Five binge-drinking deaths 'just the tip of the iceberg'

[RedEarth]

This month has been deadly for binge-drinking college students.

Five underclassmen in four states appear to have drunk themselves to death, police say, after friends sent their pals to bed assuming that they would "sleep it off."


Some college presidents are promising to crack down on underage drinking - four of the students were too young to drink legally. Others have shut down fraternity houses where bodies were found.


But one expert calls those moves too little, too late. "It's locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen," says Henry Wechsler, a Harvard University researcher who has studied campus drinking. He says schools with weak enforcement of drinking rules put students at greater risk.


"The schools that have the greatest problems take the easiest solutions," he says. "They have educational programs and re-motivation programs. But they don't try to change the system. These deaths are just the tip of the iceberg."


In some college towns, drink specials at bars and loose enforcement of liquor laws make it easier and cheaper for students to get drunk than to go to a movie, Wechsler says. The result, research suggests, is 1,400 student deaths a year, including alcohol-related falls and car crashes.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=5&u=/usatoday/20041007/ts_usatoday/fivebingedrinkingdeathsjustthetipoftheiceberg

[noonwitch]

1. Those "kids" are old enough to know better

18-21 year old should know better than to get that drunk. They knew they were under the legal age. It's sad that they died, but this really is nothing new. Drunk college kids die from stupidity every year-they fall off balconies, they get alcohol poisoning from drinking out of a beer bong, etc. Colleges and Universities are expected to take responsibility for what legal adults are doing. When that girl at UM got wasted on alcohol and GHB (willingly taken, not slipped to her-drunkeness without too many calories) and fell out of her dorm window to her death, every one but her took the blame.

When I was that age and in college, I never had any problem getting hold of alcohol. I can think of some close calls I had, but if something bad had happened (I never drove, but did other stupid things), I was the lawbreaker and solely responsible for my own stupidity, not the store in which I obtained alcohol or the bar that served me. Especially the stores-I either got a 21 year old to make the purchase, went to a store in which I knew the salesclerk or altered my birthdate on my id (old Michigan driver's licenses were easily altered). I was over 18, I was responsible for that behavior.

[Nashyra]

2. Thanks for the post

I just sent it to my college son, I don't worry about him because he never had to sneak around in high school, I did not approve of his drinking but if and when he did he always called and let me know where he was and asked me to pick him or his friends up. They drank less than the kids that used to sneak, and he says the ones that are going crazy at college are the kids who were treated like "little kids" by their parents when they were in high school.

[sleipnir]

5. An excellent point and post.

I agree wholeheartedly with you, noonwitch. I've only been out of undergrad for 2 1/2 years, but I knew that if I ever got into trouble because of drinking, I'd be the one responsible. Though, to some degree there's little to no accountability for the students. You do mention that they're adults, but really, I wasn't that mature at 18 away from home and making decisions on my own. The key here is that most schools won't report (and I think appropriately) students who are caught drinking in excess to their parents. It's a sort of don't ask, don't tell policy. Though, in this a vacuum of responsibility is created. These students no longer have a parental figure demanding answers and helping them develop a sense of responsibility, they're just left out in the cold. For a young 18 y/o, this is a major paradigm shift in their life and fuels dangerous behavior. The Universities need to find something to fill the void of the Parent figure (for a year or two with the less mature students) while allowing the student autonomy from repressive restrictions.

In the end, yes, the students are responsible for their behavior 90% of the time. Rarely do you see blame laid where it should be, with the student.

[Behind the Aegis]

12. Some insider knowledge

I worked for three major universities and have friends at scores of others. Almost all universities now have reporting procedures for alcohol abuse to parents/guardians. Generally, when I met with students who had broken policy and had threatened themselves, involved the police, or had too much to drink, I had them call their parent's themselves. Once our policies changed, we saw a decrease in violations, for a short while. You'd be surprised how many parents will "blow off" a call from the university about little "Johnnie/Suzie" when alcohol is involved. My parents would have yanked me out of school, but many parents pass it off as "kids will be kids."

I agree the responsibilities lie with the students. However, when the parents show little or no concern about dangerous behavior, it is not surprising they make poor decisions!

[Ezlivin]

3. I served with Master Drinkers and never saw a death

When I served in the US Navy, there were many shipmates that could drink unbelievable amounts of alcohol. And after a few weeks at sea, liberty at any port-of-call was a drinking free-for-all. And the Aussies could drink our guys under the table.

Yet I never saw or heard of an alcohol poisoning case. I'm sure it had to happen, but I just didn't witness it.

[DrWeird]

4. More reason to lower the drinking age.

Go into the bar in Europe and the drunkest people you see will be the American tourists.

[AngryAmish]

6. Really?

Go to any high street in Britain on Friday night.

I have met many a drunken Swede.

The bars where the drunkest people are Americans are tourist bars.

Russians drink more than Americans on average.

The reason there is a wave of publicity about deaths on campus is because he hear about it more.

[DrWeird]

9. Yes, Russians drink more on average...

but (and maybe these statistics are outdated or something, I'm going by memory) the US has a lot more binge drinking among youths compared to other countries where the drinking age is lower or non-existant.

[AngryAmish]

10. Define "binge drinking"

The whole "binge drinking" thing is a new term made up by the neo-prohibitionists.

While I agree many cultures have different drinking cultures than the US, it is kinda how we have made an agreement as a culture how youth drinking should go on. Those who choose to drink do it at a later age of introduction (ie higher drinking age) and we kinda wink and nod at college kids who drink amongst themselves. Because most in US live in homes, underage kids can drink in basements and garages away from being public drunk and being a pain in the ass. Those who are too poor to have these private areas get screwed and picked up for public intox.

Would I support lowering the drinking age? Of course. But the cultural deal we have struck amongst ourselves makes us no better or worse than other places, just different.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

7. The one guy was 23 and a junior.

That guy probably had long term problems. The others were typically under 20 years old.

The solution is education. There need to be orientation talks where the risks are presented by medical and other professionals.

[AngryAmish]

11. I went through those orientations.

I still drank to excess. Everyone has to figure out for themselves how to drink (or abstain). All these orientations do is make money for those who put them on.

[slappypan]

8. trophy children run amok

I wonder if this is the result of childhoods spent almost entirely under the supervision of adults — every moment crammed with structured, scheduled group activities so that when there is finally no one to tell them what to do, they are especially vulnerable to the stupidest forms of peer pressure.

[AngryAmish]

13. I could not disagree more

We know nothing about these people and their backgrounds. Some of the biggest drunks I knew in college either virtually raised themselves, came from nice homes or came from strong non-drinking families. That is to say - all backgrounds. Some flunked out, some graduated with high honors.

I think this is hype and the numbers are not a trend or proof of a growing problem. Just the reporting of the usual goings on on campus.

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. My husband used to over-drink as a teenager and young adult, as did many

of my friends. No, they weren't privileged, there were no structured activities etc... They were just kids doing what kids do;thinking they were immortal. It's these cases that help to knock sense into our youth. :hi:

[slappypan]

15. my freshman year of college, there was a binge-drinking death at my school

It was at a fraternity, and was a result of hazing of a pledge. There was plenty of irresponsible drinking at my school, I did it too, but I noticed that worst, most dangerous cases seemed to center on large groups of people and trying to fit in and conform. Mistrust of authority is a valuable survival skill that should be taught to our young people.

[MissMarple]

16. It may play a part.

The girl who died at UNC seemed to live dual lives. She was a party hearty girl at school and most people in her home town in Nebraska didn't seem to have a clue. She was an American princess, homecoming queen, excellent grades, talented, out going, from a prosperous family, etc... It was just such a waste. The kid from CU, nice kid, just came from lacrosse practice and had nothing to eat. He was probably somewhat dehydrated and hungry. His death makes me the angriest. I think the fraternity was directly responsible for his death.

Kids don't seem to think getting drunk can kill you. A lot of it seems related to the Greek system, at least the two deaths here and the one in Oklahoma this past month are. The national organizations need to take more direct responsibility, now they just try to protect themselves from law suits. The ones who are charged or sued are the individuals most directly involved. It is a systemic problem based in immaturity and a twisted concept of brotherhood.

No one will ever stop underage drinking or drinking to excess, but other things can be done to lessen the more egregious effects of binge drinking. One thing would be to take passed out kids to a medical facility without fear of draconian reprisal, another would be to teach them how to drink, dammit.

on edit: Hi, slappypan. There has been talk at UNC to push back pledging to the spring, they seem to think that the kids will be more independent and not as biddable as they are the first month or so of classes. And they may have a better idea of which groups to join.

[MissMarple]

17. OOOPS!

Sorry, I referenced the University of Northern Colorado (UNC in Greeley) instead of Colorado State University (CSU in Fort Collins). That must be way too many acronyms for me.

Anyhow, This is a serious problem, and it has been getting worse. In a few years we may be reading about high school kids dieing from alcohol poisoning.

We need a seriously new approach in dealing with this. And I'm thinking a very good source for suggestions may come from our younger DUers, more immediately, and from all our young people, on a broader level.

One question that has been asked in Colorado is, should 18 year old kids be able to drink 3.2 beer? They could here until about 1987, when Congress in all its pious Reagan reason told the states they would withhold highway money to any state that didn't raise its drinking age to 21. They have since done the same thing with blood alcohol content.

The curse of unintended consequences....