Editor’s Note: Names are made up for the safety of students with fake IDs
With a quick flash of a false identification card, minors nationwide can enter the college party scene. According to a study by Veriff, 15% of pre-college teens in the United States owned a fake ID in 2022.
To buy a fake, Anonymous “Coop Risby” said they paid $90 via Venmo to a college student at KU. After being added to a group chat with 20 other strangers, they sent their ID information — their real name, real address, real height, real age, a fake zip code and fake state — to the seller. Within two weeks, they received their fake ID.
Consequently, Risby said they feel strongly that the lenient culture locals have regarding underage drinking affects being able to access a fake as well.
“[Underage drinking] has more to do with the culture of Lawrence as a whole than it does with the fact that we’re a college town. Lawrence is one of the more laid-back cities [in Kansas]. We’re very open with substances,” Risby said.
Especially in a college town with easy access to numerous bars, Risby said that it’s normal for the many upperclassmen to go party like college students.
“Everybody in my grade right now is making that transition of ‘I’m in high school, but I’m going to start living like I’m in college’ and ‘I want to kind of get ahead and beat that kind of freshman stigma of never going to the bars,’” Risby said.
Anonymous student “Pixie Cunningham,” who does not own a fake ID, said they have witnessed friends feel peer pressured into owning a fake ID to purchase alcohol. Cunningham said that this is also prevalent in the college party atmosphere.
“If I’m joining a fraternity, it’s pushed by the frats to get a fake to be able to be more social. There’s more peer pressure for us to get one so you can get into places and be more social with them,” Cunningham said.
While underage drinking may seem to have social benefits, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says waiting until the legal drinking age helps lower the risks of developing alcohol substance use disorders. School Resource Officer Bailey Salsbury explains that the legal drinking age, 21, ties back to human health.
“If you’re drinking at that younger age, especially in higher amounts, it can stunt your developmental growth, and therefore you never really have the full ability to form. Your brain is still forming at that time,” Salsbury said.
With this said, the punishment for being caught with an unlawful identification card in Kansas is a class B nonperson misdemeanor, which would include up to six months of incarceration and a fine of up to $1,000. The punishment for selling fake IDs is a federal felony.
Despite the severe charges, Risby has said they have witnessed multiple friends get caught with a fake ID; however, they never recall receiving any type of punishment except a stern talk and a taken fake ID.
“Every single time, it’s the same encounter. They will take it, they will fold it in half and that’s the end of the night. You’ll get kicked out from where you are. Then you pull out your second fake ID and go to the next bar,” Risby said.
While Salisbury said that fake IDs are becoming much harder to catch, no matter what, owning a fake ID will still damage future opportunities.
“It’s at the discretion of the officer, and even if they don’t get physically arrested at the time you receive the citation stating that you have to appear in court, then it’s still considered an arrest,” Salsbury said.
Despite the risk, Risby said they have seen benefits such as creating college friendships, pledging to Greek life and understanding how much alcohol their body can handle since purchasing a fake.
“Having fakes makes it a lot easier to be tied into that college lifestyle. It’s easy to get an early pledge to a sorority or a frat because they can bring you to bars,” Risby said. “They can take you out over the summertime, and then when you’re going into rush, you already have a pledge.”
Additionally, Fitz said that their mindset of partying in high school is partly about learning the personal boundaries of substances. Risby said they would rather understand what works for them now rather than freshman year in college when there are many more opportunities to be taken advantage of or put in more dangerous situations.
“Having the experience of knowing here’s how I act when I’m drunk, here’s how I’m going to react when somebody comes up to me, and being comfortable with the way that you feel when you’re under the influence so that you know how to care for yourself and still have a good time and not completely and entirely focus on not getting laced,” Risby said.
On the contrary, Salsbury said sexual assault cases often increase when minors are in potentially dangerous environments. She also said she hopes that minors will ultimately learn the punishments of purchasing a fake ID and stay healthy as long as possible.
“They are incredibly dangerous because most of the time I encounter a youth that uses them to get into bars, and that puts kids in a situation that they are not prepared for. There are a lot of sexual assaults that can happen based on that, because they get too intoxicated and their bodies physically cannot handle it, especially with their age and their mentality,” Salsbury said.
