In a recent report, entitled “Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America’s Colleges,” researchers outlined a rise in the amount of frequent binge drinking and prescription drug use among college students. Researchers found that nearly 23 percent of college students fit the medical classification for substance abuse or dependence. This is triple the amount of the normal population. Other findings show that the number of students who binge drink frequently increased by 16 percent between 1993 and 2001. Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks on any one drinking occasion, three or more times over a two-week period. There was also a substantial increase in the amount of students who drink 10 or more times a month and also the number who get drunk three or more times per month. The number of students using marijuana daily has more than doubled since the 1993 study and hundreds of thousands more are abusing prescription drugs like Ritalin, Adderall and OxyContin. The report also implied that many college campuses have created a culture where such behavior is acceptable. They even include a 10-point plan of action with the report that administrators can implement to prevent and reduce student substance abuse, including such actions as stopping the broadcasting of alcohol advertisements during high-profile college events like the NCAA basketball tournament. Researchers also hope that alcohol-free and drug-free campuses will become the rule and not the exception among colleges. On top of banning smoking and drinking at college sporting events, the report suggests that administrators implement stringent substance abuse policies with more severe consequences for offenders. It also suggests gaining the support and involvement of parents and communities. While I am not requiring you to read this 231-page report, I would like you to think about why college and university students are often the target population of binge drinking/drug use. If these are our best and brightest, why are they the most likely to engage in this behavior? What drives our college students to this type of behavior at a MUCH higher rate than the general population? What could be done to reduce not drinking or drug use overall but maybe the excessive use and binge usage of it?I remember when my older friend "Sally", went off to her first year of college. I got a call and an update after every step she took. I got the first call, right after she got her acceptance letter from her dream college. I received a call after she moved in to her tiny dorm and met her new roommate. I got the call after her first class. Then came the day I got the call about her first college party. Then the next party. Then the next. The one after that. And the ten more after that. Then the calls about partying stopped, because it was all normal now, no longer something new and exciting. It was now, a way of life. She partied every night, rain shine, weekend or weekday.
It wasn't very long until, I got the call of distress. It went something along the lines of "I'm failing", "What am I going to do?", and the most frightening "I'm going to loose my scholarship!".
What finally woke the girl up? Ironically...sleep! She slept in and completely missed her first college exam. What was she doing the night before? You guessed it! Partying.
So what started this outrageous party streak? How can the madness be put to a stop? Should every student just be left a lone until they finally crash, like Sally?
My theory on Sally's case, as well as many others I have watched go off to college, is they are experiencing a responsibility shock. For their entire lives, they have been told how to act and when to act. Before college, Sally had a curfew, a set of rules, a list of chores, and parental figures managing every step. Now? She is a free bird. She set loose, flew from the nest, had a great flight, and then crashed into the ground. She had no idea, how to handle all the new found freedom. She forget everything she had been taught about restrictions, because she felt in this new world, she had none.
Sally was thrown into an atmosphere, where all of her underage classmates and dorm mates were drinking and partying, without any consequences. During a visit to the college, I met Sally's resident advisor. I was shocked to find Sally's RA cursing and talking about drinking and partying in a positive manor, just like the young residents she was suppose to be "advising." She was perfectly fine, with a young girl babbling about how drunk she had gotten the night before and the crazy things she ended up doing.
How is Sally suppose to be responsible, when the closest thing to an adult example, accepted underage drinking and excessive partying? Her parent's were hours away, and now Sally's new "mama" figure, was all about the "good times".
How can we put an end to the crazy partying, before the crash landing? I believe, taking alcohol, drugs, and partying completely off a university campus is close to impossible. Young adults will always be lead to "fight the man", no matter what generation they fall under. I believe simpler steps need to be taken. If universities end the selling of alcoholic beverages at sporting events, students will just try harder to sneak them in.
Instead of trying to force "no alcohol" restrictions on the whole campus, they should focus on underage drinking first. During my visit at Sally's school, it shocked me how easily students could sneak alcohol into a school building! The security at the front desk, didn't do very much to prevent it, in fact they did nothing at all. As a stranger to the school, they didn't even ask for my ID or questioned who I was. So of course, they would never think of even checking a bag or two. I think universities should have random bag checks, while students walk into their housing building. This would only take a few seconds, and it would scare students enough to keep the alcohol out!
Random checks could also be done in student's room. It would only take a few checks to show that the RA was serious and in charge. The RA should also be someone who is going to be a postive role model for their residents. The RA could also do their best to encurage fun without substance use. RA's should go through intense interviewing and training, that shows they are worthy role models. An RA should be creative and outgoing, so they can be attractive and fun to the students they supervise. They should also be stern and compassoionate about their job, so they are respected and looked up to by the young students. An RA takes the role of "parent" for many brillant minds, that are about to be molded. Shouldn't the RA insure that their minds, be molded towards growth and fueld with determination?
It is too big of a goal, to termintate drinking and drug use overall, however it is possible to reduce the amount used and composed. Campus should set small goals, and start out with simple changes. But they need to stay stern and strong on even the smallest of goals.
