Today's Youth: Perhaps Not as Stupid as They Seem

None of these students noted the best thing about booze that we adults know perfectly well -- alcohol numbs the mind and soul to the awful emptiness and pain that is life on this earth, and, with any luck, mercifully hastens life's end.

But even absent that obvious realization, these youngsters still come to the right conclusion: heavy drinking is always the right move.

A new study finds that many college students believe the positive effects of heavy drinking outweigh the negative consequences.

According to study participants, heavy drinking increases courage, eases communication, and has other social benefits that overshadow negative effects of hangovers, fights and regrettable sexual situations.

[...]

The survey assessed how often the participants had experienced 35 different negative consequences of drinking, such as blackouts, fights, hangovers, missed classes and work, and lost or stolen belongings, as well as 14 positive effects of drinking, including better conversational and joke-telling abilities, improved sexual encounters and more energy to stay up late partying and dancing.

[...]

Participants rated the upsides to drinking as more positive and likely to happen in the future, a finding the researchers call “rose-colored beer goggles.”

“It’s as though they think that the good effects of drinking keep getting better and more likely to happen again,” said Diane Logan, lead author and a University of Washington clinical psychology graduate student.

[PsychCentral]