Binge Crinking Essay, Research Paper

From one generation to the next, we have seemingly continued this ridiculous

practice of "binge drinking". Sure, let’s all see who can drink the

most, who passes out first, and let’s not forget throwing-up? Yes, you haven’t

experienced the true effects of binge drinking until you’ve thrown-up all over

yourself. But why, why is it that today’s generation feels that this is fun?

Risking your life to fit in isn’t fun. Fun is going to an amusement park or even

a baseball game. Unfortunately, college campuses across the nation are

preoccupied by this issue of alcohol abuse. Binge drinking in the U.S. is out of

control and mostly a problem that our government has produced. It is a byproduct

of legal age limits for drinking. Therefore, putting an age limit on drinking

privileges is definitely something that needs to be reevaluated. Binge drinking

is defined as "the consumption of five or more drinks in a row on at least

one occasion" (Webster’s 61). In national surveys, "about a third of

high school seniors and 42 percent of college students reported at least one

occasion of binge drinking within the previous two weeks" (Thompson 35). It

also has been nationally identified that "alcohol has been related to 75

percent of campus police arrests, 80 percent of residence hall damages, 85

percent of sexual assaults, 70 percent of discipline referrals, and 50 percent

of suicide attempts" (Thompson 35). Since 1993 our problem has only

worsened. The Harvard School of Public Health’s Alcohol Study found that "

among heavy drinkers, it has also found an increase in those who said they not

only binged but binged frequently: they rose to 20.7% of the 14,521 students in

1997 survey from 19.5% of more than 15,000 students in the 1993 sample"

(Goldberg A8). The problem is not the age in which one should drink, but the way

they do drink. Students binge because they have never been taught how to drink

responsibly. College administrators are making an effort to reduce all these

statistics and get rid of this awful disease spreading through their campuses.

They have restricted drinking privileges in every way possible. "Zero

tolerance" (no alcohol) laws have been put into effect everywhere, endless

peer-counseling groups have been initiated, and let’s not forget the almighty

alcohol awareness campaigns that are crowding our television stations all the

time. Think about it though. Why waste our time with all of these restrictions

when all that is needed is a change in the rules? There should be no such thing

as an underage drinker. Twenty-one is not a magic number when we all have

mysteriously grown up. In fact, I cannot recall a single twenty-one year old

that was responsible and grown up. As a result of the government’s ignorance,

this age restriction has only induced binge drinking among young adults. College

presidents agree that binge drinking is the most serious problem on college

campuses today. "The percentage of college kids who were binge drinkers was

nearly uniform from freshman to senior year, even though students under

twenty-one are prohibited from purchasing alcohol" (Goldberg A8). Even with

the present alcohol regimen students still seem to find a way to acquire

intoxicating beverages. All the governments twenty-one rule is doing is flashing

a neon sign that says, "be a rebel, defy your parents, it will be

fun." This all results in ignorance, not knowing when to say when because

no one taught you. Europeans definitely have the right idea when it comes to

their children consuming alcohol. They don’t say it’s off limits. In fact they

drink with them starting at a very early age. With their parents supervision

they learn how to enjoy drinking rather than consuming it in irrational

quantities. This allows time to associate the effects of drinking, as well as

their tolerance levels. It helps them to see the social side of drinking, as

well as keeping it from being something that has to be kept a secret. As a

result, Europeans have a "shockingly lower rate of binge drinking among

their students" (Thompson 32). It all makes brilliant sense, when you tell

a child that they cannot do something, they are going to have the urge to do it

even more than they did before. Teaching student’s today how to drink

responsibly within their families first would definitely help a great deal.

Alcohol needs to be looked at as a normal part of life instead of this wondrous

forbidden fruit. If the government abolished our drinking age law, maybe our

problem would be better solved. Student’s could feel good about drinking rather

than hiding it away in their dorm rooms. They could take their time and drink

while eating and discussing their classes together. The fact remains though,

that drinking is illegal for early age college kids and is definitely a big

reason why they find this binge drinking fun. They feel like they are

"getting over on someone," in a sense. If it was not illegal to drink

before twenty-one, maybe students would be less prone to abuse alcohol.

"36,000 of the nation’s 12 million undergraduates will ultimately die from

alcohol-related causes while in school. This is more than the number who will

get MA’s and PhD’s combined" (Goldberg A8). Obviously the United States

government has some reevaluating to consider. With statistics like these, we are

already playing Russian roulette with our children’s lives. How much further are

we all willing to go to keep alcohol away from students, when all that is needed

is a change of heart.