FOCO OR FOMO? The pressures and implications behind social drinking
ALAN CHENG Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) Class of 2023
MEDUCOLLAB
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ISSUE 1
ABSTRACT Homecoming (HOCO) and Fake Homecoming (FOCO) celebrations in Ontario universities have increased in size and popularity, resulting in increased government spending and cases of alcohol abuse among students. Alcohol reduces the connectivity between parts of the brain, leading to a desensitization of emotional processing and threat detection —a double-edged sword as facilitator for socializing and impairment to danger. Early exposure to binge drinking at occasions like HOCO and FOCO also contribute to issues, such as alcoholism, during adulthood. Despite knowing the effects of alcohol, students still choose to drink irresponsibly which indicates social, development, and environmental factors which are overriding their morality. Solutions to alcohol abuse are complex due to the various factors that affect drinking, and it requires multi-level action from governments, universities, communities, families, and the students themselves. A stronger push towards celebrating HOCO for its original tradition of building school spirit and community must be considered and that ultimately comes down to the individual no matter what the conditions are.
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Introduction If you are reading this, chances are you are probably someone currently studying in university and you may or may not have had your fair share of experiences with alcohol, whether it be at parties or university-wide traditions such as Homecoming (HOCO) or the recently popularized Fake Homecoming (FOCO). With over 2000 students at Dalewood Avenue and 130 police officers present during the 2019 FOCO, damage was bound
