people drink very often, some people drink occasionally, some people drink rarely, and some people do not drink at all. I’ve met people who don’t drink because of religious beliefs, health reasons, or personal preference.

            Some people don’t like the way it tastes (I would venture to say that even many people who do drink do not like the way alcohol tastes), some don’t like the way it makes them feel, some don’t like the way it makes them act. For whatever reason, no one is going judge you if you say you don’t want to drink.

Here are a few tips if you want to avoid being pressured into drinking:
  • You can play drinking games with water. I’ve done it before and it was no big deal.
  • If you don’t want to tell people that you don’t drink (or are not currently drinking) you can say that you need to get up early for something important, of that you had too much last night (or last week) and need to take a break.
  • Or you can fill a cup with soda or water (people often mix alcohol with soda anyway, so there should be some around).
  • Or just grab a beer and pretend you’re drinking it.
 
I'm interested to know, for those of you in college what do you think are some other misconceptions? For those of you anticipating college, what do you think of when you think of a traditional college expereice? Let me know!

4 comments:

  1. I like this post and what you say makes total sense. But I think also a good post idea would be about how to be safe while participating in these activities too since people do drink and have sex. That way those who don't feel okay with their choices and those who do are doing so safely.

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    1. That's a great idea! I'll certainly be blogging about that in the near future! And you're totally right, the most important thing is that no matter what choice someone makes they do so safely. Thank you for your input, I really appreciate the feedback! =)

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  2. Allison, the link about the study is broken. Could you fix it and/or send me the info? Great post about misconceptions. There is a wide range of decisions that college students make about what they're doing in their free time, and so often it's over simplified to the point where students feel like there's something wrong with them if they're not like "everybody else."

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  3. Thank you for letting me know! Sorry it took me a while to get back to you.

    I can't seem to find the exact study I used before, but here is the link to a similar one by the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_23/sr23_024.pdf similar statistics can be found on about page 6.

    Here is also the link to the wikipedia page which I probably that link on (and where I may have also found the previous link): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolescent_sexuality_in_the_United_States

    I hope that helps! And thanks for your comment! =)

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