Theexcerpt focuses on explaining the fates meeting various freshmenduring their first years in school and the accompanying ritualsvarious young people have to face in order to earn a place in the newschool society. It is a common stance that the various young kidshave to proof themselves to the new world and put their friends totest, as they have to drink to a pass out, carry out outrageousinitiations. They even go the extra miles of impressing the seniorsto fit into the new age and the new system of learning. In theprocess of celebrating the new age of twenty-one, the age theAmerican constitution dictates as the official adult age, manyAmerican children engage in drinking sprees to celebrate their entryinto their new adult age. In so doing, the type of drinking,frequency of drinking in the new age reveals the lost path that manyAmerican children have to walk to fit into their newly acquiredresponsibilities.
Moreover,the moral degradation extends to colleges and universities across theState. The freshmen have to proof the seniors that they are the coolkids. To proof their worth in the new school system, various freshmenhave to binge drink in the fraternity parties they have to undergohazing and other outrageous activities that act as a means ofinitiation to fit into the new society. In such scenarios, there arethose willing to participate in the activities since their meremindsets dictate that they need to fit in with the seniors to accessthe advantages that result from the initiation processes. More so,there are the freshmen that get to the initiations unwillingly sincethe seniors have all the control and power in theinitiation-controlled universities and colleges.
Thequestion remains as to whether the importance of the initiationsinfluences any meaning to the young adults. The question weighs thedevastating effects of the initiations given that the statistics showthe deaths and the permanent damage caused to the young adults in theinitiation processes.