Underage Drinking

As students begin their senior year of high school, they are stressed with the overwhelming question of which college they want to attend in the following fall. They are forced to write essays to the colleges on why they feel that they would fit in and make better the college’s environment. Teachers pressure their students to turn in their applications early, but many hold out until the last minute. These essays are mostly written with lies only to make the student look good to the college’s administration. Although colleges would prefer to deny it, many students base their decisions on the party status of the school. People are looking to make their college experience as fun as possible. They have heard numerous stories about the parties from older brothers and friends. It is impossible to stop students from drinking on campus because many of them are of the legal age. However, these legal aged students are promoting underage drinking by allowing younger students into their parties and giving them alcohol. Alcohol is easily available for underage people across the campuses of almost every college. Illegal underage drinking and binge drinking has become a major problem on college campuses. Binge drinking is defined as males having drunk five or more beers in a single session, and females having drunk four or more. The article by Jeffrey Gettleman, “As Young Adults Drink to Win, Marketers Join In,” emphasizes the fact that drinking games have become a major problem among college campuses. Many students partake in drinking games, which is considered a form of binge drinking. There is absolutely no way to control the problem; rather, colleges should focus on making sure that the drinking is done in a safe, controlled environment.

Drinking games have become a regular among younger drinkers. It has developed into the new generation of drinking. Young people participate in some form of a drinking game nearly every time they become involved in a situation with alcohol. “Drinking games seem to be most popular among college students, and according to four recent academic studies that surveyed more than 6,000 students nationwide, 50 percent to 80 percent play them” (2). This means that about 4,500 students out of the 6,000 surveyed participated in a form of binge drinking and put themselves at risk for alcohol poisoning. Colleges should focus on promoting alcohol education over trying to ban on-campus drinking.

One popular drinking game among college students is beer pong. This game has become a popular competition across the nation. Tournaments are sponsored by not only beer companies, but also various sporting companies, and also Red Bull. Thousands of people flock to these tournaments to compete for money and the title of being the best peer pong player. Smaller games are held in the campus housing, with underage students allowed to participate. “Students say they enjoy the games because they are a fun way to compete, socialize and drink, and often the only consequence of playing is a hangover. But alcohol prevention experts say the games do sometimes lead to alcohol poisoning and drunken-driving crashes and may increase the chance of a woman being sexually assaulted” (3). People feel that beer pong is a fun way to put a twist on drinking and provide the spark for socializing with classmates that you do not know. However, chugging beer or just drinking too much is a highly dangerous activity. The body can only take so much alcohol, and that depends on the size and genetics of the person. Having fun while drinking is not bad, but it must be done in a safe, controlled manner. Drinking too much alcohol can lead to irresponsible choices and death. “… 44 percent of men who played said that they did so to sexually manipulate other players. Twenty percent said they had done things after playing a drinking game that could be defined as sexual assault” (3). This type of binge drinking can lead to sexual decisions that someone who was sober would not normally do. There are many sexual assaults reported on college campuses every year, especially by underage drinkers who, one could say are вЂ?rookies’ at drinking, do not handle their alcohol as well as вЂ?experienced’ drinkers. Not only does underage binge drinking harm the body, but it also causes students to make regretful decisions.

Another popular game among college campuses is flip cup. This game involves two teams, each usually with at least four players. The game starts by two people chugging a cup filled with a small amount of beer. After they finish, they put their cups down and try to flip them with their fingers and make the cup