College and Dangers of Binge Drinking

 

As college begins, students find themselves facing many opportunities to consume alcohol and they have some big decisions to make about how they want to deal with those opportunities.  Students frequently find that the combination of freedom of living away from home for the first time, the peer pressure surrounding them in regards to partying and the general stress of life change that comes with college can make drinking a tempting choice.  Face it; you want to socialize when you start college so you want to go to the parties that you get invited to and you feel like you have to drink at them since that’s what everyone else is doing.  Besides, your parents are there to watch you and one drink isn’t going to do any harm, right?  Wrong.

Drinking in college can have serious consequences which students need to think about so that they can make informed choices about alcohol consumption.  Legal concerns, academic issues, emotional difficulties and health problems can all come about as a result of drinking, particularly drinking underage and drinking on college campuses.  Knowing about these problems, considering them carefully and safeguarding yourself against the worst of them as you make your choices about drinking in college can make your college years safer.

Remember that the drinking age in the United States is 21.  Most college students are between the ages of 18 and 23, meaning that a large majority of them can not legally drink.  Getting caught drinking underage can result in fines and sometimes even imprisonment.  More commonly, regular drinking during college leads to an abundance of other problems that ultimately have legal consequences including other drug use, DUI, assault charges caused from drunken fights and domestic violence charges caused when drinking causes violence within your relationships.  All of these are very real consequences that should be considered if you’re thinking about college drinking.

Okay, but most people who drink in college don’t face serious legal consequences, right?  Even those who don’t frequently have problems with on-campus officials including resident advisors in dorms, administrators and professors.  Other academic issues that arise as a result of drinking regularly in college include missed and failed courses and a decreased GPA which sometimes results in academic probations and / or financial aid difficulties.

But perhaps of more concern than the legal and academic issues that happen as a result of college drinking are the issues that happen in your social and emotional worlds and issues related to your health, issues which can affect you long after you’ve left college.  Binge drinking is common among college students who are just getting used to drinking and don’t know how much alcohol their bodies can handle.  This can lead to serious immediate and ongoing health problems.  Additionally, drinking impairs judgment which can result in socio-emotional problems including depression, violence and increased risk of regretful sexual choices.

The reality is that many college students will engage in drinking early on in their college experience.  If you’re thinking about choosing to do so, you should look seriously at the risks and consequences that are associated with drinking. If you still opt to engage in college drinking, you should protect yourself as much as possible.  Always have a designated driver and always have a friend or family member that you are to check in with at the end of the night.  That way, if something happens as a result of your drinking, someone will know that there is something wrong.

 

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