Social Sciences - Ethics

Social Sciences - Ethics

Introduction

College life is period of a person's life when he finally begins to see himself as a grown man. As a result, there is an increased tendency in college-going students to break rules and indulge in certain prohibited activities that they previously abstained from such as drinking and sex (Strike & Moss, 2008). It is true that participating in such activities is mostly the students' idea of fun and entertainment. Many students start to participate in drinking because they are curious or for the 'thrill' of it (Strike & Moss, 2008). Understandably, most colleges have put a strict life-long ban on the consumption of alcohol within their premises. Colleges are institutions where the academic progress of the students is the primary focus. Hence, colleges mostly prohibit the consumption of alcoholic within their premises for a number of reasons. The primary aim of this purpose is to examine why colleges have strongly prohibited the consumption of alcohol within their premises. Apart from this, the paper also investigates the ethicality of prohibiting alcohol in colleges.

Discussion

Alcohol consumption has become increasingly common and popular among students going to college. There are numerous reasons why college going students develop a tendency to drink alcoholic beverages. For example, curiosity may be enough motivation for a person to drink alcoholic beverages. Apart from this, drinking alcohol is also associated with the concept of maturity and being cool and many students are only too willing to try it for this reason alone (Strike & Moss, 2008). Some students even choose to take alcoholic beverages as a softer substitute for harder narcotics like marijuana and weed. Peer pressure from other students may also be one of the most important reasons that encourage students to start taking alcoholic beverages (Strike & Moss, 2008).

In order to determine whether prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic beverages at the college is morally justifiable, there is a need to first understand the influence that alcohol can have on students. Alcoholic beverages are mainly popular for their ability to intoxicate a person. Excessive consumption of an alcoholic beverage causes severe intoxication, thereby causing a person to lose control of himself (Strike & Moss, 2008). As a result, the person is not in his right senses and may be mentally absent from a place even when he is physically present. When taking this point into consideration from the perspective of a student, it can be assumed that alcoholic beverages may seriously affect the efficiency and attentiveness of the mental faculties of a student while also seriously undermining the ability of the student to exercise self-restraint over his emotions and feelings (Gensler, 2013). Such a combination is devastating for a student as well as for the college since it can lead to some serious issues.

However, there are several other arguments that one can make in favor of the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. However, in order to understand these arguments, there is a need to first understand the psyche of the students who go ...