Group – Interview 34
They have all found that drinking at university is very different from drinking at school. They drank a lot more but think that now they are a bit older, and after the first year at university, they will be more responsible with drinking.
We spoke to a group of three first-year university students who went to the same school but went to different universities. They started drinking with friends at about thirteen or fourteen, and drank more when they were fifteen and sixteen. They would drink mainly on weekends, and almost daily during the long summer after their GCSEs. At that age they relied on alcohol to have a fun evening. Their older brothers would usually get it for them. They say that then it was much easier to get hold of alcohol at fourteen;from siblings, using someone’s ID, and lots of off licenses would sell them alcohol. They knew certain places where it would be easy to get alcohol.
Hugh’s parents would also give him some alcohol, and he felt free to take a couple of beers when he wanted. From a young age he would have a beer or two with a meal. He says that some teenagers would take rum or vodka from their parentsand pour it into a plastic bottle and get very drunk, because they couldn’t handle spirits. Alex remembers when he was about fourteen and being in charge of getting some alcohol for a friend’s birthday party. He raided his mother’s cupboard to make a concoction of various spirits, and everyone becoming horribly sick that night. It was also the first time he got drunk.
They say that young people drink a lot at music festivals, starting in the early morning, and bingeing every night,sometimes for five days. They say that festivals are the only place they drink that much. They say that it’s nearly impossible to be with a lot of people who are drunk and still have a good a time without drinking, unless you are very confident. If you’re all going out together, drinking brings everyone together. They say that you are less self-conscious and more confident when drinking. They think that young people in the rest of Europecontrol their drinking better, maybe because they drink from a young age.
Their drinking habits changed when they went to university. Ben says that during the first term he was drinking almost every night, and certainly drank a lot more than he ever had before. They all say that it was initially the Fresher Week activities that provided a lot of alcohol, but then going to the student union and the student societies involved a lot of cheap alcohol. They say that alcohol is so much easier to get than drugs, and it is legal. They think that there is a lot of uncertainty in taking drugs. Hugh has tried cannabis but doesn’t like smoking, and says that he probably wouldn’t take drugs without drinking. Ben has very occasionally taken drugs, and always when drinking. But he is afraid of losing control. Alex occasionally takes drugs, but wouldn’t if he was sober. They know lots of people who have been seriously affected by taking drugs, and that most of them have done badly in life.
As they getolder, and go on to the next yearat university, they think that they will be more responsible with drinking.