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
Watchman | Aug 22, 2010, 04:47 AM EDT
You're at it again, Knee. Everyone except you is "nasty" and "talks nonsense".
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murphy66 | Aug 21, 2010, 05:28 PM EDT
At heart, every Irishman is an anarchist. Just ask Freud.
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Ajreaper | Aug 21, 2010, 04:17 PM EDT
LOL, and you've no evidence that American students have not- my guess is every hotelier or owner of a Bed and Breakfast can tell horror stories about their guests- people do stupid things, not Irish, American or Brits but people from all over the world. Head out to Lake Havasu over spring break and then tell me American young people don't sometimes act like their Irish counter parts.
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WoundedKnee | Aug 21, 2010, 04:05 PM EDT
OK ajreaper, you've admitted it. You have no evidence that American students have acted like that in Ireland. Maybe you should withdraw your nasty little slur now.
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Ajreaper | Aug 21, 2010, 12:35 PM EDT
Good lord Woundedknee they act like that right here in the US! Ask places where they flood for spring break- talk to resort operators in Mexico, Florida, or Lake Havsue. Get a clue.
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emer333 | Aug 21, 2010, 12:27 PM EDT
The problem with Irish youth / Irish-American-youth and alcohol did not happen overnight. I partly blame excess, partly blame a mix of a new culture of "spoiled, no-respect for themselves or anyone else mentality" and the need for supervision before things get out of control. If these are "students" they should learn about "consequences for their actions". Disgrace the school, you are removed.
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WoundedKnee | Aug 21, 2010, 08:37 AM EDT
ajreaper: What you say is nonsense. Please cite me one case where American students in Ireland behaved like the Irish students in the US did. You can't. In fact Irish people have often commented on how well-mannered our young people are. It'll be a million years before you hear a young Irish person saying "Good Morning" or "Ma'am" or "sir". In fact one Irish person who regularly traveled thru Shannon Airport when the US troops were using it (my friend was a firm opponent of the Iraq Invasion) told me how impressed he was by the manners and courtesy of the US soldiers.
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Ajreaper | Aug 20, 2010, 08:03 PM EDT
Shamrock- you misunderstood I was replying to Archer and the suggestion that in the US we don't have many of the same problems that confront Irish youth. Read Archers post a few down and you'll see what I was commenting on.
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ShamrockMiss | Aug 20, 2010, 04:56 PM EDT
Ajreaper: I respect your opinion, but there is no need to call me foolish for not agreeing with it. John ended his column by saying that "All theories and solutions are welcome," and I took him up on it. Clearly there are other possible theories, but mine is just as valid as any other.
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Ajreaper | Aug 20, 2010, 04:02 PM EDT
Archer- good lord where in the U.S. did you land? The good old US of A has plenty of problems with crime, drugs and youth who behave in a less then ideal way. I am sure there is plenty we could stand to improve upon. I have seen Americans behave exactly as the Irish students in many a place in the US of A and it's not news because it's "us" being stupid and not a visitor to our shores. There's not a thing "wrong" with the Irish that's not found across the globe in other countries as well and to believe otherwise is foolish to say the least.
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ShamrockMiss | Aug 20, 2010, 03:57 PM EDT
archer50d: The English are the ones who first reported it in their mental health journals. Most of the research on the effects of historical trauma specifically among the Irish has been done in England and was later verified through studies in America and Canada.
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ShamrockMiss | Aug 20, 2010, 03:54 PM EDT
I agree with you all about personal responsibility and accountability. These kids really blew it and should be held accountable for their choices. What I am saying is that they are not solely responsible. This happens every year with the Irish students. It's a chronic problem and a reflection of deeper unresolved problems within Irish society. In regards to the black death etc., those are not the same types of events. Natural disasters, diseases, etc. befall all societies at some point and are not the same as systematic and calculated attempts by one society to dominate and control or destroy another.
(I know you guys already know this but...) for various periods over the course of Irish history, the language, religion, dances, and other forms of cultural expression were suppressed or outlawed. Added to this were decades (at least) of starvation or near starvation circumstances. The people simply weren't able to maintain cultural and psychological balance in their lives,and we are still seeing the repercussions down into the present day. It doesn't excuse the students from what they did, but we can't continue to treat these events like isolated incidents. If we continue to ignore the other factors that contribute to this situation things will never get better at home or abroad.
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WoundedKnee | Aug 20, 2010, 02:42 PM EDT
Thought-provoking article. I suspect the fact that their forefathers abandoned the Irish Gaelic language has something to do with the void at the heaart of Irish people. Now that they have lost the church they have nothing to define themselves by. The Irish are just English-speakers who get drunk and shout a lot. There is no Irishness now, except dressing up as leprecahuns to cheer on the Irish soccer team (which is half English anyway!().
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archer50d | Aug 20, 2010, 02:01 PM EDT
oh and shamrockMiss the student are probably between the ages of 18-23 , the famine was in 1847 , they didnt have" magners" and "aftershock" and "Jager" back then , so leave the english out of it , this is 2010 not 1847
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