The prevalence of underage drinking with Skyline College students could be following the nationwide trend. Students under the legal drinking age of 21 are experimenting with alcohol at younger ages. According to a 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, there are approximately 11 million underage drinkers in the United States. “I’m pretty sure that there are a lot of kids who drink just for fun,” said Kathryn Manzano a first year college student. “When you get to college, it seems like everybody drinks alcohol, or has at least tried it once.” Manzano, nearing the age of 19, is finishing up her freshman year at Skyline College. She said that it is not uncommon for college students not of legal drinking age to go out on the weekends and indulge in drinking alcohol, among other activities. “When you go to parties, clubs, or even just spending time with your friends, it’s normal to see people our age drinking,” she said. “Today, it doesn’t really seem like a big deal. I mean, it’s like everybody does it. It’s so common that you don’t really care about it or give it a second thought. In his second year at Skyline, Reynaldo Ramos is now of legal drinking age and no longer has to deal with the thoughts of being an underage drinker, not that it had a significant effect on him in his previous years. “I think I started drinking back in high school,” said Reynaldo Ramos. “It didn’t really seem like a big deal back then, it was just fun. Anytime you were drinking you would probably have more fun than if you were sober.” “I’m sure that when we get older we might look back at it and feel kind of bad, but right now we’re young,” he said. “At this point in our lives, college students are probably more concerned with having fun and living life and enjoying it than what effects drinking will have on them in the future.” Katherine Fajardo is a bar back at a lounge in San Francisco that is open to the 21 and up crowd. She thinks that it is not uncommon for underage teens to try to use fake identification cards or sneak into the club. Many other Skyline students said that they started drinking alcoholic beverages several years before they became of legal drinking age. Many others who are still under the age of 21 continue to drink. An overwhelming amount of students provided evidence to the statements claiming the vast numbers of teenagers and underage drinking. Today’s society and media place a large emphasis on drinking being a part of the typical college lifestyle regardless of age. Groups of friends, family, television, movies, and magazines are all sources for today’s youth to receive negative messages and apply them in their own lives. Alcohol may seem like a rite of passage for college students, especially for males who feel the need to prove themselves or to fit in with the crowd. Skyline College counselor, Beverly Muse said, “They see it with their parents, they see it in the media, it’s out in movies, it’s cool, you know.” Skyline College nurse, Lisa Marlowe said, “It’s much more acceptable in this day and age.” This peer pressure, along with money hungry companies and the glamorization of the “rock and roll” lifestyle adds to the increasing numbers of underage drinkers. It seems that many of these students pick up these habits in high school, sometimes earlier, from their peers or from family members. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average age of first use of alcohol was 14, compared to about 18 years old in 1965. This dramatic increase can stem from many outside sources. “There’s probably a lot of experimentation going on out there,” Muse said. “It’s socially acceptable. It’s a way of coping, and it’s an acceptable way of coping. And with all the stresses and pressures around kids these days, and students especially, there’s so many more choices to make than when I was growing up.” Muse also stressed the fact that these teenagers, ages 17 to 18, that are fresh out of high school, must deal with the anxiety of entering a completely new and sometimes unknown college environment. Without classes or programs to assist these teens in their transition it would be difficult to put a decrease the numbers in underage drinking. Muse was asked about the consequences of the alcohol on the students’ lives and she said that she does not think they fully comprehend the severity of the situation. “At that age, even through your mid 20’s to late 20’s, the idea of mortality is, it’s not going to happen to me, I’m not going to get evicted, I’m not going to have problems, I’m not going to get a D.U.I., I’m not going to get into a car accident,” she said. “It’s a whole different mindset.”