Essential Elements 3: Underage Drinking

     Underage Drinking

                       

Introduction

One major theme which resonates and repeats across all of these books is the presence of alcohol and underage drinking. It seems as though it’s almost a requirement in a boarding school setting (not to mention almost any other contemporary young adult setting) to acquire and drink alcohol, whether it’s for fun and relaxation, or to satisfy some deeper craving. Often, it’s treated as a normal, even routine thing—expected and part of the social fabric of the school’s after-hours atmosphere. While underage drinking may be illegal and grounds for disciplinary action, suspension, even expulsion, there’s often the underlying suggestion that the administration knows and fails to aggressively police this behavior, so long as it doesn’t get out of hand. By that same token, however, drinking often becomes a problem with grave consequences for those who indulge to excess.

Relevant Passages:

1)

“Where did she get the bottle of Skyy, Becca? From the back of your closet?”

“Everyone drinks!” Becca shouted. “It’s how we survive here.” That was true, of course. Even geeks and major jocks downed shots of hard alcohol. And I knew Annette better than anyone at Brookwood—I knew she wasn’t an experienced drinker, and that her mother was. Wasn’t that a big part of why we’d come here—to get Annette away from Shannon’s drinking, her abusive behavior? To Keep Annette safe?

--Without Annette, by Jane B. Mason

Passage analysis

Here, as presented by the narrator, Josie Little, we see the true pervasiveness of the drinking culture at Brookwood, her elite prep school, where the pressure of achieving and succeeding is so high, that drinking is normalized and constant, where everyone, even the “geeks and major jocks” drink. Earlier, it’s shown that the school store sells sets of Brookwood-branded shot glasses, which can be billed to the parents as “glasses” so no one is the wiser. Students buy vodka and brazenly carry it across campus “in broad daylight” as part of routine shopping. “…they don’t actually want to bust you,” claims one girl. “They want to turn us into uberprofessionals who will go out and rule the world.” In the Brookwood drinking culture, there are informal rules—two shot limits to take the edge off while still being able to function, breath mints or something else to cover up the alcohol on the breath—and giving new students a drink is all but a ritual.

However, there’s a downside to this, as Josie discovers. As described here, she wanted to get her girlfriend away from her alcoholic mother, and yet Annette succumbs to the pressures of school, the temptation of alcohol, and the urge to overdo it. As a result, Annette winds up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning and is ultimately sent home for good. While Josie can drink to fit in, to socially bond with her new roommate, to cope with this stressful new environment, Annette cracks under the strain and self-destructs. Everyone drinks at Brookwood, but not everyone is equipped to handle it.

2)  

 “This isn’t milk. It’s five parts milk and one part vodka. I call it ambrosia. Drink of the gods. You can barely smell the vodka in the milk, so the Eagle can’t catch me unless he actually takes a sip. The downside is that it tastes like sour milk and rubbing alcohol, but it’s Friday night, Pudge, and my girlfriend is a bitch. Want some?”

--Looking for Alaska, by John Green

3)

“It’s time for you to lose your beer virginity, Winger,” he said. Then he raised his can to the center and said “Cheers.”

             And we all tapped cans. Six eyes watched me, and I closed mine as tight as I could and took my first swallow of beer.

            As Chas began dealing the cards out, all these things kind of occurred to me at once:

            1. The Taste. Who ever drinks this piss when they’re thirsty? Are you kidding me? Seriously… you’ve got to be kidding.

            --Winger, by Andrew Smith

            4)

             I grab a handful, shoving them into my mouth. They feel bigger and slippier than normal gummy bears.

             And now I taste why. After chewing and swallowing, these leave an alcoholic after burn. They’ve been soaked in vodka. Sneaking alcohol was a regular occurrence in Lincoln, but until now I thought Abbot was stuck in the Prohibition era. Since I haven’t had so much as a beer in a very long time, my head swims minutes after I’ve swallowed them.

--Going Geek, by Charlotte Huang.

Multimodal works

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrUzH76eUAM

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-ouCJUzOpc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItpdL9_RKvc

High School Drinking on the Decline (Chicago Tribune)

Annotated Scholarly References

Wiersma, J., Fischer, J., Cleveland, H., Reifman, A., & Harris, K. (2011). Selection and socialization of drinking among young adult dating, cohabiting, and married partners. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28(2), 182-200.

A study which examines the role of drinking among various age groups, including young adult, and how it relates to romantic partner selection, socialization, and its effect on relationships and other interactions. Drinking affects romantic and interpersonal relationships in many of the books addressed in this project, such as Without Annette, where it proves one of the deciding factors in the final breakup between the narrator and her girlfriend.

Jacob, Leah. (2016). Teen Talk: Social Drinking. Teen Health & Wellness: TeenTalk, 1-2.

A no-nonsense article regarding the reality of social drinking among teens, with a specific look towards statistics and encouragement towards drinking responsibly, if at all. It includes techniques for abstention or avoidance, and encourages the reader to examine their personal feelings beforehand. Social drinking is a major recurring theme in the books addressed in this project, such as Winger, Without Annette, and Looking for Alaska, where characters often drink as part of the social structure, or to cope with personal issues. 

Barkdoll, Jayme K., & Scherff, Lisa. (2008). "Literature Is Not a Cold, Dead Place": An Interview with John Green. English Journal, 97(3), 67-71.

In this interview with John Green, author of Looking for Alaska, he discusses some of his motivations and goals in covering the topics and themes of that book. Of special note is his acknowledgment that the drinking and drugs represent ways in which the characters are attempting to cope with self-destructive impulses.