College Students and Their Lives of Drinking Essay

As many teenagers enter college, they begin to experiment with many things. Although not all students participate in underage drinking, it is evident that a vast majority do. Drinking is not the problem. The main problem occurs when students resort to binge drinking. In the

Drinking on college campuses has become a huge problem. For example, in the 10th century only old people used to drink, but now students drink more than their parents. Students see their parents drinking, so they may think that drinking has no effect on health that anyone can drink so why can’t the students drink? Therefore, college students have been drinking alcohol since the 14th century. Barrett Seaman’s article “How Bingeing Became the New College Sport,” appearing in TIME magazine on August 29, 2005, explains how binge drinking is affecting college students. It also suggests that lowering the drinking age might help solve the problem of binge drinking. This article has much information on how and where students get drunk.

They are not getting the right to drink freely and so they go out and deviate from the laws. Professor Engs has tested this theory by using a student alcohol questionnaire. The questionnaire tested 3,375 students that were both underage and of legal age. The questionnaire showed that 81.2% of the underage students were drinkers, which was compared to the legal age students that had a percentage of 75.3%. Out of the 81.2% of the underage drinkers about 24% of them are heavy drinkers. This compares the lower percentage of heavy drinkers that are legal age; they only have a percentage rate of 15.93%.

Underage drinking is a problem within the US and has been for some time. No matter how hard many businesses try it still goes on because of the kid’s lucrative ways to obtain it. Many kids use fake IDs or have a person of age purchase it for them. This problem of alcohol abuse is most prominently seen it college. One college it often occurs at is Indiana University in Bloomington. The early habit of drinking alcohol can have many bad effects on one’s body at a young age and causes habits, decrease in grades, and other negative outcomes.

“From the moment freshmen set foot on campus, they are steeped in a culture that encourages them to drink, and drink heavily. At many schools, social life is still synonymous with alcohol-lubricated gatherings” (Cohen). Binge drinking is a huge aspect of the culture of college life; many college students binge drink to become socially accepted in a particular group. Binge drinking is not only

The problem with college drinking is not necessarily the drinking itself, but the negative consequences that occur from excessive drinking. Alcohol abuse takes an enormous toll on the intellectual and social lives of male students on campuses across the country. Almost sixty percent report drinking alcohol every day. Forty percent of college male binge drink in the past thirty days. Peer pressure get the good students and turn them into alcoholics. Severe Impairment such as speech, memory, attention, reaction time, balance significantly. Judgment and decision-making dangerously. You can loss of consciousness. Alcohol is abuse too much by college males.

College drinking is a major problem and it affects the lives of students their families and the community. As the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism website notes: “About four out of five college students drink alcohol. . .” (“College Drinking”). The Affects of alcohol have impacted the lives of many people. I believe drinking is a problem, and believe that it is a problem that it is often overlooked by Parents, colleges, and students. Parents, colleges, and students need to learn about college drinking, the factors that make it a problem, and how to prevent students from drinking while attending college or limit

Each year it is estimated that 1,825 college students, between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol related incidents (collegedrinkingprevention.gov). With more sober college communities theses types of incidents can help be prevented by providing safe sober alternatives to drinking and partying for college students, whether they be in recovery or not. Sober communities can also help students who are in recovery avoid the temptations of alcohol and other drugs, by allowing them to hang out in a temptation free

techprogram/paper_40822.htm)." Some other effects that can happen from drinking is that students get in trouble with police, vandalism, get injured, or even worse, death. Over 1,400 students are killed annually because of their alcohol use, according to researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health. This survey also claims that over 600,000 students a year are assaulted by other students who have been drinking. Additionally, over 70,000 are the victims of sex assaults or date rapes in similar circumstances. These are very disturbing figures. Thirty-one percent of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6 percent for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the past 12 months, according to questionnaire-based self-reports about their drinking. Drinking heavily seems to bring out more difficulties in a person's life and can only continue the same way as an adult. One starts to rely on alcohol to solve problems and may continue throughout their life because their body becomes dependent on alcohol to make them feel good again.

Those that participate in binge drinking do it for many different reasons, a bad test grade, roommate arguments, celebration for a job well done, peer pressure, or simply because it is the weekend. No one is saying that it is wrong to go out and have a few drinks but when students go out and just drink to get drunk, actions must be taken to stop such activity. According to the graph on the next page done by the Harvard Public School of Health it is clear that a majority of students drink to simply get wasted. [Colorado State University 1] The number of binge drinkers may not have gone up in 1999 compared to 1997, for every five students two are binge drinkers, or 44%. [Wechsler #2, 1] However, the intensity of drinking has increased, when students are going out they are having more to drink. [Wechsler #2, 2]

The consumption of alcohol as a habitual behavior has long been associated with the American collegiate experience, despite the many known negative consequences a student who partakes in drinking can encounter. Because of the danger drunken students pose to a college’s reputation and the safety of its surrounding areas, much research has been done concerning the collegiate party and drinking scenes. This research mostly studied the demographics of the student body, so strategies developed to curtail the illegal or overconsumption of alcohol could be targeted towards the specific groups that demonstrated the highest likelihood of participating in these acts. When the strategies were implemented, however, there was little decline in the number of college students who chose to party and drink (Vander Ven 2011). This failure did not point toward a flaw in the research data, but instead a lack of research into the benefits a collegiate drinker receives that are rewarding to the point he or she cannot resist. This is the topic of Getting Wasted: Why College Students Drink Too Much and Party So Hard by Thomas Vander Ven.

Alcohol drinking on college campus greatly harms health, studies, relationships and selection making of students that are strongly affecting our society and reputation of the college life. Drinking in college is becoming a larger problem affecting our over all society in America. Yearly a sizable amount of high school graduates go off to college, leaving their families behind to attend college. Some may attend school close to home or in a different section of the state or country. These college students face bigger issues than within the classroom. They face challenges of drinking, drugs, and peer pressure. This paper will discuss the pressures placed upon college students and some contributing factors with the use of alcohol, and also the consequences that come along with it. Daily college students face pressure from their piers. Primarily the most common pressure received from peers involves the use of alcohol. Students feel pressure through their classmates to have fun during the semester, though they are not the legal age. Students may also feel pressured by peers to follow fraternities and sororities. Such groups typically are known for excessive binge drinking and partying. Students are also influenced to drink to make sure they “ fit in” with a specific cluster of individuals. It’s essential to hunt down the causes of school drinking, and also the effects alcohol has on an individual.

Alcohol and drug abuse has been an active habit among college students sense the 1960s. The immediate cause of this behavior was the youth’s need to rebel against the overly conservative American society. This rebellion led to a since of freedom for the young adults, which caused them to continue acting in these unintelligent manners. After a short period of time, late teens just did not belong if they were not participating in the mischievous acts. Substance abuse quickly became a way of life for many young adults. As a result, this inapt behavior still continues today.

College life is filled with changes. It is filled with many new experiences. As college students, we are on our own, adults. As adults we are responsible for keeping up to date on information that affects us. One issue that affects college students nation wide is drinking. The current legal drinking age in the United States is twenty-one years of age. The Federal government raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 in 1984. Even with the current drinking age at twenty-one, many people under that age choose to drink anyway. In fact, a government survey from 1996 showed that 56% of high school seniors reported drinking in the last 30 days (Hanson). With so many underage drinkers, many people

Many eighteen and nineteen-year-old students have been told by their parents, like myself, what to do and what not to do as well. “The drinking age is 21 for a reason, and that is when you will drink!” my mom reminded me as we were buying a small refrigerator for my dorm. Sure enough, I was already making comments in my head, “Well I am mature so a few drinks will not do any bad.” As college students are told the same things, how to avoid going to parties and stay focused in school, most will have the eagerness to do the opposite as what they are told and to also decide from own experience if drinking alcohol and partying will do them bad or not after. Unfortunately, when college students try to learn from life experience and test their limits with alcohol, many negative outcomes can be created from this. This is why a factual presentation done by second or third year undergraduate college students to incoming freshmen on the seriousness of alcohol consumption can be a solution. College freshman hear from students that have recently gone through what they are going through than what their parents went through when they were their age, having the fact that things can be much different from then until now. Also, with