It’s no surprise that the words “party” and “drinking” are synonymous. It’s as timeless as the Jimi Hendrix record that is collecting dust in my closet and certainly older then my parents. Even my Cross Country coach told me he had been to a few parties, and had a few drinks, although I believe the numbers were slightly underplayed.

This isn’t an attack on culture, or bad parenting. My parents have returned home, tipsy from a night of margaritas at the dive bar just on the edge of town, and every time we have company over, I’m always fetching an elegantly named wine like a cheap man-servant. Drunks are no stranger to me either, plenty of adults have had me run home to fetch a wide assortment of items to fuel their favorite drinking games, and while they couldn’t quite remember my name, I was more than happy to oblige. Even Trey Songz is saying it’s alright to crack open a beer.

Exposure isn’t the problem. The majority of kids drink to get drunk. Nobody likes the taste, let’s be honest. Vodka smells like the chemicals they use to clean high school bathrooms, and from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t taste much better. Teenagers have very few options when it comes to battling boredom. While you might be able to play “Call of Duty: Black Ops” till your hands fall off, creep the Facebook profile of that really cute new guy that just joined the Lacrosse team, or really earn the unlimited texting your parents are paying an extra $10.00 a month for, it can only last so long. How many movies can you possibly see? After “Sucker Punch” I’m going to be a little more cautious with my money. Parks, restaurants, and stores close at night and it most areas, a curfew is regularly enforced. With restrictions on driving, teens are very hard pressed to find things to do.

When people are bored they do stupid things, and I’m not talking about building a sweet new skateboard ramp, or tee-peeing the neighbors house with the toilet paper from your house. Getting drunk seems to be the most popular pass time for the majority of the football team, and the students in my area. The appeal tending to be that it makes you feel all warm inside, and things tend to get fuzzy. Lack of coordination and decision making seem to be very popular as well or at least get the denizens of the parties laughing after the innumerable displays of grace that accompany three or four beers. Honestly it’s quite sad that people have to live an altered version of reality in order to have fun. With all of the technology we have at our disposal, nobody can find anything to do. There is an old saying, “the devil makes work for idle hands” and while I haven’t stepped foot in a church for the last six month, it is still very true. If kids had more to do, I would here far less drunk stories in Math Class.