Alcohol Consumption and Abuse

Cherish Weiler

The freedom college brings can be liberating for many new students. Being away from home, away from parents, and away from direct supervision means students can make decisions without fear of direct repercussions. Some of those decisions include the consumption of alcohol, especially for under-age students. With fraternity parties every weekend, students are often tempted to use partying as a way to socially interact as well as experiment with alcohol on a level they may not have been able to do before. Oftentimes, students feel invincible and drink without foresight, living completely in the present. However, the dangers of alcohol consumption and abuse are real and present, affecting every student who decides to drink.

With so many students deciding to drink, how serious is alcohol abuse on campuses nation-wide? According to a study conducted in 2005 by the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, "1,825 college students ages 18 to 24 die annually because of alcohol-related unintentional injuries." The number of alcohol-related injuries as well as the number of drunk driving among college students has significantly increase in comparison to previous years. The results of the study came as a shock to some campus officials who have been implementing campus-wide programs to stem the amount of alcohol consumption and abuse. Some experts believe the lack of progress in reducing the number of alcohol-related deaths and injuries points to a flaw in the alcohol education programs campuses are using.

As parents, school officials, and students become more and more concerned about alcohol abuse on campus, colleges are reconsidering their prevention programs. According to a study published in the Cochrane Library 2009, scare tactics are not as effective as previously thought. Instead of scaring students with the negative consequences of alcohol abuse, informing students with real statistics appears to be more successful in reducing the amount of binge drinking among students. The reasoning behind this more successful tactic appears to be because students overestimate the amount of alcohol their peers drink, which in turn creates an environment where heavy drinking is seen as the norm. When real data is presented countering the misinformed notion, students are more likely to hold back on the alcohol. This method has much more potential to limit alcohol abuse on campus. While there is no way to control students' decisions to drink, informing them with real facts is an important step in reducing alcohol abuse.