Drinking and drug use aid hookup culture

You’re at a party. You’ve had too much to drink. Your inhibitions are gone. There’s someone good-looking on the other side of the room. You waste no time.

You wake up the next morning in a stranger’s bed. You have no idea what happened.

Welcome to the alarming hookup culture that is prevalent on college campuses. Most, it seems, are hooked on the so-called hookup culture.

Though the term is common, definitions for what exactly a hookup is vary.

Urban Dictionary describes a hookup as an “ambiguous” term for “almost any sexual activity. Usually used to exaggerate or minimize what exactly happened. A hookup can range from a make-out session to full out sex.”

The consequences of such behavior, however, are much clearer.

According to Syracuse University researchers, hookups typically involve alcohol or drug use.

In the Syracuse study, most participants consumed about three alcoholic drinks before hooking up. Some, about 7 percent, reported smoking marijuana.

When people drink or do drugs in social settings things are bound to happen with the opposite sex that are unsafe or unwanted.

A 2011 survey at Georgia College found that nearly a quarter of male students and almost a third of females here said they later regretted some of the things they’d done when they were drinking.

Non-consensual sexual activity can be a severe hookup consequence.

According to University Health Educator Rachel Sullivan, non-consensual sex can occur because people do not discuss what hookup means to them before going home with each other, creating confusion. People say it won’t happen to them, but it is that invincible attitude that gets them into trouble. Non-consensual sex does not just happen at big schools. It happens at Georgia College, too.

Over 3 percent of females who participated in the GC survey reported they had sex with someone without giving consent, while less than 1 percent of males reported having sex with someone without getting consent.

Unprotected sex as a result of drinking was reported by 16.8 percent of males and 12.3 of females.

Sociology professor Stephanie McClure believes this culture could lead to lifelong relationship issues. McClure thinks if people are not paired up before leaving college, the hookup mentality can continue into their post-college lives.

“Students really don’t have a script for dating that’s not hooking up,” McClure said. “So, they sort of persist in those patterns post-college. It’s dangerous in college, it’s more dangerous out of college.”

In order to have healthy relationships, people engaging in hookups frequently need to stop.

Drinking and being sloppy is not even cute when you are 21, nobody wants to see it when you are in your 30s.

Posted by Bobbi Otis on Jan 26 2012. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.