Megan Hastings, Nelson Kramer, & Samatha Gruetter

Public Relations Manager, Humor Editor and Opinion Editor

A familiar and symbolic object for many Los Gatos High School students is a poster that teachers display on their walls. It reads, “88 percent of Los Gatos students don’t need alcohol to have fun, as reported in the California Healthy Kids Survey.” However, this poster overlooks the concerning 12 percent of students who reported alcohol as a necessity for having a good time, a statistic that would support many people’s perception of LGHS as a “party school” compared to other Bay Area high schools. It also represents a significant amount of the student body that engages in illegal activities, one being underage drinking. Students need to avoid this common practice and treat it as an unusual behavior for the student body, as a minority percent, as a 12 percent. LGHS students need to practice abstaining from and stop normalizing illegal party behaviors such as drug and alcohol consumption, and if they do decide to engage in them, they need to acknowledge the risks of their behaviors and proceed in the safest way possible.

The alarmingly common presence of alcohol at LGHS parties poses serious dangers, making it challenging for students to steer clear of underage drinking. While students often use parties as a chance to relax and have fun, alcohol can quickly turn good times into unsafe situations. The reality of these parties and underage drinking is that it often puts students at risk. As a result of drinking alcohol, students potentially act carelessly, driving under the influence or posting videos on social media that can further insinuate a message that promotes these irresponsible actions. According to the California Students Healthy Kids survey, an alarming 17 percent of LGHS juniors reported engaging in binge drinking compared to the five percent country-wide average. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, In 2011 alone, about 188,000 people younger than age 21 visited an emergency room for alcohol-related injuries. These statistics reflect the prominent role that alcohol plays at parties and how severe the risks of underage drinking can be.

Party culture has permeated large aspects of LGHS student life, turning weekend get-togethers into a social norm. In hallways and classrooms alike, it’s not uncommon to overhear students talking openly about a wild party they attended over the weekend. Students sharing pictures and videos of alcohol consumption on social media is representative of standard partying habits. Snapchat stories of students sharing locations and addresses for people to visit and public posts of underage students with alcohol in their hands perpetuates the widespread myth that the majority of students engage in illegal behaviors and even normalize these behaviors. Though not all, many students feel pressured to participate in similar actions to earn popularity and social approval as a result of this online sharing. Not only do these posts encourage other students, but they work against the statistic that 88 percent of students don’t need alcohol to have fun. This kind of behavior damages students’ digital footprints. With pictures and videos showing up through a simple search for a name, students risk their reputations, chances of getting into colleges, and future employment opportunities. Many people prioritize short-term gains of fitting in through shared posts and tags on social media over their long-term ideals and well-being, which can lead to hazardous behavior under pressure to maintain a particular image.

While underage drinking and dangerous party habits are harmful behaviors, it is common for students to participate in these activities, and if they do, they need to form a plan on how to get home safely and not put others at risk. One way students can prevent potential harm to themselves and others is to use rideshare programs that guarantee rides with a sober driver. One of these programs is Safe Rides, a program not affiliated with the high schoo, that responds to texts asking for rides on Fridays and Saturdays. The president of Safe Rides, LGHS Junior, Alisa Freeman, described the program, saying, “I think that most of the people using it are either making the smarter choice than they would have if they didn’t call Saferides, or they’re saving their parents a late night drive.” Students making the choice to call Saferides or another rideshare service, such as Uber or Lyft, avoid potentially impaired drivers from getting behind the wheel, minimizing the collateral damage of underage drinking. Students should also make sure their phones are charged, determine a designated meeting spot if anybody gets lost, and set up a buddy system where teens travel in pairs to avoid being alone in potentially vulnerable states. 

In order to foster an impactful mindset shift in the way students and administrators view partying and underage drinking at Los Gatos students must make meaningful behavioral changes. The changes include not posting when attending parties, using rideshare services, and regulating one’s alcohol consumption.This means students establish the notion that underage drinking is neither a safe, acceptable behavior nor a commonplace, whether they do this in-person or on social media. However, if students do decide to engage in these behaviors, they must do so safely and take measures to ensure they do not perpetuate the negative assumptions many make about LGHS’s students’ party habits. 

(Sources: California Healthy Kids Survey, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System)