college drinking

We're all at fault when teens consume alcohol. There are many reasons why, and many ways to help prevent dangerous behavior.

First, acknowledge that they're drinking. Chances are your own kids have tried alcohol. Second, don't think that parties today are like the ones you attended as a kid. These gatherings go way beyond "spin the bottle" or "Truth or Dare." The parties your adolescent goes to can get ugly, dangerous and scary. Strangers show up thanks to online announcements. Date rape and violence are common, as is passing out from binge drinking.

DCollege students drink. There is nothing surprising about that fact. They have been since the Middle Ages, when commentators noted drinking at Europe's first universities. Drinking and partying have been standard parts of the collegiate experience for generations, and, in that regard, little has changed since collegiate life began.

However, the dynamic has changed. A March 2007 report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) indicated that 68 percent of college students drink, showing that drinking and partying have come to play a central role in the collegiate social scene. The same report stated that, during a two week test period, 40 percent of students said that they had binge drank at least once and that 22.8 percent of students reported having binge drank three or more times.

As such, not only has drinking become central to collegiate social life, but also increasingly acceptable and normal. Coupled with media images and popular portrayals of college, drinking and partying have essentially become expectations of college life.

At St. Joe's, these expectations, and their fulfillment, are quite apparent. Parties are not difficult to find, nor is it much of a challenge to obtain alcohol. Even so, one might be tempted to think that it is hard for a new student, who has just arrived on campus and has no knowledge of the social scene, to enter the party culture.

The truth is that it is not. Since partying has become such a pervasive aspect of the social scene at St. Joe's, and at almost every other university in the country, there are numerous avenues by which new students may be introduced into the party culture. Many freshmen are able to find parties on their first night on campus, and if not, are certainly able to do so by their first weekend.

A major source of the ease by which students enter the St. Joe's party culture is the fact that many students are from Philadelphia and the greater Philadelphia/New Jersey area. Since a large number of students hail from these parts, many already know at least one other student, if not more, when they arrive at the university. This in turn facilitates the passing of information about parties, and many freshmen interviewed reported that they learn about parties from people that they already knew who they could contact about finding a party. on't supply alcohol to minors. Some parents do. At a recent Oak Park birthday party for an 18yearold, parents provided beer, believing it would be okay because the guests were invited to spend the night. But not all did. Some left by car after the party. We're fooling ourselves if we think that sort of hazardous behavior is acceptable.

If parents don't give a clear message while these kids are living at home, what will happen if they go away to college?

Will they know what to do if they find a group of students in their dorm room playing a drinking game? What if they find someone passed out drunk in the bathroom?

The orientation issue of the Daily Nexus, UC Santa Barbara's student newspaper, provided an enlightening look at the collegiate culture our teenagers face. Mailed to incoming freshmen, the Nexus is filled with photos and vulgar advice on sex and the best ways to get drunk, both on and off campus. UCSB is certainly not the only college with this culture. Many others have reputations as "party schools."

Not worried? Go to a "reality party," as discussed in today's story on page 1. Watch actors recreate a teen party, replete with drugs, alcohol and sexual pressure. You'll find it a wake-up call.

We should do everything we can to educate young people about the dangers of alcohol. Every one of us- parents, teachers, police, friends- has a responsibility to guide this generation.

Our teens, whether they're away at college or just out with friends for a few hours, need to have a plan. They almost need to have a script ready, a "cool" way to say no when offered a beer or something stronger. They need to be encouraged to do their own research about alcohol, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, about 75 percent of high school students have already tried. About 28 percent of teens reported episodes of binge drinking. Alcoholrelated auto crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and young adults. Drinking also erases inhibitions. Do they want to contract herpes or HIV?

Excuses are a cop-out. We must help kids protect themselves- otherwise, we have only ourselves to blame.

Alcohol use among college students has been a topic of intense interest in recent years. Without question, excessive use of alcohol is associated with a wide range of deleterious outcomes among students. It is well known that heavy drinking increases the likelihood of committing a litany of crimes, including vandalism and physical assault, and non-drinkers routinely suffer the consequences of other students' irresponsible drinking (Wechsler et al., 2000).
The more a student drinks the lower their overall GPA is likely to be (White et al., 2002). More than ? of students in one nationwide survey report having their studying or sleep disrupted by someone else's alcohol use (Wechsler et al., 1995; Wechsler et al., 2000). In addition, as in the larger population, drinking and driving is a problem on many campuses (Wechsler et al., 2003). Traffic crashes claim more lives than anything else among young adults, and alcohol is involved in a significant proportion of these crashes. In the end, alcohol kills more kids than all other drugs combined (NIAAA, 2003).
While the statistics mentioned above are stark, and clearly indicate that alcohol misuse continues to be a problem on college campuses, it is important
to recognize that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation about college drinking floating unchallenged through the media and from alcohol researchers themselves. It is also critical to recognize that lots and lots of people profit from the pervasive use of alcohol at colleges -- people in the tourism industry (e.g., spring break trips), beverage manufacturers, advertisers, bar owners, grocery store chains, media outlets, and the list goes on. The same TV stations that draw in viewers with stories of alcohol-related tragedies on campuses make money from alcohol advertising. All of these factors make it very difficult to get to the truth, which is that alcohol use on college campuses is certainly a problem, but hardly the epidemic it is made out to be.
The purpose of this section of the site is to provide fact-based information about current issues related to college drinking. This section is still under development and new information will be added regularly.