According to study conducted by Columbia's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, it revealed that the binge drinking problem begins well before teen-agers are much old enough to start their college life. The study found that "America has an epidemic of underage drinking that germinates in elementary and middle schools"--and adults, say the researchers, share much of the blame.
Too often, parents are "unwitting co-conspirators," and their ambivalence contributes to the problem of teen drinking. "Parents tend to see drinking and occasional bingeing as a 'rite of passage,' rather than a deadly round of Russian roulette," the study determined. Alcohol is "the No. 1 drug of choice" for teen-agers in the United States. The study found that by their senior year in high school, 80% of teen-agers had tried alcohol, compared with 47% who had experimented with marijuana and 29% who had tried another illegal drug. Alcohol can significantly damage emotional, mental and social development--and high school-aged kids who drink are five times likelier to drop out of school." Binge Drinking on a Fast and Often Deadly Rise: Binge drinking is becoming increasingly prevalent. Nearly one out of every five teenagers (16%) has experienced "black out" spells where they could not remember what happened the previous evening because of heavy binge drinking. More than 60% of college men and almost 50% of college women who are frequent binge drinkers report that they drink and drive. Despite laws in every State that make it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase or possess alcohol, young people report that alcohol is easy to obtain and that many high school and college students drink with one goal – to get drunk. Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks in a row for boys and four or more in a row for girls. Some Facts: Frequent binge drinkers were eight times more likely than non-binge drinkers to miss a class, fall behind in schoolwork, get hurt or injured, and damage property; Nearly one out of every five teenagers (16%) has experienced “black out” spells where they could not remember what happened the previous evening because of heavy binge drinking; More than 60% of college men and almost 50 percent of college women who are frequent binge drinkers report that they drink and drive; Binge drinking during high school, especially among males, is strongly predictive of binge drinking in college; Binge drinking during college may be associated with mental health disorders such as compulsiveness, depression or anxiety, or early deviant behavior and In a national study, 91% of women and 78% of the men who were frequent binge drinkers merely considered themselves to be moderate or light drinkers.
According to a 1997 national study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, nearly half of all college students surveyed drank four or five drinks in one sitting within the previous 2 weeks; Students who live in a fraternity or sorority house are the heaviest drinkers – 86% of fraternity residents and 80% of sorority residents report binge drinking; In a recent study, 39% of college women binge drank within a 2-week period compared with 50% of college men; Colleges with high binge drinking rates were also much more likely to attract students who were binge drinkers in high school.
Consequences of Binge Drinking:
Secondary Effects of Binge drinking:
High binge drinking rates in schools revealed that about 34% of non-binge drinkers reported being insulted or humiliated by binge drinkers; 13% reported being pushed, hit, or assaulted; 54% reported having to take care of a drunken student; 68% were interrupted while studying; and about 26% of women experienced a redundant sexual progress.