Taking Up Binge Drinking

Since 1997, binge drinking has been increasing each year (Wechsler, Lee, & Kuo. 2010). Binge drinking is no stranger to San Jose State University as well as college campuses nationwide (Police Department, n.d.). Binge drinking has been on epidemic on college campuses and continues to grow over the course of time with alarming numbers of incidents that occur while under the influence. Since binge drinking is common on most college campuses, about 60% of students nationwide have stated that they have binge drank during their college years (College Drinking Fact Sheet, 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.

Since 1997, binge drinking has increased each year (Wechsler, Lee, & Kuo. 2010). Binge drinking is no stranger to San Jose State University as well as college campuses nationwide (Police Department, n.d.). Binge drinking has been on epidemic on college campuses and continues to grow over the course of time with alarming numbers of incidents that occur while under the influence. Since binge drinking is common on most college campuses, about 60% of students nationwide have stated that they have binge drank during their college years (College Drinking Fact Sheet, 2015).

In Henry Wechsler’s, “Getting Serious about Eradicating Binge Drinking”, he discusses the issue of binge drinking. Binge drinking is an extensive problem on college campuses. The majority of colleges merely focus on the student, rather than what encourages students to drink. Fraternities, sororities, and athletics are huge sources of the students on campus who drink. There are many approaches colleges can take to decrease the problem, and many colleges are already getting a head start. It is also important to not ignore how often colleges indirectly encourage students to drink (20).

“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

Risk factors such as sex, race, and grades are also discussed and linked with increased drinking. The social aspects of drinking, such as peer pressure and ones perceived image of themselves are discussed as well, along with student opinions on why they think other students drink.

This study was developed in order to discover what university students saw as binge drinking.

The expectation of this curriculum is to reduce the prevalence of binge drinking for Cal State University, Long Beach (CSULB) students ages 17 to 22. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)( n.d.), binge drinking is defined as “A pattern of drinking that results in harm to one’s health, interpersonal relationships, or ability to work”. Further research into this issue has found that more than 1,000 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries every year (NIAAA, 2015). The goal of this curriculum is to prevent binge drinking and alcohol misuse by providing college students with feasible strategies to decrease the behavior. Education in the following areas of

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.

Research has supported the observation that young people in America consume alcohol regularly; this prevalence of use increases rapidly during adolescence, as well as a few years afterward (Wagenaar and Wolfson 37). This has come to be a problem among college students. It has been shown through extensive quantitative and qualitative research that those under twenty-one years of age are able to obtain alcohol, which allows them to binge drink. Binge drinking holds many problems for college students: alcohol poisoning, DUIs, traffic accidents, and even fatalities.

Stress is the strongest reason why college students choose to binge drink undeterred by the short and long term consequences. The transition from high school to college is one fraught with change. The increased responsibility on the student is heaped

Approximately 40 to 45% of college students in the US report engaging in heavy episodic drinking.3 Consequences of heavy drinking are widespread which include academic problems, unwanted sexual experiences, physical injuries, and death. A study titled Are Social Norms the Best Predictor of Outcomes among Heavy-Drinking College Students? by Neighbors et al found that social norms were the best predictors of typical weekly alcohol consumption amongst college students.3 In other words, perceived descriptive norms and approval of friends were the best predictor of heavy drinking in college years.

Alcohol consumption among college students is steadily increasing due to the nature of the environment inducing such behavior to alleviate stress, as a form of recreation, or a means of establishing a lifestyle. According to Randolph et al. (2009), the frequency of alcohol consumption is bound to increase in the decade because of observed behavior and peer pressure. Additionally, according to Ceylan-Isik, McBride, and Ren (2010), alcohol consumption resulting in

What Causes Binge Drinking is an intriguing phenomenon that many college students take part in all across the country. The issue of binge drinking has been a problem on college campuses for decades. Binge drinking has many horrible effects, but the problem starts with the causes for it. If the causes could be controlled then the issue would not get out of hand. Many college students give different causes for their drinking problems, and experts on the subject have their explanations as well. The problem is, while growing through adolescence anything can become an excuse for drinking, such as! S Sits Thursday the day before Friday, we need to drink!” or, ! SS it! |s the last Wednesday of the semester, lets get some beer.

This literature review will consider causal factors contributing to the heavy alcohol consumption of tertiary students and the negative consequences of binge drinking. Why do young adults engage in binge drinking? Why does the rate of alcohol consumption go higher when young people go to university? This literature review highlights that tertiary students drink more compared to their non-student peers because of the social and physical environment (e.g. sporting events, shared flats or house).