You Had Some of the Best Times You’ll Never Remember With Me…

Alcohol. A student’s favorite friend and worst enemy. In 2005, the last year of collected data, 157 college students died from alcohol poisoning. The reason I am writing this is because I think this is an issue that many students need to be aware of. Most college students are still not mature enough, physically or mentally, to handle the amount alcohol they choose to consume. Yet, binge drinking in the form of drinking games or keg stands or whatever is probably the most popular past time of college, and even high school, students.

This past fall semester, Jenna Foellmi, a 20 year old student at Winona University, went to a house party to celebrate being finished with finals. She drank some beers, she drank some vodka, she played some beer pong – and then never woke up. She died of alcohol poisoning. It’s not like she was left alone by negligent friends, either, her friends say she was fine, just drunk, when she fell asleep.

A lot of people, not just kids, think drinking makes you more popular, more fun to be around. People go out with this goal to get “bombed” or “smashed” and to out drink one another. It’s really just a dumb, recurring goal. Statistics show that on average, college kids drink until their blood alcohol level is around 0.40 percent – that is 5 times the legal limit. I never understood this mentality. Why would you ever want to drink until you black out? Until you can’t walk by yourself, or see your own hands? People who black out due to illnesses or health conditions will tell you that blacking out is not “fun” or “cool” at all. Neither is puking your brains out at 2AM. Here is a video with instructions on how to set up a drinking game, called Kings, which encourages players to get the others playing as drunk as possible.

“College students on average drink only a little more than adults in a typical week or month,” said Scott Walters, an assistant professor of behavioral sciences at the University of Texas School of Public Health. But college students “tend to save the drinks up and drink them all at once.” This is 110% true. This occurs for several reasons. One, students can’t physically handle homework, studying, drinking, and waking up at 8AM all at once; Two, most of the kids in college are under 21, so they have to wait until the weekend to find someone older or with an I.D. to illegally get them alcohol. Students don’t even wait until the weekend anymore, though, the partying starts on Wednesdays and lasts until Saturdays for many. And on a three-day weekend? – forget it, partying is almost a week long event.

What I find interesting is that students who are not enrolled in college are LESS likely to binge drink than those in school. I think this circles back to the whole waiting for the weekend ordeal, plus, kids who aren’t in school are able to drink casually, similar to how adults and parents drink, throughout a school or work week. I think it may be beneficial for the states enforce a policy like this – many young kids in Italy, France, Germany, and more are exposed to mild alcoholic beverages on holidays or family dinners in small amounts at a young age. This downplays the appeal of rebelling and drinking underage. It’s not really a “treat” for them, but more of just a regular past time; like having hot coco when it snows outside. With Thanksgiving dinner, they may drink a small glass of red wine, or have a flute of champagne. If you study abroad or talk to an exchange student, they will tell you that they do not binge drink like most Americans. Most 16 year olds over in Europe are more mature in their drinking habits, as they might have 2 cans of beer or a glass of wine and call it a night.

Something should be done, but it is hard to say what. Every school has a program that teaches about the dangers of drinking and drugs, and there’s tons of national groups that try to get the message across to kids. But none of that really seems to actually get through to the majority of students. For instance, schools have the “Students Against Destructive Decisions” groups, but if you ask the students in these groups, approximately 3 out of 5 will say they party hard on the weekends with friends. So really what can be done? If we lower the drinking age, that might backfire and cause even younger kids to try start binge drinking, or it might increase the amount of binge drinking done by kids of drinking age. If we increase the drinking age, that won’t really have any a significant positive effect on the amount of binge drinking that is done, either. It’s not like we can control what people are doing at a given party or bar – it would be impossible to monitor each person’s drinking habits, and anyway, that would be an invasion of privacy just asking for a lawsuit.

There may not be a clearcut, logical solution here. Although, I still stick by suggestion to mainstream alcohol into everyday life at a younger age. I’m not saying give your 4 year old a bottle of rum or your 10 year old a glass of vodka, but maybe showing kids at a young age that alcohol is not for over-indulging and getting drunk might help. Although, this could backfire, too, you just don’t know. I guess, in the end, people are going to find a way to get smashed if they really want to. I will say, though, that when people do get very drunk, they don’t appear “cool,” they just look and act stupid.

And I’m not trying to say that students are to blame, or parents, or public service groups, or anyone specific. I’m also NOT trying to say “you should do this” or “you should not do this”. Whatever you choose to do is your choice, and like I always say, as long as people aren’t harming me, themselves, or others, than they should do what they think is alright. I’ve just seen and witnessed first hand a lot of alcohol related deaths and problems in my lifetime. It’s more serious than some people think. What scares me, though, is that kids start drinking in the 6th and 7th grade now – that’s age 12-13 years old. Even scarier, is older siblings and some parents condone, even encourage, this behavior. Tsk, tsk.

For college students and high schoolers everywhere, have fun and enjoy life. Do what you think is right and what brings you pleasure, because once you reach a certain age that same kind of fun you’re having leaves and you’ll never experience it again. I understand everyone wants to have fun and be cool and well liked, and I know that alcohol enhances all of those areas. But, when you are out there doing whatever it is you do, just remember:

When you handle yourself, use your head; when you handle others, use your heart.

Alcohol is the cause and the solution to many of life’s problems.
- Dan Castellaneta

Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk.

-Ernest Hemingway

Drink moderately, for drunkenness neither keeps a secret, nor observes a promise.
- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

And like I always tell my friends when they depart for a trip or celebration:

Have fun. Be Smart. Be Safe.