The topic for my research paper is: are the effects of binge drinking on college students negative? In 2010, about 1,900 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 died due to alcohol related injuries (National Center on Abuse and Substance Abuse, 12).
A report done by the National Center on Addiction and substance abuse says that 51 percent of all college students binge drink, which is about four million young Americans. Two million of these college students meet the medical criteria for substance abuse and dependency. Binge drinking is defined by the National Institute of Alcohol abuse and Alcoholism as more than four drinks on a single occasion, generally over two hours or less, for males, and more than three drinks on a single occasion over the period of time for females. Binge drinking effects college students physically, emotionally, and psychologically (National Center on Abuse and Substance Abuse, 13).
The increase in binge drinking in the last ten years has more than doubled what it was in 1980’s ( Seaman, 37).
Binge drinking has become more common than ever, but it seems as though college students are ignoring the dangerous consequences that excessive consumption of alcohol has.
I am a college student and I am constantly surrounded by alcohol and binge drinking. I have seen my peers behave ridiculously and engage in activities they would never even consider sober. Its estimated that over 400,000 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 have had unprotected sex while intoxicated
The Essay on Binge Drinking
Benjamin Wynne, 20, underwent two of the most time-honored rites of passage at Louisiana State University last week . He received a pledge pin from the fraternity that voted him into the brotherhood, and he got rip-roaring drunk to celebrate. Wynne and his fellow Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers began their bacchanalia with an off-campus keg party featuring funneling, in which beer is shot through a ...
(National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 20).
More than 150,000 of these college students were unaware if they had consented to having sex.
Barrett Seaman, conducted studies at several universities, including ivy league schools. His studies showed that frequent binge drinkers were 42 percent more likely to have unprotected sex. His studies also showed that students who engaged in heavy consumption of alcohol were twice as likely to have multiple sexual partners. This increase in the number of sexual partners also increases the risk for sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy.
A report that was presented to Congress, created by the Department of Health and Human services, explained that binge drinking has a direct effect on sexually transmitted diseases. The report called, Under the Influence: the Binge Drinking Epidemic on College Campuses, says that about a half of the college students with new cases of sexually transmitted diseases admitted to being intoxicated while having unprotected sex. The excessive consumption of alcohol allowed the students to lose their inhibitions and engage in high risk behaviors that they would not have engaged in if sober. Excessive amounts of alcohol effects the way the brain processes and does not allow a person to think about the negative consequences of their actions.
The report presented to Congress also shows that many college students sexual partners were strangers or people they knew for a relatively short period of time. Two in five college students have admitted to going home with a stranger, and one in seven have brought a stranger home with them while intoxicated.
College students who are female binge drinkers are three times more likely to be sexually assaulted. John J. Sloan’s book called Dark Side of the Ivory Tower: Campus Crime as a Social Problem, explains that most of these sexual assaults are unreported. He believes that this might be because the female may not remember whether she consented to having sex. Female binge drinkers are also more likely to have their “drinks spiked” with date rape drugs such as rohypnal or roofies as they are commonly called. These drugs often cause sedative or amnesic effects on female college students (Sloan, 40).
The Essay on College Binge drinking
... 52% of students), status associated with drinking, culture of alcohol consumption on campus, peer pressure, and finally academic stress. The effects of binge drinking range from ... high of 70 percent. Drinking patterns established in high school often persist during college. Compared to other students, college students who were binge drinkers in high ...
The effects of binge drinking on college students are both short and long-term. The short-term effects of binge drinking are headaches, nausea, hangovers, shakiness, and memory loss. The most dangerous short-term effect of binge drinking is acute alcohol poisoning. Alcohol poisoning can cause death if not dealt with properly. A person with alcohol poisoning should immediately be brought to a hospital to receive treatment.
The long-term effects of binge drinking are much more serious and include diseases such as heart disease, liver disease, diabetes, strokes, high blood pressure, neurological problems, and certain forms of cancer. (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 18).
College students who are heavy binge drinkers often will have neurological problems later in life. These problems include delayed auditory and verbal memory and deficits in executive planning function and episodic memory. These long-lasting cognitive impairments are caused by excessive amounts of alcohol causing an unbalance between amino acids in the brain (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 23).
College students who binge drink are more than twice as likely to have alcohol dependencies later in life (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 25).
These dependencies can often lead to liver failure and death. Alcohol dependency often has adverse effects on a persons mental health and can cause many psychiatric disorders and even suicide.
The use of alcohol excessively in college students has also been linked to suicide or thoughts of suicide. Between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of college students have had suicidal thoughts while intoxicated (Sloane, 38).
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students and about 75 percent of college students who attempt suicide are heavy drinkers.
The effects of binge drinking as a college student are effects that can last a person for the rest of their life. It can ruin families, friendships, and cause a person to behave in ways unimaginable. Binge drinking can cause problems mentally, physically, and emotionally. Each year thousands of college students die due to alcohol related deaths. These deaths could have easily been prevented if colleges and universities had taken the precautions to teach their students about the negative effects that binge drinking has.
The Term Paper on College Student Alcohol Students Drinking
... College Students And Possible Solutions Running head: ALCOHOL ABUSE AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS Alcohol Abuse Among College Students and Possible Solutions Terry McDaniel Georgia Southern University Abstract Binge or excessive drinking ... as a solvent, antiseptic and sedative' (Drinking: A students Guide, 2001). The possible effects of alcohol would include intoxication, sensory alteration, and anxiety ...
A report written for the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention by Michael P. Haines called A Social Norms Approach to Preventing Binge Drinking at Colleges and Universities, explains ways that college campuses can adapt to today’s binge drinking epidemic. The report explains that by requiring all students to participate in a mandatory alcohol awareness class then it can lessen the amount of binge drinking on the campus by about one-third.
These alcohol awareness classes will teach students the short-term and long-term effects that binge drinking has on a person. I know that I personally never knew all of the negative effects of binge drinking until doing my research for my paper. I think that many college students think of binge drinking as a fun activity on the weekend. I do not think that they truly know the consequences that can come from binge drinking. By requiring alcohol awareness classes and increasing awareness about the issue of binge drinking will allow students to really see the harm that they are doing to their bodies. The class should be a mandatory requirement for all incoming college freshman to ensure that the effects of binge drinking are known at the start of their college career.
Another way to prevent binge drinking on college campuses is to provide incoming freshman with a older student mentor. These mentors can help teach the freshman about other activities and clubs on campus to take part in. This will keep more students from engaging in excessive drinking while promoting activities on campus. These mentors can also help to teach incoming freshman how to drink responsibly and be role models.
Haines also suggests that college campuses should try to host other events on campus so that students can have a fun alternative to parties. Many students go out and drink because there is simply nothing else to do. If college’s hosted events on Friday and Saturday nights such as movie nights, dances, performances, concerts, or fairs then there would be many other activities for students to take part in.
The Essay on College Students And Alcohol
... to take effective action. Hazardous drinking among college students is a widespread problem that occurs on campuses of all sizes and geographic ... College Students and Alcohol College student drunkenness is far from new and neither are college and university efforts to control it. What ... drink because it is prohibited. To make students became responsible adults is the best way to combat binge drinking.
College campuses can also take a more drastic approach in trying to lower the amount of excessive drinking by creating stricter laws and regulations. Students will be much less likely to drink excessively if they know they can be arrested, kicked out of school, or have to pay expensive fines. People will also be less likely to throw massive parties with kegs and excessive amounts of alcohol if there are strict laws and regulations for noise violations. Campuses can also monitor drinking in dorms and apartments by patrolling more frequently. This will help stop gatherings in students rooms where excessive amounts of alcohol are being consumed.
Haines believes that schools need to change their entire atmosphere if they are going to solve the problem of excessive drinking. He believes that schools should not allow alcohol related advertising on campuses. He also thinks schools should not sell shot glasses and beer mugs with the schools logo on it. In his opinion, all this does is condone excessive drinking. Haines thinks that college campuses need to have speakers come and talk to fraternities and sororities about the harmful effects of binge drinking.
In Haines opinion, binge drinking has not just become a problem for college campuses but a problem for the entire United States. He believes that action needs to be taken now to solve this epidemic of underage excessive drinking. Haines thinks that the United States government needs to create much stricter laws that increase the penalties for minors who are caught drinking. He believes that this will make college students think twice before engaging in drinking again.
In my opinion the effects of binge drinking on college students are extremely negative. Binge drinking has become an incredibly common behavior for college students and I think it has become an accepted behavior. I know that many of my friends drink several times a week and many of them are binge drinkers. Many of my friends will drink until they black out or until they can no longer walk or talk clearly. I think that the amount of alcohol that is consumed by college students has become ridiculous. Today, binge drinking has become more common than ever before in history.
The Term Paper on Stress In College Students
College students all stress out about one situation/life generality or another. Some of these situations/life generalities are individuation, computer anxiety, ethnic and gender roles in student-athletes, and mathematics anxiety. There have been many studies looking at stress in college students. At one time or another, college students are forced to deal with a stressful situation. Stress, in ...
I think that the effects of binge drinking are incredibly terrifying. The thought of having an illness such as heart disease, liver disease, diabetes, strokes, high blood pressure, neurological problems, or certain forms of cancer due to my own consumption of alcohol is sickening. I could not imagine having one of these life-threatening illnesses simply because of my binge drinking during my college years.
I think that college campuses need to take action immediately and try to resolve the problem of binge drinking. In my opinion, there is much more that can be done to resolve the issue. I think that college students are completely oblivious to the effects of binge drinking. College students need to be taught that excessive amounts of alcohol are extremely detrimental to their health and can cause them problems for the rest of their life. I think that college students live in the moment and think of binge drinking as a rite of passage. They think that getting wasted and not remembering what they did last night is simply just another Friday or Saturday night. It is not only that college students are binge drinking but it is the fact that they do it four or five nights a week. I think that a change needs to be made.
Overall, my research paper was incredibly eye opening and made me think. When I first began writing this research paper I never expected that I would learn as much as I did. I learned that the effects of binge drinking can last forever and are much more dangerous and severe than I ever thought they were. I really enjoyed writing this paper and researching for it. I liked reading the reports and books written by people who had researched this topic for years. I hope that through my research I can explain to people how dangerous binge drinking really is.
