QUICK LINKS
|
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY (SLT)
The aspects of SLT involve observation, imitation, and social reinforcement. As it pertains to college students and alcohol use, students observe others participate in alcohol-induced binges, parties, and drinking games on television and in movies well before coming to college. Recent research on the media has shown that advertising is the most effective when showing images in the age group immediately above the target audience. Those in middle school will be shown images of “high school” behavior; those in high school will be shown images of “college student” behavior, and so on. These images are meant to show easily malleable youth what they aspire to become.
Once students view these images, they tend to imitate the behavior of those who they see on the media. One of the main concerns about the culture of high-risk alcohol use is the increase of underage consumption of alcohol by high school and middle school aged youth. In a recent study by the NIAAA, 75% of college freshmen consume alcohol before attending college. Youth who use alcohol while in high school tend to imitate those who they view in college. For some, the perception is that they want to drink before attending college so they will not go to college, drink too much, and fail out. Their anticipation for drinking in college is so high that they end up preparing themselves by getting used to alcohol and subsequently raising their tolerances. What many youth do not understand is that by raising their tolerances, they are making it even more difficult to get drunk. They have to drink more alcohol to get drunk, which means an increase in how much money is spent, an increase in their blood alcohol concentration, and an increase in the likelihood of developing dependency.
The social reinforcement of students is one of the most influential aspects of the culture of alcohol use by this generation. In a recent internal study by the Alcohol & Health Educaiton Office of the University of Kentucky, roughly 56% of college freshmen believe that their parents expect them to drink while freshmen and sophomores in college. Over 65% expect to drink while in college, 78% drank before attending college, and over 52% binge drank before attending college. Those in the communities surrounding the colleges often refer to them as “drunken college students” when describing their social behaviors. Even parents sometimes unwittingly talk to their children about their crazy times while in college quickly followed up with either “Now I don’t expect you to do that” or “If you’re going to do it, just be safe”. Basically, what has been communicated is mom/dad did it, so I’m going to do it too. The closeness that has been developed between Millennials and their parents has almost created a symbiotic relationship - parents are living through their children and their children cannot thrive while in college without them.
