Run amok Irish students in U.S. disgrace the country
Posted on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at 04:50 PM
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Kitchen garbage thrown down the stairs, sofas floating in the pool, vomit on the carpets, furniture wrecked, cigarette burns and beer stains everywhere, and numerous arrests for vandalism and being drunk and disorderly … the reports in the Irish papers of the gross behavior of Irish students in California this summer has enraged people here at home.
From what I have been reading on the web, many Irish Americans are really mad at what has been going on. But let me tell you, that is nothing compared with the feeling of people here who want the guilty students named, shamed, deported from the U.S. and thrown out of college in Ireland.
What really alarmed me, however, was the report which said that the worst problems had occurred in San Diego and Santa Barbara, where the drunken parties and wanton vandalism of the Irish kids this summer have caused havoc. Irish students are said to have caused $20,000 in damages at a resort in Santa Barbara.
The Irish Times quoted one Santa Barbara apartment complex manager who said that housing Irish students this summer was “the worst experience ever." He described how some drunken Irish students had caused several thousand dollars worth of damage in a single night. They were throwing microwaves into the swimming pool, among other "games.”
The reason I was alarmed at reading this stuff is because, wouldn't you know, one of my own kids is in San Diego this summer. But after an anxious phone call I was reassured. None of their group (all girls) has been in any trouble, and they are getting on fine with the people in their apartment complex.
They had read about the trouble some of the Irish had caused, but it was a minority of all the Irish over there and they said they did not know those involved. They said they were not aware of any bad feeling towards Irish students in general.
In fact all the Americans they had met had been really nice to them. This began from the moment they arrived when they needed help to find somewhere to stay -- on their first night they had found that the hostel they had booked from Ireland did not exist (an Internet scam). But local people helped them out and directed them to a good, cheap hotel.
So it's not all bad. But the problem with a situation like this is that all the kids who behave reasonably well are tarred with the same brush.
The result is that this summer the reputation of Irish students on the West Coast for drinking and vandalism is so bad that many supermarkets, restaurants and bars won't hire them, and many apartment owners don't want them.
From the reports I have read, it also seems clear that the "minority" of Irish students who cause the problem is anything but a small minority. To have generated this much media comment and adverse reaction from local apartment owners, employers and police departments, it has to be a sizeable minority.
The question is why? What makes so many Irish students behave like pigs when they get to America?
Why do they drink so much? Why are they so destructive? Why have they little or no respect for themselves, the properties where they stay and the people around them?
The answer to this is long and complicated. But it goes to the heart of some things that are very wrong about Irish society.
Firstly, it is worth noting that the kids involved are not poor kids from deprived parts of Dublin or other Irish cities where there is high unemployment and life is miserable, and the only release is booze, drugs and destruction. Anyone who has been in central parts of Irish cities and towns on a Saturday night knows the disgusting and violent behavior that results when kids from these areas let off steam by getting totally out of it.
What is interesting about the Irish kids who have caused the problems in California is that they are not part of this deprived underclass. In fact they are from the middle and upper layers of Irish society.
They have, after all, made it into college. They are mostly the offspring of parents who may not be rich, but are certainly doing okay. These kids are supposedly the country's pride and joy, the ones who will be the successful part of the coming generation.
And in a way that makes it even worse, even more worrying. These kids are already educated. They have been right through the Irish school system, including all the civics classes.
Yet some of them -- a lot of them -- turn into moronic, drunken, violent louts as soon as they are out of Ireland, and particularly when they are in America.
Part of the reason for this is that they seem to have a void inside where their self-esteem should be. Although they hide this behind singing and flag waving when anyone Irish or any Irish team does well, the truth is that in contrast with most American kids, many Irish kids have low self-esteem and take little pride in themselves and their surroundings. So they cover it up with drink and the over-the-top behavior that comes with being drunk.
One psychologist I know here who deals a lot with young people describes it as the emptiness inside many young Irish people. She says that in this regard, Irish kids are like their parents -- it's just that the parents are better at hiding it.
She says that there is a hole in the middle of the Irish psyche. She says it may have something to do with the 800 years of colonialism we suffered and the way generations of our forebears were made to feel worthless as they tipped their caps to the gentry.
We learned as a nation that the hole in the national psyche that made us so miserable could be filled with alcohol. This made us forget all our troubles, made us go wild with release. And even though it's now close to a century since we got our freedom, we're still using excessive drink to dull the pain, to give us a release.
This theory may seem outdated or even ridiculous. But there has to be some explanation for this Irish compulsion to get out of our heads on booze or drugs and then go mad or get maudlin.
The Irish kids who have created such mayhem in California did not invent this kind of excessive drinking; they learned it from previous generations. It's in the genes.
People in other countries in Europe enjoy a drink. But mostly they know when to stop.
There is a difference with the Irish because of the inability of many Irish people to enjoy a social night out without getting out of it themselves. There is a difference in that too many Irish people can't get the sense of release they need unless they drink themselves into a state of total abandon or even a total stupor.
Every summer Dublin plays host to thousands of French, Italian and Spanish teenagers who come here to polish up their English. And every summer they are appalled at the way their Irish counterparts drink themselves into a drunken, often violent state.
The continental kids don't get it. Why would anyone do that?
With the Irish students there are other factors at play as well. Part of it is the pressure they are under in the Irish educational system, and the feeling that even if they make it there may not be any jobs for them. No one else seems to care, so why should they?
There is also the feeling of freedom and escape they get when they are abroad -- and particularly when they are in America. Suddenly they are in the land of the free and the home of all those gonzo, lunatic TV shows like Nitro Circus or movies like Police Academy where everyone does crazy things. So the Irish kids seem to think it's okay or even cool to go crazy as well.
What is different about the Irish kids -- or the minority who do this stuff -- is the mindless destruction they get up to. With little sense of personal worth and even less appreciation of property around them, they just wreck whatever is to hand. It's not unique to Ireland, but it seems to be a particular problem here.
Again, the reason can be seen in a historical context. I was writing here a while back about a holiday we spent on the Jersey Shore, and how at the end of a busy day we were delighted to see that the beaches were litter free, in contrast with beaches around Dublin which are full of cans, bottles and food cartons abandoned by teenagers at the end of a sunny day.
Why do the Irish place so little value on their surroundings and on property? One theory is that we don't have the sense of ownership that Americans have in what's around them.
After 800 years of being the underclass, we don't respect what belongs to others. We don't respect ourselves enough to behave in a civilized fashion when we're having a good time.
Another theory, of course, is that the Celtic Tiger youth got everything so easily that they don't value anything. And on top of that, now that the Irish economy has gone down the toilet they have an extra reason, which is partly revenge, to be destructive.
Take your pick. There has to be a reason why too many of the Irish students are disgracing us in this way. All theories and solutions are welcome.
35 Comments
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irish777 | Dec 01, 2010, 06:31 PM EST
It is all in the upbringing of the young people. If a good seed is planted a sturdy tree will grow. If a bad seed is planted and not nurtured it will not grow. It is the same with children. Where are the parents in the whole grand picture?
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tonnybarry | Oct 16, 2010, 04:45 AM EDT
Ya the same is going on in places like mexico when students from the U.S go on spring break. Talk about that please as well, or maybe talk about American kids killing each other, in schools all around the U.S. To me thats really funny when ye talk about Irish students, and to see over in Ireland the havoc American kids are causing. And this crap about kids from the Continent not parting ya right my girlfriend is Belgium, and when she was a student in belgium all the kids were partying and drinking all the time.
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AltRockAddict | Aug 31, 2010, 03:50 PM EDT
I live in Santa Barbara and sorry to say out of all the nationalities who come to UCSB each year, the Irish are the worst in all respects; rent wise, party wise, cleanliness...landlords say (although it's illegal to do so) they won't rent to the Irish.
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Laura Wilson | Aug 24, 2010, 10:48 AM EDT
I say they cant come to stay & visit unless they have an Available balance open on a credit card to cover any/all dammages or Bring a chapparone, do like china get out the caine and wup-Ass,. & take passports untill balances are paid in full.
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peterson | Aug 23, 2010, 01:42 PM EDT
American TV and movies have dropped to a very low morality by glorifying drinking, sex, foul language, violence, lawlessness, etc. Combine those with poor parenting and ignoring the "Ten Commandments" on both sides of the "Pond" and that is what happens ! !
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jamieLM | Aug 23, 2010, 01:02 PM EDT
It's bad enough when students get drunk and act like idiots at home, but when they do it in a foreign country it's twice as embarrassing and disgusting because they're representing their country and they give all students at home a "black eye." Under-age drinking, public drunkedness, and vandalism are crimes. The host country has a right to boot out any trouble-makers, no matter who they are. It should be a privilege to study overseas, and if your only goal is to get drunk - STAY HOME.
And yes, students getting drunk is nothing new, but criminal behavior doesn't have to be tolerated by any country, no matter who's engaging in it.
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mrwhatever | Aug 23, 2010, 12:18 PM EDT
The author has an interesting theory but this is something we see in many cultures as young people tend to rebel against parents, teachers, authority figures, etc. as they transistion from teenagers to young adults. To infer that this is possibly due to feelings of being a second class society takes away from what is really going on here, and that is a sense of entitlement that the so called "Generation X" have today. English, Irish, French, German, Russian, or American youth are all guilty of it.
The news media is a 24 hour business today and encompasses print, internet, and television coverage. They need as many stories as possible and their is nothing better than to jump on the stereotype of the "Drunken Fighting Irish". This behaviour happens in most open societies and those same individuals that did these things now, will be the same ones complaining about the next group of young people doing the same thing in the future.
It's time for families and society as a whole, to teach proper Mores to our children and have them understand that there are consequences for our actions, rather than looking at it with a victim mentality. The time is now, to make this change with our children during the informative years. As the old saying goes, " To spare the rod is to to spoil the child".
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RealityCheck | Aug 23, 2010, 09:36 AM EDT
So its England's fault? Typical thinking of an underclass mentality. The same as the blacks here blaming the whites for their woes and inability to participate civily in society. Having travelled to Ireland many, many,times (North & South) this behavior is not soley an export. I do not buy into the "psycologica mumbo-jumbo" above. You are a society that glamorizes and promotes alcholhol abuse and violent behavior. You are a myopic nation with a very limitied understanding the world around you, and are raised as such. Now, I realize Ireland is quite boring, withnot many outles for kids, so it the parents responsibility to raise responsible children. Oh wait, we gotta; pick THEM off the floor first. Until then, please stay home.
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IRISHKNIGHT110 | Aug 22, 2010, 07:35 PM EDT
I understand why you are upset. I don't like it when any college student does this stuff no matter what country they are from. but many many America college students are doing the same thing. all because they drink way to much alcohol and get so drunk that anything can happen. and usually not anything good.
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Liamkeyes | Aug 22, 2010, 06:41 PM EDT
"It's close to a century since we got our freedom" What freedom? Ireland became an oligarchy and only the connected can get jobs. After so called independence, Irish people were still treated like british subjects. Any Paddy or Brigid arriving from Ireland had only got to go to the nearest Employment exchange and get their cards. Any other people from the ex-British Colonies had to go through a mountain of red tape. London Transport and many employees recruited heavily in Ireland and paid the selected employees fare to England. Look at how many Irish people joined the British Forces. It begs the question, an economic one anyway "What would Free Ireland have done with out England employing thousands and thousands of Irishmen and Women?
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killowen | Aug 22, 2010, 05:41 PM EDT
The self hate is thick. As long as they feel inferior due to occupier manipulation in consort
with church of London and Rome it will be will be.
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cabbagehead44 | Aug 22, 2010, 01:43 PM EDT
This is happening in America as well. Look at footage of American college fraternity parties. In a local community here the streets are filled with young people who are bored and looking for something to do.
In a local upscale community here in NJ, had a murder of a middle aged Hispanic man by a teenager that punched the man in the head with his fists and killed him. Another teenager filmed the incident and put it on the internet. When the police arrived they thought the man had a medical condition and didn't find out about the beating until three days later from the family of the beaten man that the video was on the internet. This beating was witnessed by a number of other young people who did nothing to aid the injured man. The man was later robbed of money by a nurse at the hospital that he was treated when he was unconscious. At least these Irish student did no physical harm to anyone!
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MavisPike | Aug 22, 2010, 12:28 PM EDT
Hang on a moment! Blaming the British for everything is a national disease here, but to blame them for our students' boozy behaviour really is beyond absurd. "This theory may seem outdated or even ridiculous" you say. Do you THINK SO? I am not aware of Indian students, Canadian students or New Zealand students -- all inheritors of colonialism -- behaving in a similar fashion. Mind you, the Australians are a different matter.
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mefeinconnie | Aug 22, 2010, 10:59 AM EDT
I'm not surprised to read about Irish students behaviour - downward slide in NYC over the past few years and are not wanted for employment and offering accommodation. This articile is making excuses for such foul behaviour and lack of respect by blaming it on excesses during Celtic Tiger and fallout and colonialism - other countries experience greater hardship and are respectful and play by rules. It's simple, common decency should be self-evidence in the family structure, something that needs to be revisited by Irish parents. Sadly their behavious is ruining the long and painful respect earned by previous Irish generations that emigrated to USA. Young Irish students need to broaden their polorized vision of the world and realise their excesses on booze can save millions of lifes in less fortunate underdeveloped countries.
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