Essay on Getting Serious About Eradicating Binge Drinking

In addition to deaths, college drinking is linked to 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assault or rape. Furthermore,

Binge drinking is considered to be a health problem because nearly half of all college students have reported to drink more than 5 drinks is a short period of time (Hennessee, 2013). There has been about 1,825 college students who have died from alcohol-related injuries such as motor-vehicle crashes with the students being between 18 - 24 years old (College Drinking Fact Sheet, 2015). An increase of 6% of college deaths have occurred due to binge breaking increasing the total numbers from 1,600 to 1,700 (Hingson, Heeren,, & Wechsler n.d.). Many other health issues that are associated with binge drinking are: unintentional injuries, intentional injuries such as sexual assault, alcohol poisoning, sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy, liver disease, sexual dysfunction, and poor watch of diabetes (Fact Sheets - Binge Drinking, 2015).

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.

Binge drinking is considered to be a health problem because nearly half of all college students have reported to drink more than 5 drinks is a short period of time (Hennessee, 2013). There has been about 1,825 college students who have died from alcohol-related injuries such as motor-vehicle crashes with the students being between 18 - 24 years old (College Drinking Fact Sheet, 2015). An increase of 6% of college deaths has occurred due to binge breaking increasing the total amount from 1,600 to 1,700 (Hingson, Heeren, & Wechsler, n.d.).

Excessive drinking among college students have been an issue for years. In general, the authors Henry Wechsler and Froma Harrop discuss the consumption of alcohol within colleges and universities and how they believe it should be treated. In his informative essay, “Binge Drinking Must Be Stopped,” Henry Wechsler examines that, “over 1800 college students 18-24 years of age died from alcohol related injuries in the past year” (Wechsler para. 1). Even with the injuries, college administrators were oblivious to the issues of alcohol consumption within their institutions. On the other hand, in her argumentative essay, “Stop Babysitting College Students,” Froma Harrop implies that the need to watch over students is more so encouraged, despite the fact that they are responsible for their own drinking. The two authors reach a consensus in their essays

“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

“80 percent of teen-agers have tried alcohol, and that alcohol was a contributing factor in the top three causes of death among teens: accidents, homicide and suicide” (Underage, CNN.com pg 3). Students may use drinking as a form of socializing, but is it really as good as it seems? The tradition of drinking has developed into a kind of “culture” fixed in every level of the college student environment. Customs handed down through generations of college drinkers reinforce students' expectation that alcohol is a necessary ingredient for social success. These perceptions of drinking are the going to ruin the lives of the students because it will lead to the development alcoholism. College students who drink a lot, while in a college

“Getting Serious about Eradicating Binge Drinking,” a text written Henry Wechsler was first introduced to me in my English 102 class. In this Essay Wechsler brought to the reader’s attention that binge drinking was major problem on many college campuses. Wechsler aims to convince readers that binge drinking is a problem that needs to be stopped. Some of Wechsler’s statements made in this text were persuasive while others were opinions.

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.

In recent years many universities have begun asking themselves, what can we do to solve the problem? Central Michigan University has alcohol policies for those that live in the dorms, first time that you are found drunk or alcohol is found in your room a fine of $100

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.

Because binge drinking is so common among the collegiate lifestyle, researchers conducted a study aimed at the relationship between college organizations and binge drinking. Chauvin (2012) hypothesized that college students who belonged to an organization, such as the Greek organization, were at a greater risk for binge drinking compared to non-organization members. Chauvin (2012) used data from a 2001 study that was administered to 119 colleges across 38 states in the U.S. The sample consisted of 215 full-time college students, at each school, who were randomly chosen. The results of the study validated Chauvin’s hypothesis that members of organizations report binge drinking more commonly than those who are not affiliated with organizations (Chauvin, 2012). Though this study had an exceptionally large sample size spread out across 38 states, it used data from an outdated source. With that being said, one may be left wondering if the results have changed over the years due to societies evolving values and new policies on college

In Alcohol, Tobacco, and Caffeine, shows that alcohol is a serious issue on campus universities. Especially being a binge drinkers, who are the cause of deaths, lack of interest in college, and even rape. However, university presidents are concerned about the student’s behavior on campus with alcohol use. They attend to provided leadership groups that help with students on alcohol abuse,

Binge drinking has been a problem among teens and young adults for decades and a solution needs to be established; because consuming five or more alcoholic beverages for boys and for or more alcoholic beverages for girls in two hours is considered binge drinking. In movies, television shows, commercials during prime time television and any sporting event watched on television alcohol is advertised in funny, sexy, and sophisticated ways. The invitations to relax with a beer, drink with a friend, ease a stressful day, solve a social problem, charm a room full of strangers are very clear to most viewers. The problems begin when children, teens and adults are are all viewing the same commercials with the same idea being broadcast repeatedly. We begin to realize that social conditioning for the acceptance of consuming alcohol begins at a very young age. At parties, family functions and restaurants alcohol is prevalent. Children may interpret the availability and option to have a drink as acceptance of drinking. Adults rarely explain themselves to children and so behaviors and decisions get mixed up all together. Add a designated age when a person can legally drink and society wrapped a mysterious cloud of inclusion / exclusion around the issue of drinking. Kids can’t wait to be able to have a beer, like it is the ultimate reward. Socially acceptable drinking practices are really never clearly defined to our children and that might be one of the biggest mistakes in the social history of our country.

Alcohol use among college students has always been a popular subject among teachers, parents, researchers, and even students. The actual act of drinking alcohol is not necessarily the problem, whether legal or not. The main problem is the act of binge drinking of college students, of age or not. Drinking modest amounts of alcohol may have some consequences, but binge drinking has more negative consequences than normal modest drinking. There are many examples as to the consequences that binge drinking can cause to college student’s lives, but one of the main consequences that students face as a result of frequent drinking is poor academic final grades.