It's no secret that drinking across America is a popular practice among many university campuses. Many who drink on college campuses are underage, and many who do choose to consume alcohol, binge drink. Binge drinking in young adults is a very dangerous and overlooked habit of many, landing thousands in hospitals every year. It is becoming more common amongst young people today at an alarming rate.
Many people are unaware of the actual definition of binge drinking and what causes it. Binge drinking is often defined as the consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time, i.e. anywhere between 4-5 drinks in under or about two hours, however it is not defined in the lines of being an alcoholic.
"At least 80 percent of binge drinkers are not alcohol dependent. Yet binge drinking accounts for most deaths from alcohol... Alcoholism is a very insidious disease in that it can creep up on you if you're not vigilant. So this level of binge drinking if it's left unchecked, for a lot of people, could lead to alcoholism." -Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, Director of the CDC
Binge drinking is the most common pattern of excessive alcohol use in the United States. Recent studies and surveys taken across the US on various college campuses have provided the result that binge drinking is on the rise within the ages of people 16-24. The correlation of thousands of college students being taken to the hospital due to alcohol poisoning, and the rise of binge drinking are positively connected. Surveys taken on college campuses regarding how many drinks a student consumes in a night and how many nights a week they drink, are turning in growing number results from past years to the present.
Binge drinking often leads to coordination problems, dehydration, memory loss, poor decision making, sexual assault, and much more. However, for many student’s binge drinking is not just a 'one time' thing', it is often a weekly or even daily occurrence for them. The consumption of a large amount of alcohol in a short period many weekends or days in a row lead to long term effects such as brain damage, liver disease, strokes, cancer, heart problems, and infertility. The extensive damage that binge drinking can have on a human body is least to say, not pretty. However, it does not only effect student’s personal health, but their academics as well. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that, "About one in four college students report academic consequences from drinking, including missing class, falling behind in class, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall".
With gaining a higher education becoming a necessity in today's world, the stresses of going to University is an excessively increasing and daunting list. Many students in turn, turn to alcohol consumption for not only stress relief, but for social events, rebelling, tolerance testing, and other various activities.
"Drinking at college has become a ritual that students often see as an integral part of their higher education experience. Many students come to college with established drinking habits, and the college environment can exacerbate the problem. According to a national survey, almost 60 percent of college students ages 18-22 drank alcohol in the past month, and almost 2 out of 3 of them engaged in binge drinking during that same time frame." -National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
The practice of binge drinking on college campuses specifically, is most often associated with Greek life activities, non-Greek life activities such as clubs, sports, and other various social gatherings. At these activities, drinking is usually encouraged in the consumption of large and excessive amounts of alcohol. The stigma being, the more you drink, the more fun you will have.
Many colleges, such as The Ohio State, are targeting the growing issue of binge drinking on their campuses by promoting activities and alcohol awareness that address the issues that are arising with the increasing practice of binge drinking. Programs such as Alcohol EDU and Haven are now a requirement for new, incoming Ohio State students prior to moving onto campus. Alcohol Edu is a program specifically designed to educate students on the effect that alcohol can have on them, both mentally and physically, while Haven touches on sexual assault. Alcohol Edu allows students to obtain the knowledge of how much alcohol is in a single type of drink, and approximately how much alcohol is too much for their size. The hopes being that students taking these online tutorials and quizzes will decrease the effects that drinking has on the Universities students.
