Habituation and The Legal Limit.
"You don't remember the best times of your life because the best times of your life happen while you are drunk."
Those are the last words a young man said to me. He did not die--no, worse--he was arrested for rape two days after he said that to me. He destroyed another life and made an animal of himself. Apparently, from those who had seen him earlier that night, he was--hold your breath--drunk.
I am working through research on alcohol consumption amongst minors and the disasters it breeds. The little academics and I have some slight differences in opinion on the way it needs to be handled. They all realize that there will always be underage drinking; this is no surprise. The vast majority, however, still think that protection is the way to go and that the best thing parents can do to stop their children from drinking themselves to death is give them sex talk: special alcohol addition.
These jejune philosophers think that a small contingent of words, and an even smaller contingent of police, are going to keep minors--who are under incredible peer pressure--from drinking. Clearly they have forgotten their days as minors. No. It is too little, and it comes much too late.
A dancer, when he preform, does not think about each individual muscle movement. This in contrast with a novice, who has none of the same grace and cannot perform the dance. The fluid movements of the dancer are habituated. They are the result of years of careful practice and learning under the eyes of a master.
With time the dancer is not only graceful out of habit, but his body rebels against that which is wrong. He feels the mistakes more acutely than the untrained body.
Good habits are needed in every single discipline. Education is about habituation to good. How does one form good habits when practice is forbidden?
In withholding alcohol, you take a simple beverage with lightly poisonous qualities and transform it into a taboo. Suddenly it takes on a new and almost ritualistic status; it is novel, adult, powerful, and sexy. It becomes a part of the "transition into the adult world."
Small wonder that the vast majority of alcohol related deaths are in younger age groups. Instead of parents teaching and habituating their children to responsible and tasteful alcohol use, the children go to their peers--fellow minors--who know all about alcohol...and projectile vomit.
I sat in com today and I listened as my classmates told some of their drunk driving stories. These are minors all. They know any drinking game you might have heard of, but I would bet not a single one of them knows the difference between a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon. They know a hundred ways to get wasted fast, but not how to match a drink to fit a meal. I find that a little sad. They were not raised to be civilized, tasteful, or moderate. They raised to follow the fold and were left in the charge of their fellow nit wits as they searched for "the best times" of their lives.
Those are the last words a young man said to me. He did not die--no, worse--he was arrested for rape two days after he said that to me. He destroyed another life and made an animal of himself. Apparently, from those who had seen him earlier that night, he was--hold your breath--drunk.
I am working through research on alcohol consumption amongst minors and the disasters it breeds. The little academics and I have some slight differences in opinion on the way it needs to be handled. They all realize that there will always be underage drinking; this is no surprise. The vast majority, however, still think that protection is the way to go and that the best thing parents can do to stop their children from drinking themselves to death is give them sex talk: special alcohol addition.
These jejune philosophers think that a small contingent of words, and an even smaller contingent of police, are going to keep minors--who are under incredible peer pressure--from drinking. Clearly they have forgotten their days as minors. No. It is too little, and it comes much too late.
A dancer, when he preform, does not think about each individual muscle movement. This in contrast with a novice, who has none of the same grace and cannot perform the dance. The fluid movements of the dancer are habituated. They are the result of years of careful practice and learning under the eyes of a master.
With time the dancer is not only graceful out of habit, but his body rebels against that which is wrong. He feels the mistakes more acutely than the untrained body.
Good habits are needed in every single discipline. Education is about habituation to good. How does one form good habits when practice is forbidden?
In withholding alcohol, you take a simple beverage with lightly poisonous qualities and transform it into a taboo. Suddenly it takes on a new and almost ritualistic status; it is novel, adult, powerful, and sexy. It becomes a part of the "transition into the adult world."
Small wonder that the vast majority of alcohol related deaths are in younger age groups. Instead of parents teaching and habituating their children to responsible and tasteful alcohol use, the children go to their peers--fellow minors--who know all about alcohol...and projectile vomit.
I sat in com today and I listened as my classmates told some of their drunk driving stories. These are minors all. They know any drinking game you might have heard of, but I would bet not a single one of them knows the difference between a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon. They know a hundred ways to get wasted fast, but not how to match a drink to fit a meal. I find that a little sad. They were not raised to be civilized, tasteful, or moderate. They raised to follow the fold and were left in the charge of their fellow nit wits as they searched for "the best times" of their lives.
::stands, applauds:: Exactly so.
ReplyDelete