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The Dangers Of Binge Drinking And Alcohol Abuse Among College Students
Your sons or daughters are getting ready to go to college. As a thoughtful parent, you sit down with your son or daughter and explain the dangers of binge drinking. What happens with that great advice once they arrive on campus? Do you know what binge drinking is? Do you know how to prepare your son or daughter for the dangers that presents when they go off to school? Do you know what "binge drinking" means to college-aged kids?First, what is the "official definition" of binge drinking? - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The British Medical Association states that "there is no consensus on the definition of binge drinking. In the past, 'binge drinking' was often used to refer to an extended period of time, usually two days or more, during which a person repeatedly drank to intoxication, giving up usual activities."[1] The Journal of Studies on Alcohol defines binge drinking as an extended period, typically at least two days, during which time a person repeatedly becomes intoxicated and gives up usual activities and obligations in order to be intoxicated. Authors are required to restrict the use of the term to be consistent with that definition in papers it publishes. [2] The International Center for Policies says that diverse definitions of binge drinking exist. "Within the field of epidemiology, for example, there is disparity regarding the amount of that needs to be consumed in order to be drunk. One of the commonly used thresholds for 'binge' drinking is 5 or more drinks for men and 4 or more for women per occasion. Over some objection, [3] this definition has gained a foothold within the social sciences literature and has influenced media reporting of drinking behavior."[4]The British Medical Association concludes that "in common usage, binge drinking is now usually used to refer to heavy drinking over an evening or similar time span - sometimes also referred to as heavy episodic drinking. Binge drinking is often associated with drinking with the intention of becoming intoxicated and, sometimes, with drinking in large groups. It is sometimes associated with physical or social harm.
I could go on indefinitely about the definitions of binge drinking, but you can see from this short introduction that there is a tremendous variability in the "criteria" for binge drinking. There is even more variability when it comes to the "effects" on the individual from the binge drinking. The variables that must be considered are numerous. Among the most important are the following: - Is the drinker male or female?
- What is the weight of the drinker?
- Did they eat a substantial meal (variation here too) immediately before drinking? What is "immediately"? The amount of food in the stomach will slow absorption of the alcohol.
- What does it mean for drinks to be consumed in a "single session"? Is that session thirty minutes long or two days long? It makes a difference.
- Is the drinker also taking any medication - legal or illegal?
Your warnings to your child about "binge drinking" are confused by the variety of definitions and by the variation of alcohol's effects. But there is a bigger issue that you, as a parent, need to deal
with. That is that "binge drinking" is considered a badge of honor among students!I am a teacher in a community college. Every year, as part of a class project, I have the students conduct focus groups with other students about student use. They then conduct several hundred interviews of students to further explore student's use, their attitudes about drinking, and the likelihood that they will drink excessively in a typical week. The results of multiple focus groups and thousands of interviews would shock parents.In a focus group I held recently among college-aged students, it became clear that "binge drinking" is equated with the word "partying". It is considered a "good" thing. It is something they "want" to be a part of. Binge drinking is what they hope to do! Warning your kids that they should not binge drink is pointless since binge drinking is now accepted as a "really good thing" among college students.More that half of all the students that were interviewed for these projects were drinking to the point of being drunk several times a week. A fairly large number were drinking until they passed out on a regular basis, and many had experienced blackouts. Parents, you and your kids need to know that blackouts are an early warning sign of alcoholism. These students, many of whom are not of legal drinking age, are drinking excessively on a regular basis.So, if you are a parent of a college-aged student, what do you need to do: - Give your student "performance based" criteria for behavior:
- don't drink and drive
- don't drink more than (some specific amount) of beer
- or some other SPECIFIC instruction
- Stay away from platitudes such as "don't binge drink" since your warning can be their rallying cry.
- Know what rules your school has about drinking on campus.
- Learn your school's statistics about violations of those drinking rules.
- How many infractions occurred in the past school year?
- Explore further to see if those statistics are accurate- they often aren't - schools like to minimize these stats.
- Learn what your child is doing on school nights - are they studying or are they drinking?
- Consider attaching "conditions" to your tuition payments - conditions that are behavior based.
- Be sure they have a plan to insure they don't drink and drive - talk to them about this and get their commitment to NEVER drink and drive. Then find out how they will do this. Designated drivers aren't as common today as they were even five years ago.
- Learn the signs of problem drinking. This will be be a frequent focus of my website http://collegekidsincrisis.com
In conclusion, abuse is rampant at our colleges and universities. As parents, you need to be proactive in intervening in your child's relationship with alcohol. You need to understand the dangers of abuse; you need to have specific, performance based criteria for your kids; and you need to monitor how they are spending their time - studying vs partying. You need to understand how much abuse is occurring on your child's campus, and you need to understand the warning signs that your child has a problem.None of this is easy, but you can start today by getting educated yourself.
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