This past weekend, my housemates and I hosted two very different parties. While the purposes of the parties and the separate groups of people who came to them varied greatly, there was one thing that they both lacked: alcohol. To some, the idea of a party without alcohol might sound like an oxymoron; how can it be a true party without any intoxicants? As it turns out, it is possible for large groups of people to have a lot of fun without beer, wine or any other adult beverage.

I don’t drink for religious reasons, but I have been in a variety of social settings where alcohol was being ingested — sometimes quite copiously. Most of the time, I have fun at these gatherings and have been able to observe others who also seemed to be having a good time — both the drinkers and the abstainers. However, the night almost always ends with at least one fight, somebody crying and several things broken. From my experience, when drinking is the main course of a party, some type of pain will be the dessert for the majority.

With what I have seen of the desultory sort of fun to be had at these types of gatherings, I am always surprised by the responses I receive to inviting people to alcohol-free parties. It seemed that the vast majority of my invitees balked outright at the notion of a dry party. When I told one of my friends that there would not be any drinking, he instantly responded in a pseudo-apologetic voice that he would not be able to make it. He said it jokingly, and we laughed about it, but then he stayed true to his word and did not show up.

I’m not sure why a lack of alcohol is a deal-breaker for party attendance. For most of us, it was at least until high school before we attended a party where drinking was the main focus. I remember with fondness a lot of fun parties as a child, where the idea of drinking did not even enter our heads; I am sure that this is true for you as well. I think that it stands to reason that if we were able to have fun as children at parties without alcohol, then we should be able to do so now, as well.

Perhaps there is a stigma about parties without alcohol being less mature or boring. However, being mature enough to drink does not mean you should. Anyone who has gone to a liquor-induced event quickly discovers that maturity often flies out the door as alcohol slides down the throat. Sometimes, abstaining from what you are allowed to do is the most mature decision of all. As for being boring, I reflect back on a riotous event this past weekend that involved a soccer-ball piñata, a metal broom and an uneven yard.

I am not trying to push a prohibitionist agenda here; I just think that there needs to be a paradigm shift among our generation regarding alcohol. If you find drinking enjoyable, then that is your prerogative, but I feel that there are horizons that should be broadened regarding weekend activities in general — specifically parties.

Reach columnist Jenessa Markland at opinion@dailyuw.com.