Binge Drinking Among College Students

College kids slowly shuffle through the classroom. The alert students choose the seats near the front while the exhausted students select the back corner. Some are straining their neck looking for someone they might know. When the clock hits 7:05 PM the professor walks in and announces his name and the class: Alcohol and Substance Abuse.

"Why do you guys drink?" The professor boldly asks to the room of students. The weary kids in the back sit up a little straighter and glance around the room to see who will answer first. After a few seconds of silence someone pipes up and says, "Because it's fifty-cent beer night at Backstage!" There's laughter throughout the room and the professor even lets out a low chuckle.

"Why else?" The professor continues, trying to form a class discussion. Slowly, one by one, each student states why they drink. The reasons range from trying to meet new people and feeling accepted to the drink specials at the local bars.

Some students even claim that there is nothing else to do, which could be true to some extent. The college these students are attending is not a tradition college and is lacking much of the college life that students at other colleges may experience. However, the concept of drinking in college is prevalent at any university.

The professor then asks what binge drinking means. One of the quieter students in the front pushes her glasses up her skinny nose and gradually raises her hand. She has obviously studied her text book before the first day of class and states that binge drinking is consuming five or more drinks in a row for men and four or more drinks in a row for women. The professor congratulates her on her study habits and then presses, "What qualifies as one drink?" He continues before anyone has the chance to answer, "What about the weight differences between a man that is 180 pounds and 250 pounds?"

The professor has pointed out quite an interesting loop hole in the concept of binge drinking. Obviously a beer and a shot are going to have a much different affect on a person. And obviously five beers is going to have a much different affect on a 180 pound man than a 250 pound man. His point is that the definition of binge drinking is not entirely accurate. However, he goes on to say that the main purpose of college students drinking is to become drunk which would require consuming a number of drinks in a short amount of time.

Consuming a number of drinks in a short amount of time would qualify as binge drinking if the result was drunkenness, the professor explains and asks the class to refer to both definitions for test purposes.

The professor continues with his lecture and discusses the scary results of binge drinking. Most students in the classroom claim they know their limits, although there are a few students who announce that they have passed out or blacked out from drinking too much. They proclaim that waking up the next morning and not remembering much from the night before is a bit sickening. It seems that most students prefer to remember the night and avoid drinking past their limit; however they do affirm that their intention of drinking is to come to the state of a feel-good drunk. Some students disagree with the term "feel-good drunk" and refer to that state of drinking as being "tipsy."

The students seem to have mixed feelings on the terminology of the different states of drunkenness and the teacher points this out and says that is because the drinking experience is different to everyone.

The professor glances at the clock and realizes it is time for him to wrap up the discussion and review the materials they have covered in the hour time frame.

As I sit in the back of the class and let the professor's voice drown into the background I ponder over what I have heard during the lecture. It seemed to me that college students were just looking out to have a little fun in between the stressful activities of class, homework, and finals. That seemed pretty harmless, right? I suppose a few have traveled past the line of harmlessness and I'm sure even more have danced right on the line between consciousness and unconsciousness.

I don't think college students are bad people for the party habits and behavior, but I can't help but wonder if they know the dangers of consuming too much alcohol. More specifically I'm talking about the dangers that involve these young women.

Although men are more likely to binge drink, women are increasingly becoming more prone to join in to heavy alcohol consumption. Women also tend to become drunk faster due to their smaller figure and weight. It is natural for women to let their guard down and to become more sexually inclined while drinking. This puts women at a huge risk for rape or physical abuse.

Now, I'm not saying that all men are horrible and would take advantage of this situation. And I'm not saying that women don't lead the man to think that she wants to go home with him. The fact is that these college women who binge drink could quite possibly become flirty with the opposite sex and due to the man's lowered inhibitions as well, he might take that as a signal and act on it even if that was not the woman's intentions at all.

Even if the relationship was consensual, there is always the chance of protection not being used due to the state of drunkenness, which could lead to sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy.

Of the many studies I have reviewed after I sat in on this Alcohol and Substance Abuse class, half of them say binge drinking is down and the other half say that binge drinking is on the rise. Whether or not binge drinking is down or up, the dangers still exist. Not only do the dangers exist and not only are college students aware of the risks, but after my observations, I believe that these students have an invincible mind frame. They are out searching for a good time and although the dangers are in the back of their mind they reassure their nagging conscience with, "It won't happen to me."