Drinking And College Students

Alcohol abuse is a serious health problem when it comes to college students. "The average amount of binge drinkers on college campuses is 50% of men and 39% of women" (<a href="http://www.oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers/">http://www.oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers/</a>). There are various reasons why students drink and serious short and long term effects on the body and mind. Alcoholism is a serious problem for college students and there are many actions being taken to try to lessen the problem among colleges throughout the country.

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.

Howland, J., Rohsenow, D. J., Greece, J. A., Littlefield, C. A., Almeida, A., Heeren, T., & ... Hermos, J. (2010). The effects of binge drinking on college students' next-day academic test-taking performance and mood state. Addiction, 105(4), 655-665. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02880.x

Do college students, under the age of 21, who do not binge drink have better test scores than those who do partake in binge drinking?

Underage drinking is a common practice and not something unusual in teen culture but one magazine brought up how teens are targeted by alcohol companies for profit. Alcohol companies have noted that they spend millions of dollars on public service announcements to stop kids from drinking so the notion that their marketing is designed for youths seems counterintuitive (Ricco). The reality is that they spend more than twice the amount that educating kids on their advertisements, annually $5.7 billion (Strasburger). Kids see around 25-50 advertisements for beer or wine alone for each service announcement

Ultimately college students are setting themselves up to become the alcoholics of the future because they drink when their depressed, stressed about school work, and to simply have a so called good time. The social acceptance of drinking alcohol in college statistically makes alcohol abuse among college students one of the biggest problems among educational institutions in the United States.

It is no secret that many college students drink alcohol. Partying, underage drinking, and experimenting are what some students get excited about when they go off to college (unfortunately). It is also no secret that alcohol can do damaging things if not used appropriately or drank in adequate amounts. “National surveys suggest that 44% of college students engage in heavy episodic drinking at least occasionally, often leading to tragic consequences. Each year, nearly 1400 college students aged 18–24 die and 500,000 are injured due to unintentional alcohol-related causes (Voas, et all., 2008)”.

Drinking is something that happens in college wherever you go. We will never not get past the fact that most people around you are drinking to some extent. Students tend to think that college is a place that you can drink whenever, wherever but that is simply not the case. In college, the decisions you make can affect the way someone stay on top of their studies. The professor will not be guiding you along to get your work done in a timely manner. Alcohol is a substance that when abused will alter not only your decisions but how you act as person even when not drinking. In college, many students think that it’s needed for fun and that it is just something that everyone does with no negative effects. While it is true that drinking is not bad and can be very fun most people are simply uneducated about its safe use.

Alcohol is a huge problem on most college campuses. Twenty-one may be the legal drinking age, but some how college minors find a way to get a hold of alcohol. College students have a tendency to drink more then the general population. A test administered by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) shows that college students spend approximately $4.2 billion annually an alcohol. This money is spent on 430 gallons of alcoholic beverages, and 4 million cans of beer (Shalala). The type of college, geographical location, and the ethnic and gender makeup plays a role in the amount of drinking that occurs on campus (Shalala). For example colleges with fraternities and sororities have higher statistics, this is because of their sponsored parties. They drink more often, which contributes to heavier drinking. College Students drink more when they are in a group (Shalala). When it comes to drinking on campus there is no legal age so

Secondly, excessive drinking can result if alcohol use becomes an integral part of peer interactions. A recent study, which followed students throughout their college years and then reassessed them 4 and 7 years after graduation, revealed the social environment to be a highly significant predictor for drinking in college [19]. In the context of the SLT construct of social reinforcement, both socialisation and selection contribute to this process. Socialisation is evident when alcohol use becomes prevalent, accepted and encouraged in peer interactions that were previously alcohol-free. Thus, college friendships may initially develop in class or while socialising in contexts that do not involve alcohol. The initiation and development of these

Advertisements of alcohol catch the attention of many underage people and high school students. Drinking at a young age can be a major health concern. Underage drinking can result in negative consequences, including poor grades, risky sex, alcohol addiction, and car crashes. Alcohol beverages and advertisements on social media attracts many young kids. Alcohol advertisements shouldn’t be shown to underage people. In most families parents allow their kids to drink or watch them drink. Parents will do their best to keep kids from seeing alcohol advertisements. Alcohol marketers will do anything to promote their products.

Alcohol and drug use among college students is viewed as innoxious fun which students take part in to get away from the stress of being a student. What begins as innocent fun can quickly lead to a self-destructive path. While often referred to as substance abuse, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 redefined it as; Substance Use Disorders and explains it to be as a cluster of cognitive, behavioral and physiological symptoms which indicate that an individual continues to use a substance despite significant substance related problems (5th ed.; DSM–5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). An issue that is at an all-time high on college campuses and continues to be overlooked. Primarily because of the attitudes that the media has created about young adults. An attitude that facilities an environment which encourages the excessive use of substances. My purpose for writing this paper is change the relaxed perception that is held towards the use of substances. Furthermore, to educate students on the pivotal differences between substance use disorders and recreational use.

Approximately 150 college students will participate in the proposed study, 75 males and 75 females. The participants will range from 18 to 21 years of age. Participants will be in equal amounts from each residence hall in the University of Houston which underage students reside in as well as off-campus residents. The group criteria will be limited to students under the age of 21 with equal amounts of males and females. Participation in the study will be voluntary. The incentive for this study is if they choose to participate, then they will receive a gift card. The proposed study will attempt to observe the difference between the alcohol consumption of residents of on campus

Exposure to alcohol advertising is an everyday occurrence. Alcohol advertising is persuasive not only to adults but to those who are too young to buy alcohol legally. Although parents and peers have a large impact on youth decisions to drink, marketing also has a significant impact by influencing the attitudes of parents and peers and helping to create an environment that promotes underage drinking. Alcohol companies focus billions of dollars on advertising their products and still claim that the effect is minimal. I pose a few questions that are; who are the targets of alcohol advertising? How does alcohol advertising affect the people targeted by alcohol companies? Finally what actions are being taken to

College students commonly believe that their peers engage in higher levels of dangerous drinking than is actually the case, which may lead to greater perceived normative pressure to drink (Russell 2005). Misperceived drinking norms are vied as important risk factors that instigate alcohol misuse. The most common type of misperception is when nondrinkers and moderate drinkers (as a majority of students on most campuses are) falsely assume that their fellow students drink more than they actually do. Another misconception among the heavy drinkers is that no one can drink as much as they do. Heavy drinkers rely on this norm to justify their own behavior (Thombs 2004).