Compelled To Act

Committing Criminal Activities

When a person is under the influence of alcohol, their behavior may be entirely different from when they are sober. This may even involve committing a crime, no matter how insignificant, that they wouldn’t commit in their right senses. Heavily intoxicated students often engage in acts of property damage, vandalism, driving under the influence, as well as other criminal activities. However, in some cases, alcohol-related crimes can be very serious and even put others in danger. Some of these harmful activities involve kidnapping, battery, and homicide. College students who commit crimes under the influence of alcohol can face legal punishments such as suspended license, probation, fines, and jail time.

Developing Health issues

The consequences of heavy drinking are not always immediate. It may take months, and even years before effects start to manifest. Close to 150,000 college students develop alcohol-related problems annually. These may include inflammation of the pancreas, liver damage, blood pressure, and other health complications. College students who indulge in frequent alcohol consumption face a higher risk of developing alcohol dependency later in their lives. Although alcoholism often results from years of drinking, it can also manifest during periods of frequent and heavy drinking in college. Poor drinking behaviors in college may lead to other issues in the future, such as alcoholism.

Addressing College Drinking

Ongoing research continues to make us more knowledgeable about how to address the costly and persistent challenge of underage and harmful college drinking. Successful efforts usually entail a mix of strategies targeting individual students, the student organization as a whole, and the wider college community.

Strategies Targeting Individual Students

Individual-level strategies target students, including freshman students who comprise the highest-risk students, mandated students, members of the Greek Organizations, and student-athletes. The interventions are designed to alter students’ attitudes, knowledge, and alcohol-related behavior so that they reduce their alcohol consumption, leading to lower risks and fewer harmful experiences. Examples of individual-level interventions include behavioral interventions by health professionals, cognitive-behavioral skills-based approaches, motivation, and feedback-related approaches, and education and awareness programs.

Strategies Targeting the Student Organization and Surrounding Community

This category of strategies targets the student body as a whole and the campus community. They are designed to alter the community and campus environments in which student drinking happens. One of the main goals of these activities is reducing the availability of alcohol. Research has shown that reducing the availability of alcohol reduces drinking as well as other harmful results on campuses and the general population.

Conclusion

College drinking is a serious issue that we need to address on our campuses. When left unchecked, college drinking can spiral out of control and lead to many devastating effects. Some of the consequences of college drinking include poor academic performance, physical and emotional injury, engaging in criminal activities, and severe health issues. Colleges who frequently engage in binge drinking are more likely to experience severe consequences than those who drink less often. Excessive alcohol consumption can render a person irrational and cause them to act in ways they wouldn’t if they were sober. To successfully tackle the issue of college drinking, we need to involve individual students, student organizations, and the community as a whole.…

Close to every student has been affected by alcohol usage during their academic life, including those who have never consumed alcohol themselves. For example, a person can witness a friend’s alcohol consumption getting worse over time, gradually taking control of their life. Heavy drinking creates ripple effects that affect not only the individual drinking but those around him. It often destroys relationships and friendships.

Alcohol-related problems start to develop when a person consumes alcohol excessively and puts their health and those of others at risk. Heavy drinking in college can have several consequences, some of these include:

Performing poorly in classes

Heavy drinking in college can have negative effects on a student’s academics. A student may even prioritize alcohol consumption over attending classes, studying for exams, or completing homework. About 20% of college students admit having academic problems such as poor grades due to their drinking habits. The amount of effort a student puts in college goes a long way in determining whether that student passes or fails in their class. This can have serious financial implications, since it may cost thousands of dollars to change a major or retake a course because of bad grades. Failing classes also delay a student’s graduation, and a student ends up taking more time and paying more money to finish the degree program.

Risking Injury

Alcohol consumption can increase an individual’s risk of getting injured, ranging from minor cuts to concussions or broken bones. A higher blood alcohol content level (BAC), increases the risk of injury. Every year, nearly 600,000 college students inadvertently injure themselves because of heavy alcohol consumption. Injuries may involve muscle sprains, fractures, bruising, and other similar problems. For those who struggle with anxiety or depression, drinking may have life-threatening consequences. College students with extreme mental disabilities face the highest risk of attempting to commit suicide or other acts of inflicting self-harm. Drinking can greatly affect an individual’s mind, rendering them irrational.

Becoming a Victim of Assault

Alcohol lowers an individual’s inhibitions, making them vulnerable to sexual or physical assault. Nearly 700, 000 college students aged between 18 and 24 are assaulted by a student who had been consuming alcohol before the assault every year. Sexual assault is yet another serious crime closely related to alcohol consumption. Sexual predators often prey on victims who have been consuming alcohol. Victims are often not in a state to fight back or pass out without the knowledge of what happened. Sexual assault can have lasting emotional and physical consequences, including lasting psychological damage, contracting a sexually transmitted disease, or having an unwanted pregnancy.…

College drinking is an issue we should pay more attention to. Every year, millions of college students are affected by the consumption of alcohol. If left unchecked, this may lead to very undesirable outcomes. For many, college years offer the most popular times for drinking experiments. About 80% of college students drink alcohol to some extent. An estimated 50% of students who drink alcohol engage in binge drinking, which involves the consumption of a significant amount of alcohol in a short period.

A substantial number of college students admit to having started their alcohol consumption habits before joining college. After graduating from high school and moving out on their own, college students feel the desire to exercise their newfound independence and freedom. The presence of alcohol at social events and sporting activities often presents a temptation for students. What often begins as a single drink, usually turns into a couple more. Consuming alcohol weeks on end causes the body to start developing an alcohol tolerance. This implies that for you to get at a similar high as you did on previous occasions, you will have to consume more alcohol.

Frequent heavy drinking significantly increases the likelihood of developing an alcohol use disorder, which can cause critical emotional and physical damage (not to mention poor financial decisions that will require credit repair). Although some side effects are short-lived and can go away within a few days, others may have lasting effects. That’s why it’s essential to ask for help when you start developing symptoms of a drinking problem. Alcohol treatment centers have specialists who provide top-notch assistance and care for those who have given up alcohol consumption and want to recover. It would be helpful to contact a treatment provider for more information about rehab facilities that specialize in alcohol recovery in your area.

College Students and Binge Drinking

A significant proportion of college students consume alcohol through binge drinking. Simply put, binge drinking is the excessive consumption of alcohol over a short period. Binge drinking varies among men and women. For men, consuming 5 or more alcoholic drinks within a span of 2 hours qualifies to be called binge drinking. For women, the number is less. Binge drinking for women occurs when a woman consumes four alcoholic drinks within a span of 2 hours.

College Students are more likely to indulge in binge drinking during the first 6 weeks of their freshman year. During this time, many students fall into peer pressure and start consuming alcohol soon after the first day of classes. Alcohol consumption is often perceived as the college experience desired by students. The desire to make new friends and fit in is the driving force that leads many students to indulge in alcohol consumption without regard to the potential consequences.
In recent years, college students have started drinking more hard liquor than beer. Instead of drinking to socialize, a growing number of college students are drinking for the sole purpose of getting drunk. Hard liquor has a higher alcohol concentration than other alcoholic beverages, therefore it only takes a few drinks before you start feeling its effects. Surprisingly, when drinking alcohol, some college students’ goal is to consume as much alcohol as possible or even blackout. These results are very dangerous and can potentially lead to life-threatening results like alcohol poisoning.…