Courtney Ulrich

10-30-02

Binge Drinking

Binge Drinking is defined as “consuming five or more drinks in a row being a male and four or more in a row for females”, according to

the Journal of American College Health. Binge drinking is a major trend among college students today and also a big problem that needs to be addressed. Binge drinking is a dangerous drinking problem that many people have to realize and deal with.

According to a recent survey taken by Harvard University, 43 percent of college students say that they are binge drinkers, and 21 percent say that they binge more than once a week. The typical binge drinker is usually a person who is not interested in religion, takes athletics very seriously, and is involved in a fraternity or sorority. White students are also twice as likely to turn into binge drinkers than other ethnic groups.

Each year college students spend $5.5 billion on alcohol. This is more than they spend on books, soda, coffee, juice, and milk combined. On a typical campus, the average amount a student spends annually on alcohol is $466. One possible reason that college students drink is because of having the opportunity to be independent. Many students tend to go wild when they are not around parental control. Also, many students entering college feel they need to fit in, so they view drinking as a trend to let people know that they are fitting in.

Binge drinking will definitely cause a person to feel without control over his or her body. They will be very dizzy and crazy. Binge drinkers are seven to sixteen times more likely than non-bingers to miss class, engage in unplanned sexual activity, not use protection when having sex, get into trouble with the police, damage property, or become hurt or injured.

There are many effects of binge drinking. You can get more and more obsessed with alcohol. Over time your liver becomes damaged by torn tissue. Binge drinking can also lead to poverty and a loss of job. The only way to prevent binge drinking is by not abusing alcohol and drinking too much.

To prevent binge drinking completely you must simply not drink alcoholic beverages. If you should drink, you should plan your drinking and think about how much you want to drink before you drink. Food, mood, and environment affect susceptibility to alcohol. You should always have a friend watch out for you and monitor your drinking. Keeping your alcohol consumption low is also a good idea. Another big part of preventing binge drinking is to educate people. It is a problem that is not being addresses well by our universities. There are also Alcoholics Anonymous groups being planned for here on the USM campus.

Sadly, as many as 360,000 of the nation’s 12 million undergraduates will ultimately die from alcohol related causes. This is more than the total number who will be awarded advance degrees.

The effects of binge drinking are that you get more and more obsessed with alcohol, there can be many more long-term effects also. Your body can only drink so much alcohol. Over time your liver becomes damaged by torn tissue and maybe some other problems. This is called sorosis.

I definitely think that binge drinking is wrong, especially when it’s at the point where you are not only threatening your life but the life of others also. Many people say they drink to fit in, well I personally don’t find it very attractive witnessing a person vomiting, slurring their words or stumbling around. I personally do not want them to fit in with me or I with them. I do not find that type of existence appealing nor do I find it productive. I realize that it is all around us in the college setting but I believe more should be done to regulate drinking as a social activity.

Recently, the life of a young friend of mine was lost due to another person’s drinking habits. He was a very well liked 21 year- old college student who was not drinking and had his whole life ahead of him but was killed because of someone else’s obsession with alcohol. People who binge drink have serious issues and need to solve them as soon as possible. They need to do this to not only help themselves but to help make a positive difference in the lives of others also. This may not only save their lives but the lives of other innocent friends.