|
|
Alcohol is on every college campus. Don't let it ruin your future.Jul 18 '06 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line There are many consequences to alcohol abuse. If you are under age it is more than abuse- it is illegal. You may be starting your junior or senior years in high school and thinking about college. Perhaps you are starting college in September. This essay addresses what you, as the college student, should know about alcohol abuse. A second one will address what you as a parent can do. (I am not going to address drugs since they are illegal no matter what your age– except in some cases for medical reasons.) My simple personal perspective as a parent to three kids who have been to college: If you want to succeed in college, don’t abuse alcohol. That might sound like a "just say no" campaign. I know it isn’t that easy. Peer pressure is enormous. "Peer pressure is consistently implicated in the excessive drinking of college students. However, both theory and empirical findings suggest that peer pressure is a combination of three distinct influences: overt offers of alcohol, modeling, and social norms. Overt offers of alcohol can range from polite gestures to intense goading or commands to drink. Modeling occurs when the student's behavior corresponds to another student's concurrent drinking behavior. Perceived social norms can serve to make excessive alcohol use appear common and acceptable to the student." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11775073&dopt=Citation Experimenting with alcohol happens. If you are under the legal drinking age in your state remember that it is just that – against the law to drink alcohol. You can be arrested. I doubt anyone reading this wants this experience during their college years. So how do you avoid it? If you are under age and are at a party,pour yourself tonic water (Bring it yourself if you have to). No one will know you aren’t drinking alcohol if peer pressure is really intense. It is easy for me as a parent to say to you "Who cares if you tell people you don’t drink. It’s your life." That is the route I would love you to take. You can educate others on the consequences of drinking. Many of you won't. Perhaps after reading this you will give it some consideration. "Death: 1,700 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes (Hingson et al., 2005). Injury: 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol (Hingson et al., 2005). Assault: More than 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking (Hingson et al., 2005). Sexual Abuse: More than 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape (Hingson et al., 2005). Unsafe Sex: 400,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 had unprotected sex and more than 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex (Hingson et al., 2002). Academic Problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall (Engs et al., 1996; Presley et al., 1996a, 1996b; Wechsler et al., 2002). Health Problems/Suicide Attempts: More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem (Hingson et al., 2002) and between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of students indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past year due to drinking or drug use (Presley et al., 1998)." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11775073&dopt=Citation Perhaps before you take that drink you can look over this list. Are any of these consequences ones you want to face? Be careful that you are not put in a position you don’t want to be in. I’ll give you a personal example. My daughter at the age of 20 (The legal drinking age in Philadelphia where she went to college is 21.) was put in charge of a birthday party she and her friends were having for another friend. It was at someone’s apartment. She was at the house alone setting up when the kegs were delivered by the liquor store. She accepted them and had to sign for them. She wasn’t thinking. She could have been arrested. What would that have meant for my daughter’s future? I think her future would have been very different based on those few seconds. When she told me I was appalled that the liquor store would deliver kegs to someone without asking for proof of age. She told me “Dave’s a good customer. They don’t care.” Sure in this case we can blame the liquor store. We can blame Dan (not his real name). But the ultimate responsibility was on my daughter. She should have said “I am underage and can’t accept these kegs.” Assertiveness (not aggressiveness) is a valuable quality. Use it while in college. When your buddy hands you a beer tell him that you have to study the next day. If he laughs at you laugh right back. You’ll be the one laughing last I can promise you of that. Finally don’t get put into the position of enabler. Don’t be the one who has to take care of a roommate with an alcohol problem. This same daughter had a roommate with an alcohol problem. She would come home drunk to the point of passing out every Saturday and Sunday night and often times other nights. My daughter felt the responsibility of taking care of Kitty (not her real name). She wanted to make sure that Katie was alright. My daughter was enabling Katie’s alcohol abuse. What she should have done is had a frank talk with Katie and offered to go to an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting with her. Katie’s future may have turned out much brighter than it did. I hope this essay has given you some food for thought. Don’t hesitate to leave me a comment or question. Although I am an adult with three grown children I still can relate to college drinking. My husband teaches at a college. The issue is one we talk about a lot. Stay safe, enjoy these wonderful four years. You can never get them back. Jo This is an entry into three_ster’s The 2006 Great Education Write-Off  |
| Read all comments (12)|Write your own comment |
