College Binge Drinking

2694 Words11 Pages
Andrew Sell 5/7/12 Daniel Long WRTG 1150 College Binge Drinking The United States has some of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in the world but there is a rampant epidemic plaguing these schools. Approximately eighty percent of college students drink alcohol and forty to fifty percent engage in binge drinking, which is defined as four or more drinks at a time for women and five or more drinks at a time for men; almost one-quarter of students report engaging in frequent binge drinking, three or more binge drinking events during a two week period (Prenovost 379). Binge drinking is associated with many negative consequences including; poor performance in school, arguing with friends, engaging…show more content…
This has shown to be one of the most difficult aspects faced when attempting to cut down on binge drinking. Many college personnel suspect that the prototypical college binge drinker is; male, white, has parents who are college educated, majors in business, is a resident of a fraternity, engages in other risky behavior including, unprotected sex and other drug use, is involved in athletics, indulged in binge drinking as a high school senior and, most importantly, views parties as very important (Wechsler 925). According to Wechsler, this stereotype is accurate. The next question then becomes, what motive for drinking plays the largest role in these students…show more content…
This causes many students to heighten their drinking to fit in to this norm. Social norms act as a general guideline for behavior and tell us what behavior is appropriate or unacceptable in a give contest. An individual’s norms are shaped by the actions of others and one’s perception of others’ behaviors (Chauvin 259). Since these norms are formed from the perception of others’ behaviors, there is a large risk that students overestimate the group norms, causing them to feel pressure to exceed binge-drinking levels. These misperceived norms can be a strong predictor of students’ drinking levels, which tend to exceed actual campus drinking norms. This issue becomes even more concerning when considering Greek

More about College Binge Drinking

Open Document