re: Idaho Statesman online poll question: What is your biggest concern about teens?

As a teen, I'd definently say underage drinking. There are other problems, too - sex, lack of attention to the news, too much noise (ipods everywhere, buds always in the ears, you never get to hear the birds chirping!) - but none have the effect on livers, relationships, or other drivers like binge drinking. I don't know what it's like at the average college, but my school is in the middle of nowhere, so has a long tradition of relying on the Greek scene for its social life. There are plenty of kids who don't drink and even more who don't drink much, and that's fine, but students who black out three or four nights a week are not unheard of. No one bats an eye when they hear about kid waking up somewhere where they don't remember falling asleep, outside of their rooms - it's common, it's old hat. It's sad. It's wrong. It's stupid. But then again, this is the real Animal House, and we did invent beer pong ... with paddles.

Transplanted Texan

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