Alcohol on Academics

Alcohol, when consumed in reason, can be fine. But when it is taken in

great quantities it can be very detrimental to a student. Heather Wilson

and Jeremy Foster wrote a perspective on drugs and alcohol in a book aimed

to warn people about the dangers of alcohol and drugs. Here is there

account. "During parents weekend, she, her roommate, and their parents went

to her best friend's room and found her soaked in blood and tears on the

dorm-room floor. Heather's friend had a history of depression, and the

combination of this, a bottle of Jack Daniel's Black Label, and too much

cold medicine left her ravaged and suicidal"(Kuhn 21). The girl in the

story turned out to be ok. She had tried to slit her wrists the night

before. The story went on to say that, "They found her in time to save her,

but she will always carry the scars where she cut her wrists"(Kuhn 21). In

this paper I intend to prove how alcohol is detrimental to college students.

Our brain controls everything we do. Without it we wouldn't be able to

perform the simplest of tasks It is one of if not the most important thing

we have as a person. As a college student I rely heavily on my brain to

help me with all of the assignments for my classes. But what if my brain

didn't work properly? When alcohol is inputted into the brain, it induces

many output actions such as; impaired judgment, extreme emotion, and slowed

behavior (Alcohol and its effects). Not only are the short term effects

enough to side track any academic student, but the long term effects could

have serious implications on your life. Long-term effects include damage in

cognitive behavior, difficulty in learning new material, deficits in

abstraction, problem solving, and reduced visuospatial abilities (Alcohol

and its effects). One of the long term effects listed was difficulty in

learning. Now if you start drinking in high school, like most college aged

students do, you already have a disadvantage against everyother person who

choses not to drink. Researchers have found that the brains of alcoholics

are smaller and have an increased number of brain tissue loss then a

nonalcoholic(Alcohol and its effects). This would lead someone to believe

that somebody who is the same age and does not drink would be faster and

quicker in cognitive abilities(Alcohol and its effects).

We already know about the effects alcohol can have on your brain, but what

about some of the non health related risks alcohol has that can hinder a

college students education. Well college students who drink are more likely

to have an unplanned sexual activity (Back to School and Drunk Again).

Having unsafe sex can lead to getting many dangerous diseases, a lot of

which don't have any known cure, that could lead to you having to leave

school so that you could get medical help. Also this increases the risk of

having an unplanned pregnancy. Having a child while in school could put a

damper in your scholastic plans. Some people have kids and stay in school,

but getting pregnant also leads some to drop out. There are other non

medical effects alcohol could have on your future. Engaging in alcohol

makes you more likely to damage property, injure yourself, get into trouble

with the police, have an overdose, or it could just cause you to forget your

actions (Back to School and Drunk Again). Drinking puts college students at