Student A, a sophomore of the University of Seoul(UOS) is anxious about the new term. Because of so many drinking sessions from dusk til dawn, his dream which a large majority of freshmen imagine was sullied when he was a freshman in March. He doesn`t want to drink much but he can`t refuse to drink in every event during March because seniors want to drink or are seen in the same course.
And he is anxious about parties with senior and junior. In addition, he thinks about freshmen who have died because of too much alcohol. He considers the accidents of other freshmen involving alcohol but he can`t find an answer to the problem.
Many freshmen have first contact with people at a bar. All this happens because people think they can become familiar through chatting. We can see this when we look at the noisy bars holding many kinds of meetings, such as club meetings or gatherings for freshmen, near our university where it was not so crowded until February.
When asked why he attended this drinking party, one student having a meeting said the reason for drinking when he became a freshman was "for smoothing relations with people." And this answer shows convincingly that younger students can`t have a social life with little drinking, unlike seniors.
The drinking culture of Korean university students is bad. According to statistical research from the National Statistics Office, 96.1% of all university students are drinkers and 99.1% experience drinking alcohol at some point. Also, 48.4% of male university students drink to excess every week and 19.1% of female university students indulge weekly. This bottom line proves that the drinking culture of Korean university students needs to be addressed.
The drinking culture of our school`s students is different from that of other schools` students. According to research on UOS students, about 63.6% of students (male students 54.5% and female students 45.5%) feel a bit out of sorts after drinking. And a large percentage of students hate being forced to drink, and drinking all night. But 63.6% of students continue conversation next year. That reason is "we are finished" and "we want to enjoy." We always think that our drinking culture is not good, but we don`t stop participating in it because we will suffer revenge for this insult someday.
Generally we see university students as intellects within a society. We need to think about such university students running wild after excessive drinking. When a new semester starts, a campus goes on a bender. At this point, the university students and the adults of every class need to think about sound drinking habits and need to worry about building the right drinking habits for university students.
In March, during freshman orientation, because of seniors` compelling juniors to drink liquor, several juniors have died. That has been the case until now. These days, public information on enjoying alcohol as an intellectual and not indulging in excessive alcohol should be reconsidered. Specifically among those university students who still rely on their parents, drinking rates are even higher than adults. We need to make a university culture including drinking culture so that we don`t lose sight of the university student`s condition.
TIP!
The majority of people think that mixed drinks get you more drunk but it is the same as any other drink, just that a mixed drink is easier to drink because the taste and smell is masked, therefore for oneself, we urge self-control.
Gong Jeong-ryeol Reporter
hidenthuser@uos.ac.kr