lecture #3 drinking on campus

Princeton Review Top Party Schools 2008: Indiana University Bloomington: #8 party school in the nation #6 “hard liquor” #18 “students (almost) never study” (#4 in 2007) (#13 best newspaper)

2006 study of Indiana college students on 13 campuses: n = % drank alcohol in past year 45% binge drank in last two weeks (5 drinks in 2 hours) 65% of underage students drank alcohol in past 30 days 35% of Indiana college students reported some form of public misconduct (such as trouble with police, fighting/argument, DWI/DUI, vandalism) at least once during the past year as a result of drinking or drug use. 25% of Indiana college students reported experiencing some kind of serious personal problems (such as suicidality, being hurt or injured, trying unsuccessfully to stop using, sexual assault) at least once during the past year as a result of drinking or drug use

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) -1,700 college students die from alcohol related incidents each year (includes drunk driving) - 84 from from alcohol poisoning or directly from alcohol related injury -500,000 college students injured from drinking related incidents each year -600,000 students physically assaulted by a drunk student each year -70,000 students sexually assaulted by another student each year, in most cases both parties are drunk -100,000 students too drunk to know if they consented to sex -61% of students report having their study disturbed by drunk students -50% of fatal traffic accidents for people involve alcohol

Is this an epidemic? What do you think about the Princeton t-shirt case? Should there be laws about alcohol at all? Particularly on campuses? What about smoking bans?

Social norm campaigns: from SMU survey -”alcohol use and other risky behaviors are influenced by the biased perceptions that members of social groups have about the beliefs and behaviors of their peers.” (p.61)

But studies show that social norms campaigns don’t work Why? -students misunderstood the message -students thought the information was not credible -”We frequently encountered students who attempted to ‘advise’ project personnel that, in their words, ‘students lie on those surveys.’ Often, these discussions seemed to be polite efforts by students to inform us that we were naïve about the extent of ‘partying’ that goes on at night.” -Do you think this is a reasonable criticism?

Students drank more than they admitted...? Why assume they’re telling the truth about what they perceive, but not what they do?

Are social norms campaigns contradictory? If most students don’t actually drink, why worry about the perception? Their argument is that people drink as much as they think other people do. But if everyone drank as much as they thought everyone else did, then everyone would drink and you couldn’t point out that people didn’t actually drink that much!

STATS: understanding alcohol abuse the biphasic effect “…if the classes don't recognize the pleasure young people seek from drinking and focus entirely on potential negative consequences, the material will often just be dismissed. Teaching young people to understand what researchers call the ‘biphasic’ effect of alcohol can be particularly helpful. Alcohol initially produces energy and excitement, but later causes tiredness and fatigue. Drinking more doesn't reproduce the early effects-but many youth don't understand this. When they do, moderation is more likely and achievable.”

no minimum age: Poland China Nigeria Portugal 16 years: Germany Belgium France Italy Norway Spain Turkey 18 years: Chile Hong Kong Australia Venezuela Denmark Finland Bahamas Ireland Ukraine 20 years: Japan Iceland 21 years: United States Lower the drinking age?

when you’re 18 you can (must in some cases): -vote -buy a high powered rifle -pay taxes -fight in wars -die in wars -be put to death -get a pilot’s license -buy cigarettes -adopt a child -they can sue and be sued

lower the drinking age: Why else should we lower the drinking age? -reactance theory –underage people drink because they want to rebel, “forbidden fruit” -families can teach responsible drinking Ruth Eng’s reason: How is this be in tension with the social norms approach? -parents would be better able to educate their children and teach them how to drink responsibly

critiques of lowered drinking age approaches: “Issue: ‘If I’m old enough to go to war, I should be old enough to drink.’ Response: Many rights have different ages of initiation. A person can obtain a hunting license at age 12, driver’s license at age 16, vote and serve in the military at 18, serve in the U.S. House of Representatives at age 25 and in the U.S. Senate at age 30, and run for President at age 35. Other rights that are regulated include the sale and use of tobacco and legal consent for sexual intercourse and marriage. The minimum age for initiation is based on the specific behaviors involved and must take into account the dangers and benefits of that behavior at a given age. The age 21 policy for alcohol takes into account the fact that underage drinking is related to numerous serious health problems, including injuries and death resulting from car crashes, suicide, homicide, assault, drowning, and recreational injuries. In fact, the leading cause of death among teens is car crashes, and alcohol is involved in approximately a third of these deaths.

“Issue: ‘Europeans let their teens drink from an early age, yet they don’t have the alcohol-related problems we do. What we need are fewer restrictions, not more.’ Response: The idea that Europeans do not have alcohol-related problems is a myth. European youth may be at less risk of traffic crashes since youth drive less frequently in Europe than in the United States. However, European countries have similar or higher rates of other alcohol-related problems compared to those in the United States.”

critique of the critiques: - “The minimum age for initiation is based on the specific behaviors involved and must take into account the dangers and benefits of that behavior at a given age.” -fighting in a war, acting in porn, serving as a jury member? The dangers and benefits of these behaviors are less serious than drinking?

“The idea that Europeans do not have alcohol-related problems is a myth.”

From the British Prime Minister's Strategy Unit Report on Binge Drinking as reported in the Washington Times: “the British drink more in one sitting. Among 15-year-olds in Britain, one in three admit to having been drunk at age 13 or younger, while among French and Italian 15-year-olds, one in 10 admits to the same. The Strategy Unit's report says this situation can be explained by the difference in drinking culture between northern and southern Europe. It says the Mediterranean drinking culture is based on wine, especially as a regular part of the diet and mostly consumed in family settings. In these societies, there are "strong informal sanctions against public drunkenness." North European culture, the report said, is based on beer — mostly drunk in pubs, less frequently but more heavily. Drinking is an end in itself, and public drunkenness is tolerated, even expected.”