Is binge drinking out of contol at colleges?

This month has been deadly for binge-drinking college students. Five underclassmen in four states appear to have drunk themselves to death, police say, after friends sent their pals to bed assuming that they would "sleep it off."

Some college presidents are promising to crack down on underage drinking � four of the students were too young to drink legally. Others have shut down fraternity houses where bodies were found.
s.

www.usatoday.com...

In some college towns, drink specials at bars and loose enforcement of liquor laws make it easier and cheaper for students to get drunk than to go to a movie, Wechsler says. The result, research suggests, is 1,400 student deaths a year, including alcohol-related falls and car crashes.


It sounds instead of cracking down on this problem, colleges seem to turn a blind eye to over indulging. I know that drinking has been around as long as campuses have, but the problem seems to be getting worse!

The number of underage drinkers has actually gone down. Here is an article for you. I'm still working on finding more recent underage drinking death stats for you as well.

preventionpartners.samhsa.gov...

I can tell you something I went to visit my daughter at UGA last week and to enjoy the game at the same time and the young people in the dorms had beers in their hands at 10:00 in the morning and most of them did not look 21 one at all.

USA Today might have used this source for the "over 1400 deaths a year"

www2.potsdam.edu...

Originally posted by marg6043
I can tell you something I went to visit my daughter at UGA last week and to enjoy the game at the same time and the young people in the dorms had beers in their hands at 10:00 in the morning and most of them did not look 21 one at all.

Well, that's because it's the freedom. You can get drunk by noon on game day. The vast majority of students don't drink themselves to death (of course there's binge drinking, because it's basically defined as drinking enough to get drunk. Well, duh! Us college kids don't buy Natty Ice for the taste ).

Story: College Drinking Study Is Intoxicating Scam
www.foxnews.com...

If you think it's bad now, What til Anhueser-Busch puts out thier Caffinated beer....It just means they be able to stay up drinking for longer periods of time...

No.

Just, no.

This is another case of news being oversensationalized.

USAToday, Parade, and FOX News are the biggest culprits.

The fact of the matter is that even in my small town there are hundreds of very drunk teenagers every weekend, and we still manage not to have people dying.

The problem is that the few cases where there have been serious problems have been blown WAY out of proportion. Think about it. Four deaths in five states, whereas there are millions of college students drunk at any given point on a saturday night.

to USAToday for trying to incite a mass panic. Last thing we need is more drinking laws. They are what have caused most problems with drinking as we know them now anyways.

I don't drink because EVERYONE around me does. I'm sick of it. Another habit which defines the human race as idiots. I doubt drunks find any sort of enlightnment in their lives. Its for the weak.

Originally posted by Loki
No.

Just, no.

This is another case of news being oversensationalized.

USAToday, Parade, and FOX News are the biggest culprits.

The fact of the matter is that even in my small town there are hundreds of very drunk teenagers every weekend, and we still manage not to have people dying.

The problem is that the few cases where there have been serious problems have been blown WAY out of proportion. Think about it. Four deaths in five states, whereas there are millions of college students drunk at any given point on a saturday night.

to USAToday for trying to incite a mass panic. Last thing we need is more drinking laws. They are what have caused most problems with drinking as we know them now anyways.

That's not the only problem here... Yes, there may have been only a few deaths, But, it is still illeagal for Teenagers, and you said
"The fact of the matter is that even in my small town there are hundreds of very drunk teenagers every weekend". That are appearently drinking while under age.

Last i heard if you're under 21 drinking was against the law. Just where are these massive amounts of booze coming from? Who's selling to minors? If their not buying, then who's buying for them? Why is this not being looked into.?

Also, how many Non-fatal and Fatal accidents have these "kids" been involved in, or the cause of?

I work at FSU at a subsatnce abuse prevention research center with a small group of very dedicated people - our primary goal is to help reduce the image of FSU as a party school...This is our website, but it's under construction right now...

We work off a social norms campaign...whereby you target the everday youth with media campaigns and survies, letting them know what they think of themselves and compare it to reality...this is what is enforced in our ads we post around campus - most of our data is collected from the NCHA survey...

What we've found with a great consitency over these past six years, is that students over-estimate their peers drinking and paryting lifestyles - I'm not at work right now, so I don't have the stats...but as the students have been receiving this message over a period of time, it not only reduces their perception of fellow student's drinking habits, but it also helps to lower their own, as it is seen as something not as mainstream as they had thought it to be...

As I said, I work for FSU...previously THE NUMBER ONE party school...we've dropped down to number 6 since we started this campaign and we're dropping by more and more every year...

Of course, binge drinking is and always will be a problem - and no campaign, regardless of how effective it has been can put a stop to the problem - I'm often quite the hypocrite and when I was in college while working for this organization, I engaged in many events that could be classified as binge drinking...I think in all honesty, it's a part of college for some...for some it can be respected and enjoyed properly...and for those others, my office is here to help reduce that risk of taking it too far....

To answer your question, it's really not all that difficult to get ahold of alcohol in a college town. It's actually harder to scrape the money together to get your liquor than it is to physically get it.

As for the hundreds getting drunk, I probably over-estimated that, but the sentiment is true. At a kegger, large numbers of people get very drunk, and we haven't had an accident resulting in a fatality in approximately 8 months.

And yes, it is illegal, but so is getting your music from Kazaa. Nobody who's sensible about the problem has any real concerns, and truth be told it is the laws that are creating most of the problem.

Originally posted by Romeo
I don't drink because EVERYONE around me does. I'm sick of it. Another habit which defines the human race as idiots. I doubt drunks find any sort of enlightnment in their lives. Its for the weak.

I wouldnt go as far as to say drinking defines us as idiots. Its the jackasses who go out and do stupid # while drunk or end up dead because of it. Those are the ones who are idiots. I usually get fairly lit on the weekends if I can find friends partying somewhere, but during the week I put on my khakis and button up long sleeve shirts and work as an assistant to a college professor? Does that preclude me from enlightenment or make me some kind of evil person? Its all about being responsible, what I do during the week and on the weekends are worlds apart, and will probably remain that way for a long time.

Originally posted by alternateheaven
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I wouldnt go as far as to say drinking defines us as idiots. Its the jackasses who go out and do stupid # while drunk or end up dead because of it. Those are the ones who are idiots. I usually get fairly lit on the weekends if I can find friends partying somewhere, but during the week I put on my khakis and button up long sleeve shirts and work as an assistant to a college professor? Does that preclude me from enlightenment or make me some kind of evil person? Its all about being responsible, what I do during the week and on the weekends are worlds apart, and will probably remain that way for a long time.

Words of a wiseman. Drinking yourself to death, it's pretty hard unless your forcing yourself to drink after you've already puked your guts out. Even if you black out before you puke, you should know your limits if your going to be drinking regardless. Yes, it is true some college towns like the one I live in (as i've heard since i'm only 19) penny pitchers, where as you guessed, a penny will get you a pitcher during a certain time, and then from there it goes up a nickel, then a dime, and so on. Regardless, if you don't know your limits by the time your in college or of the age where you would be college then you shouldnt be drinking, it's just not cool...

Originally posted by Esoterica

Originally posted by marg6043
I can tell you something I went to visit my daughter at UGA last week and to enjoy the game at the same time and the young people in the dorms had beers in their hands at 10:00 in the morning and most of them did not look 21 one at all.

Well, that's because it's the freedom. You can get drunk by noon on game day. The vast majority of students don't drink themselves to death (of course there's binge drinking, because it's basically defined as drinking enough to get drunk. Well, duh! Us college kids don't buy Natty Ice for the taste

).

EXACTLY! Ever heard of the TAIL GATE?

Well Enron, I was actually one of those people who were probably in school at FSU with you when it was Playboy's #1 party school. Though I did hear of 2 kids dying from alcohol while in school there, most kids did party very hard, but were normally drinking beer and tended to just pass out or eat a large pizza. The alcohol deaths were all causes of kids drinking multiple shots of liquor in a very short amount of time. Alcohol has the ability to sneak up on you with the potency per ounce.

I think its a good thing that you are making kids aware of the results of over drinking. I have no problem with drinking, I just have problems with extreme excess that can cause harm to yourself or others. I don't mind a kid getting sick, I just don't want him behind the wheel.

Alcohol was created by scientists working for the CIA, NSA and, oddly enough, the DOT. It was introduced to our species as a means of population control (under the terms of a treaty signed by the Greys, Reptillians, NWO, Illumnati, Rothchilds, Opus Dei, and Protoss). It's finally starting to pay off (for them). My uncle works for a construction company and he heard this from a DOT employee when he was working on a highway. Don't tell anybody, but that's why binge drinking is skyrocketing.

Dude, shut up.

Alcohol has been around for much, much longer than the time of the CIA.

Franciscan Monks invented beer, and even long before that, the Egyptians, and even earlier peoples had wine.

Since when has binge drinking ever been under control in colleges?