College Binge Drinking in the US
Problem - Solution Research Paper
College Binge Drinking the US
Tien Tran
Keuka College
American Academic Culture - ENG201
Instructor: Ms. Letti Stokes
May 10, 2015
College Binge Drinking in the US
College Binge Drinking in the U.S
Binge drinking is a pattern of excessive alcohol use which has existed and increased in
colleges for years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, binge drinking
is detected when men and women consume respectively five and 4 or more drinks in two hours
(Prevention, 2014)1. Also, it also noted that half of college students who drink consume alcohol
through binge drinking and the rate of it is increasing. There are many reasons for binge drinking
among college students: peer pressure, social acceptance, and emotional obstacles. This problem
has brought about several negative consequences to them which vary from low academic
performances, health problems, and different types of assaults. A lot of solutions are essential to
reduce the affection of college binge drinking, which are supporting and counseling, using the
media campaign and advocacy, and providing more social experience, as well as courses about
how to avoid this problem.
Causes
To begin with, peer pressure has been the most obvious cause of binge drinking among college
students. Peer pressure is explained as a phenomenon, caused by the attempt to make friends do
what you want to do. To some students, alcohol consumption represents the individualization,
when they test their own boundaries and define themselves among others. Thus, the phenomenon
of peer pressure is causing other students to binge drink. Also, seeing a lot of friends binge
drinking may make the students think that it is an acceptable behavior around campus, so they
begin drinking excessively to get drunk. Secondly, to be socially accepted is another reason that
1 Prevention, C. f. (2014, January 16). Alcohol and Public Health. Retrieved May 9, 2015,
from Fact Sheets - Binge Drinking: http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/binge-drinking.htm
College Binge Drinking in the US
college students binge drink. Students do not want to feel obsolete and they feel the need to be
accepted by a group of individuals. The feeling of being included is exhibited most clearly in
getting the membership to the fraternity. For example, in order to be recognized as a member of
Gamma Delta Chi, a student has to take part in a competition of drinking hard liquor shots, in
which who drinks the most will win. Another cause that I find quite common is that students
drink to deal with their emotional phrases. College students, regardless of males or females,
drink when there is something happening with their families, when they get bad grades, when
they are going through breakups, etc. They choose to get together, consume alcohol and get
drunk every time they have to deal with unexpected real-life situations, which leads to binge
drinking.
Effects
Binge drinking has a lot of negative effects on a college students life. First of all, abusing
alcohol can lead to injuries and even deaths. For instance, 1,825 college students between the
ages of 18 and 24 die each year, according to a report conducted by the National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Alcoholism, Special Populations & Co-occurring Disorders,
2015)2. Researches have also shown that many health problems are associated with binge
drinking, such as liver disease, high blood pressure, reduced sexual function, and poor control of
diabetes. Some of these health effects can not be identified until years later. In addition, alcohol
has been proven to be a neurotoxin, especially to college students whose brains are not fully
developed until they enter their mid-twentieths. Alcohol affects negatively the abilities of a
2 Alcoholism, N. I. (2015, April ). Special Populations & Co-occurring Disorders. Retrieved
May 10, 2015, from College Drinking: http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/specialpopulations-co-occurring-disorders/college-drinking
College Binge Drinking in the US
students cognitive skills and abilities, which are the basic skills of a brain to perform tasks:
learning, remembering, solving problems, paying attention, noticing details, making decision,
etc. This effect will unquestionably result in lowering the academic performance of college
students, shown by their missing classes, receiving low grades on exams or papers, and falling
behind. Another upset fact about alcohol effect on student life is that alcohol appears to be main
cause for sexual abuse and physical assaults happening around campus. In a recent report of
NIAAA, more than 690,000 students were physically attacked and 97,000 students were sexually
harassed by students who has been drinking (Alcoholism, Special Populations & Co-occurring
Disorders, 2015)3. These numbers are considerably high and concerning, given the fact that we
are now living in a civilized society.
Solutions
Since the existence of binge drinking in colleges, lots of preventions have been made, such as
lowering the age of drinking, raising the price and tax of alcohol, more control on the alcohol
availability and access, etc. Some of the solutions were effective in reducing binge drinking at
first. However, the rate of binge drinking in colleges have recently increased again, requiring
concern and intervention of the college administration, the alumni, the parents and the students
themselves. In my opinion, there are three more solutions that all of us have to take seriously to
help reduce the binge drinking and its effects. First of all, we have to take advantage of the media
campaigns and use the media advocacy to correct the misperceived norms about alcohol
consumption among students. This is called the social norm approach, with this approach,
3 Alcoholism, N. I. (2015, April ). Special Populations & Co-occurring Disorders. Retrieved
May 10, 2015, from College Drinking: http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/specialpopulations-co-occurring-disorders/college-drinking
College Binge Drinking in the US
students will be oriented to think that their peers do not drink as much as they think. Thus, the
effect of peer pressure phenomenon will be lessened. Also, these media campaigns should be
designed to change the attitude of students towards drinking in campus. The negative effects of
alcohol and shocking facts about alcohol abuse must be included in these advertisements, which
hopefully will make the students think before they binge drink. Secondly, since lots of college
students binge drink because they are experiencing the difficult times of their lives and are facing
the emotional problems, I think college administration should focus on screening for alcohol
misuse and providing the support and counseling necessary for students. Besides a place that
provide academic knowledge and personal skills, colleges should also be available for students to
seek help and assistance. Effective psychological counseling will have a significant on their
choice of using alcohol because they can come there and talk about their problems and what
types of emotions they are dealing with. Counseling offices should make an effort to help
students maintain the mentally healthy status and support that status, so that they will not rely on
alcohol to hide from their emotional situations. Finally, education on alcohol should be enhanced
in the form of courses and exams. Regularly, the courses and exams about alcohol consumption
should be taken by college students so that they are constantly reminded of the effects of alcohol
on their health, their studies, and their safety. Additionally, more social activities should be held
for college students to join in order to give them more social experience. This approach will help
them feel more confident in themselves so that the desire to be socially accepted through
drinking would be diminished.
Evaluation of the solutions
College Binge Drinking in the US
Out of three solutions given, the media campaigns have been found to be very effective in
the enforcement efforts. It has a positive effect on the college students attitudes towards alcohol
and intentions to use them (James E. Mosher, David H. Jernigan, 1998)4 . Next, the National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Population Health
reported that alcohol screening and counseling have reduced drinking on occasion by 25% in
people who binge drinking (Alcohol Screening and Counseling, 2014). However, this method
requires co-operation between the counselors and the students to show good results. Last but not
least, even though the effectiveness of providing more social experience has not been evaluated
yet, the courses and the exams on alcoholism have brought successful outcomes. A large majority
of college students are aware of alcohol and its impacts on their lives (Engs, 1978)5.
Conclusion
Binge drinking has been listed as one of the most serious public health issues on college
campuses by the United States Surgeon General (David M. Baker, Susan Stockton, 2012)6, which
has worried the parents, the college administration, and the society for a long time. Through the
peer pressure, socially acceptance desire or emotional problems, college students can be involved
in drinking excessively, which leads to severe health problems, failures in their academic path,
4 James E. Mosher, David H. Jernigan. (1998). Effectiveness of Public Health Strategies to
Reduce College Binge Drinking and Underage Alcohol Use. American Medical Association.
5Engs, R. E. (1978). College Students' Knowledge of Alcohol and Drinking. American College
Health Association , Vol.26.
6David M. Baker, Susan Stockton. (2012). An Exploration of Health Science and Nursing
Students' Knowledge and Behaviors Related to Alcohol: A Preliminary Investigation. The
Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practices , Vol.10, No.4.
College Binge Drinking in the US
and several campus crimes. Therefore, the need for anti-binge drinking actions has became
crucial with the help of media campaigns, counseling services, and more social experience given
to the students. If this problem keeps happening, can you imagine how many alcohol addicted
graduates there will be, how many college students that will be sexually assaulted, how many
more fights there will be, or even how many alcohol related deaths and injuries that will occur?
College Binge Drinking in the US
References
Alcohol Screening and Counseling. (2014, January 7). Retrieved May 9, 2015, from
An effective but underused health service: http://www.cdc.gov/VitalSigns/alcoholscreening-counseling/
Alcoholism, N. I. (2015, April ). Special Populations & Co-occurring Disorders.
Retrieved May 10, 2015, from College Drinking: http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcoholhealth/special-populations-co-o ccurring-disorders/college-drinking
David M. Baker, Susan Stockton. (2012). An Exploration of Health Science and
Nursing Students' Knowledge and Behaviors Related to Alcohol: A Preliminary
Investigation. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practices , Vol.10,
No.4.
Engs, R. E. (1978). College Students' Knowledge of Alcohol and Drinking. American
College Health
Association , Vol.26.
James E. Mosher, David H. Jernigan. (1998). Effectiveness of Public Health
Strategies to Reduce College
Binge Drinking and Underage Alcohol Use.
American Medical Association.
Prevention, C. f. (2014, January 16). Alcohol and Public Health. Retrieved May 9,
2015, from Fact Sheets - Binge Drinking: http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/factsheets/binge-drinking.htm
