I grew up in a home with both of my parents, a brother, and a sister. I’m the oldest sibling, so my parents were always protective of me when it came to alcohol growing up. They would never give me sips like some parents, and always told me the big responsibility that comes along with drinking. My mom only drinks socially with friends and never drinks more then 2 or 3 drinks. My dad would have a beer after work or occasionally go out and drink with his friends. I didn’t become curious about alcohol until I got into high school. During my sophomore year, I tried alcohol for the first time. My friends and I each drank a beer in my basement. I didn’t like it at first, and this didn’t become and ongoing thing until I got to my senior year. During my senior year my friends and I would drink on occasion at parties or in someone’s basement, but my parents where not all right with it. Eventually I was caught and punished. My parents were more disappointed than mad and were overall understanding because they had gone through …show more content…
Both of my parents had attended Iowa so they new what was in store for me. Going away to any college comes with great responsibility and I was ready to take this responsibility on. When I got to the University I found out quickly how easy it is for underage teens, like myself, to get alcohol. Whether it was an older friend buying me booze or a liquor store they doesn’t ID, it was never a problem finding alcohol. When I got to the university I joined a fraternity. This decision has had the biggest influence on my social life at college. In my fraternity our number one priority is scholarship. Though the fraternity allows me to partake in many social gatherings I have learned that school come first. Living in Iowa City and being in a fraternity definitely makes it easy to go out every night of the week, but my drive to do well in school has kept me in
Gratefully, my life has not been impacted negatively by alcohol. But after reflecting on my past experiences, alcohol has been involved greatly in my life, although it may not have been negatively. Since I was young, I have remembered observing family members drinking alcohol and pondering if whether their decisions were just. I was raised in an atmosphere, where alcohol was demonstrated as not a harmful thing, but shown as a privileged activity that adults did. Most of my family’s gatherings always had alcohol included, it became a natural occurrence and it seemed abnormal if it was absent. My family doesn’t need alcohol as an item in order to have fun, but we use alcohol as a special luxury to celebrate joyful events. We also don’t indulge
When parents send their children off to college, they worry about many different things from their safety and health to their grades and prospects after college. A huge part of that worry likely stems from the possibility of their child being exposed to drinking and parties for the first time. Parents are not nearby to keep an eye on their child or as a lifeline if they run into trouble. Heavy drinking or “binge drinking” can lead to a variety of problems for any person, but college students are especially susceptible due to their inexperience. From driving while intoxicated to serious health consequences or even death, binge drinking is not something to be taken lightly. While I was aware of the risks of heavy drinking in college, reading the information provided on the website for this assignment was eye opening.
As recognition grows that binge drinking on colleges nationwide is more prevalent than ever, school administrators and parents alike are seeking useful intervention to combat this issue. Studies have determined that “students’ use of alcohol is shaped, to some extent; by how much they think other students on campus drink” (Wechsler 2000:57). Most college students are in the particular age group that statistically has the highest rate of binge drinking. According to the American Journal of Public Health, this leads college students who decide to overindulge “extremely vulnerable to such health problems as: injuries from related car crashes; unplanned and unsafe sex; assault and aggressive behavior; alcohol dependence; and
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.
Americans are abusing alcohol less than in the past with one exception: college students who drink more and binge drink more often than nonstudents of similar age. The definition of binge drinking is " the consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time." (Dictionary.com) Alcohol continues to extract a high toll from those who abuse it at any age, killing 80,000 Americans a year and draining more than $220 billion from the economy. Out of all the teens who drink, 90 percent of them binge drink to get drunk. To fight alcohol abuse, many educational institutions, community organizations and government agencies are stepping up efforts to promote abstinence among the young and responsible drinking by adults. (Alcohol Abuse)
Most research focuses on binge drinking within a 4-year college setting, however respectfully the majority of variables remain constant between 2-year and 4-year institutions, therefore posing the question is this an issue among 2 year colleges as well. The focus of this research paper is to establish the significance of binge drinking within the community college setting, consider what the causes are and how to change the thought processes that are intertwined within this culture through prevention/harm reduction education.
The most significant issue with underage college students and binge drinking is to first acknowledge the recurring problem of a plaguing universities nationwide regardless of its campus size and influence. A more in-depth
“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
It is very scary that a known fatal substance is so readily available in today’s society. A lot of people like to relax with a drink of alcohol; however, it can cause many serious problems for others who start to become dependent on it.
On college campuses across America, the use of alcohol has been an topic in need of explanation for many years. The concept will be explaned with emphise on the negative effects of hooch. Alcohol in cardio-sport athletes is especially harmful. But at any rate the negative concepts apply to all student. Besides the fact that a large number of students are underage when they drink, alcohol can put students in dangerous situations and give them a headache long after the hangover is gone. The short and long term effects alcohol has can impair students physically and mentally, impacting their education and health.
In today's modern society alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse has become one of the most complex, life-threatening issues. Most depressed individuals usually indulge themselves in bars or pubs with their alcohols to escape from their stressful life. It has become increasingly alarming how alcohol does not only attract the adults, but also teenagers these days. "Research has shown that approximately 14 million Americans (7.4%) of the population meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism" ("Facts about Alcohol"). Alcohol addicts may encounter social impact such as loss of respect from others who may see the problem as self- inflictive and easily avoided. Repeated use of alcohol over a period of time can result in
Nearly 25 percent of teens drink alcohol because they think it is fun; however the problems it may bring are not so fun (Hyde 22). There over six times more teen deaths per year from alcohol than any other drug (O’Malley 30). Alcohol affects the body of teens as well as all of the developmental processes. A major issue of teens drinking is that it increases the chance of becoming an alcoholic in the future; which leads to lowered self-control, impaired judgment, and lowered inhibition (Heath 12). Alcohol can completely change the life of a teen from the time they start drinking till death. Alcohol affects so many aspects of a person’s life and once it does, it is so hard to get life back to normal. Alcohol effects teens by harming them
In this day and age, when it comes to alcohol consumption and laws of alcohol use in countries around the world, many people debate about whether the legal drinking age should be raised, lowered, or stay the same. What about a society where alcohol would be illegal?? Well, when it comes to the sheer number of deaths that occur from drunk driving alone, you’d end up agreeing with it. To add to this, addiction is always a risk to be taken into consideration, because it leads to alcohol poisoning, eventually causing death. All in all, alcohol is something that is just as addictive as any other drug, and should it be treated as an illegal drug as well. The following are just some of the many reasons why this should be so.
Alcohol abuse in high school teens is very common . Three-fourths of high school seniors have experimented with alcohol, according to a report by the Fairfax, Va.-based Society for Prevention Research.(M. C. B 1) . 95% of the time high schoolers start drinking because of peer pressure . Also, males are likely to start drinking before females do .Teens that drink often are three times more likely to commit self-harm such as cutting or suicide attempts than teens that don’t drink. Adolescent drinking represents a significant problem in the United States (Doumas 1) . The Effects of Alcohol Abuse in High School teenagers are death, low academics, and health issues .
Teenage alcohol abuse is one of the major problems that affect academic performance, cause health problems and is responsible for the death of teenage drivers and sometime their passengers. Many teens drink because they think it is cool and do not understand the dangers of drinking alcohol. In 2008 a survey on the students views on alcohol was conducted in the Atlanta Public School System of 4,241 students surveyed results showed 74% of sixth graders felt there was a health risk while 25% felt there was no health risk; 81% of eighth graders felt there was a health risk, while 19% felt there was none; 82% of tenth graders felt there was a health risk, while 18% felt there was none, and 84% of twelve graders felt there was a health risk,