Alcohol on Campus Is A major issue, Here's Why
Public Intoxication on college campuses poses a significant threat to student safety, as intoxicated individuals are more likely to be involved in unwanted and possibly harmful encounters with fellow students. To protect students from these risky encounters, campuses must create stronger preventative measures that create a safer environment for all individuals.
According to a study published by The Journal of American College Health, abuse of alcohol in 2018 was higher in full-time college students ranging from ages 18 to 22 years, when compared to other people in the same age bracket. This increased usage of alcoholic substances among college students had a drastic increase in academic difficulties, high-risk sexual behavior, violence, and aggression; on top of reckless driving accidents while intoxicated.
This type of behavior among students cannot be accepted. The effect that it has on innocent students who don’t want to be involved with these individuals that abuse alcoholic substances is substantial. Schools and their officials must take more responsibility for their inability to protect their students. Stricter rules must be enforced so that no student feels unsafe on their campus that they are paying for with their money, when they are just trying to better their future in life.
To get into the specifics of victim numbers from intoxicated perpetrators, The Journal of American College Health listed from previous research studies that there were approximately 1,825 annual college student fatalities. These fatalities were the results of unintentional alcohol-related injuries. Accompanied by these annual fatalities there were also an astounding number of annual sexual assaults with around 97,000 different victims. These also involved intoxicated individuals.
An argument many people make is that college is a time for having fun and partying. However, there should be stricter rules being enforced against stupid decision-making students who decide to hurt others. It also does not help that in today’s society among college students, being irresponsible with alcohol and making irrational decisions is seen as having fun and not so much as immature and dangerous.
To fully understand the choices of college students and their habits, we should first look into the reasons for their decisions. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, college life can be a direct cause of binge drinking among college students. Many of the different reasons include limited parental involvement while at college, a large amount of availability of alcoholic beverages, and lightly enforced underage drinking laws. Also, colleges with a higher amount of students involved with Greek life and student athletics have a higher rate of underage drinking causing an increased chance of unwanted interactions with intoxicated individuals possibly leading to worse events unfolding.
So what we’ve learned from the National Institue on Alchohol Abuse and Alcoholism is that since college life is a direct cause of binge drinking amongst students. College officials should become less ignorant to the issues on their campuses. They should crack down on their allowances of alcohol on campuses in order to protect their students. These greedy officials should be held more accountable for their ignorance.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, also suggests different methods to help struggling students who need outside intervention. Some of these methods of intervention should be implemented in every college to fight the rising conflict of alcoholism. These methods include awareness programs, motivational feedback, and behavioral interventions provided on campus.
Now that I’ve highlighted the issues of Intoxication on college campuses, we can look into the most effective preventative measures that can be implemented by college administrators to show that they actually care about their students and don’t just turn a blind eye to the possible victimization of innocent students.
According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), utilizing alcohol-free zones is one of the most effective on-campus preventative measures. This gives college administrators full control over the amount of alcohol consumption within campuses and it shows that they care about their students. Rather than just turning a blind eye to their student’s behavioral patterns they create a much more effective procedure by creating dry campuses.
Another method recommended by the National Insitute of Health, that has the second highest usage intensity is the increase in student disciplinary action for alcohol-related offenses with over 45.5% of the studied campuses. The overall increase in punishment for alcohol-related offenses is one of the most effective means of limiting alcohol on campus and limiting the dangers of possible alcohol-related situations. This procedure also helps to correct immature decisions made by underage drinkers.
One of the most effective recommendations by the National Institute of Health is banning the usage of alcohol in any area within the jurisdiction of the college. In most colleges, this includes fraternities and sororities. These locations are some of the most common locations where alcohol-related incidents occur.
The evidence provided makes it clear that public intoxication and alcoholism on college campuses lead to countless tragedies every year that can be prevented. Incidents range from driving under the influence to violent encounters that include physical battery and sexual assault. Greedy college officials that obviously do not care about their students enough to change their rules have to take responsiblity for their actions or be held accountable. For those officials who actually care about their students they can show this through the methods listed above by enforcing those stricter rules, adding and funding supportive resources for those students who are struggling with alcohol abuse and the victims of intoxicated perpetrators. Along with completely banning alcoholic substances in areas where they have the power to do so. The future of our young adults should not lie in the hands of greedy administrators who turn a blind eye to the events unfolding on their campus in order to save a profit. By implementing these policies we can make a change today in our student’s lives, by allowing these students that want a brighter future to be safe while achieving their academic dreams.
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