Well for my first blog I seem to have chosen a tough topic to start off with.
Freshers week has always been associated with the heavy drinking culture that in turn is then associated with the entire student population in the UK. I know that when I was a first year 5 years ago I was keen and ready to get out meet new people and in my own words "get slaughtered", and I'm sure there are many more people getting ready to come down to Brighton in a few weeks time and are thinking exactly the same...
However my current job, VP Wellbeing, comes with a suggestion that straight away I should be against this culture and be trying to work to shelter students from excessive alcohol. This is an interesting view to be held by welfare officers up and down the country, but which very much seems to be at odds with the evening events I've taken part in during the summer training program. Also as a life long hockey boy, who thrououghly enjoyed being part of the hockey boy traditions at Brighton and attended every social except for 2 in my last year I feel at odds about trying to shelter other students from alcohol, and not allowing themselves to realise the potential negative effects for themselves.
Here at Brighton we have planned another week of drinking (and the odd non-drinking) events and I just have to keep wondering what the purpose of the events are?
I'm glad to see that the first event during freshers in Brighton is the annual party on the pier which could be considered a non-drinking event and a family friendly event. This event is always a laugh but I do think the first night in Brighton will miss something this year and that is the social lubrication that is alcohol! As I say this may be at odds with what I'm meant to think but I really think that alcohol can have a very possitive impact on social events, especially those, such as this where new people are thrown together for the first time in what could be quite a daunting environment.
I also believe that freshers week is a great opportunity for those students moving away from for the first time to learn valuable life skills, including how to deal with alcohol and where each persons limit may be. I'm also aware however that support must also be available to those who feel they need it, and so will have my team of volunteers dressed as captain hydration giving out water and information about how to remain safe during freshers week and ensure that students have a great night rather than ending up curled up round a toilet at 3 in the morning.
As a Union we do also think about other types of students and are therefore hosting other event throughout the week that are aimed at those that dont drink, such as tea parties.
The question that keeps hitting me is about whether this is enough? and the views I hold about the positives alcohol can create, in line with the negatives that are also clearly present.
I also think there is some future work to be done here about trying to quantify the positive impacts of alcohol in a social context.
All in all I think this year will be an interesting Freshers week and I look forward to meeting all the new freshers starting with Brighton University this year. For more information about Brighton Freshers week check out our website on www.ubsu.net
Surely there can be events that involve pubs and events that don't involve pubs without having to target those that drink and those that don't drink in such separate ways? The tea party feels quite patronising if, as you say, you're explicitly aiming it at people who don't drink alcohol?
ReplyDeleteI think that your right and in some respects it highlights the problems in which freshers week is organised. Due to the nature of our budgeting system we have no starting capitol and therefore the freshers events are seen as money making opportunities and therefore alcohoolic events are seen as the way to make this money that in turn provides for the union for the rest of the year. This therefore means that non-profit events seem to be an after thought, or at a lack of funding to make them better than they currently are. but your right that then even with the best of intentions they can come across as half arsed or patronising and i think tis somethiong for next year we really need to take on board!
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