Binge Drinking On Campus
Anna Lorenz

College, a new frontier. An opportunity to be someone new and is said to be a fresh start where you can be whoever you want to be. The moment you get to choose the course of your life but sometimes those reasons for college the real reason for college gets clouded by the reality that comes with college life. There is a social aspect to the college society becomes very influential and can make you detour from your original path.

When you start college you are in a vulnerable state. You have left the arms of your parents, and most likely left most of the friends you have known all your life. You are dropped off with not only the burden or getting yourself settled with a new routine of academics but you are at ground zero with a social life. You are forced to amerce yourself in social activities to gain the friendships that you’ll most likely e have the rest of your life.
A common activity that brings people together on college campuses is drinking. This is a social norm for people to attend parties that include alcohol. From house parties to Frat parties there is a vast difference in the types of people that gather in these types of forums. From the quiet wall flower to the guy sliding down the banister, what will it take to change the person inside of them? What will it take to have someone walk out the door a different person than the way they came in?
When you come together in large gatherings where alcohol is involved it’s hard to tell the true reasons behind some ones drinking. Some people drink because they like the high and some drink to forget. No matter the reason drinking has some serious consequences that people forget about. The girl doing the keg stand or flirting with the guy in the corner may not realize that More than 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape. The guy that is the life of the party might get to the point in the night where he becomes one of the 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 receive unintentional injuries while under the influence of alcohol.
Alcohol changes people and not always in a good way. Binge drinking was defined as five or more drinks in a row for men and four or more drinks in a row for women. The reasons for binge drinking such as to fit in or to defy someone who says you can’t. Either way you put it people drink to escape reality. To become more social and to fit in with your surroundings. To conform to what they think is expected in the society of college life.
Unfortunately binge drinking can affect so much more than just in that moment. Academic Problems arise in about 25 percent of college students. These students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall. Some of this can be attributed to students having Health Problems which statistically lead to Suicide Attempts in which More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem 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.
The fact is that many students freely admit that they fit the definition of a binge drinker, but they do not regard it as a real problem in their lives. Most students who are frequent binge drinkers, however, do admit that they pay a price for drinking. That is, they may develop hangovers, do something that they regret later, miss classes, or forget where they were or what they did when under the influence of alcohol. Others