Binge Drinking on Campus - What You Need to Know

As the school year begins, it’s essential to discuss strategies and procedures with appropriate campus staff to reduce the rates of binge drinking or high-risk drinking by students on your campus.

Binge or high-risk drinking is the most common, costly and deadly pattern of excessive alcohol use in the United States. And, according to a national survey, 60 percent of college students drank alcohol in the past month and 2 out of 3 of them engaged in binge drinking during the same time-frame.

Unfortunately, most students on campus don’t know the direct correlation between the amount of alcohol he or she drinks and their corresponding GPA. As drinking alcohol goes up, GPA goes down!

Research shows that time spent drinking, and the amount of alcohol consumed, will affect a student’s attendance in class, study time and academic performance- showing a stronger impact on their GPA than time spending doing other non-academic activities, such as social media.

With that being said, alcohol abuse doesn’t only affect a student’s GPA, it also can lead to drug abuse, health problems or death, assault and sexual assault, as well as mental health decline or suicide attempts. The role of alcohol in a student’s life can be life-changing and it’s important to monitor its role on your campus and to make students aware of its detrimental effects.

Helpful Guidelines to Make Your Campus Even Safer

Use these 5 helpful guidelines when assessing alcohol use on your campus:

• Review and update university policies, including disciplinary actions, regarding alcohol use.
• Enforce a Medical Amnesty policy on your campus- encouraging students to reach out for an intoxicated friend.
• Implement awareness and prevention training for students - it is critical that training is recurring.
• Provide resources to students who may be struggling with alcohol abuse.
• Promote healthy living behaviors on campus and encourage participation in Alcohol-Free events on-campus.

Above all, it’s important for your campus to guide students in the right direction - or provide the means as a vehicle for guidance. Students who partake in binge or high-risk drinking, increase the risk of long-term damage to the brain as their brains haven’t fully developed yet - leading to a life-time of cognitive difficulties.

The SafeColleges Training System offers courses for students on alcohol awareness, which provides valuable information into the college drinking scene, harmful effects of drinking, recovering student alcohol addict testimonials and much more!

For more information on how to get started with SafeColleges Training, contact us at 1-800-434-0154 or [email protected].

MAKE YOUR CAMPUS EVEN SAFER