Essay, Research Paper: Binge Drinking

One of the most serious problems in today's youth is drinking. Amoung high
school and college students a popular and very dangerous kind of drinking. Binge
drinking can cause serious injury and many college and high school kids are dying from
it.
Binge drinking is indentified as the number one health hazard for American
college students today. For men binge is defined as having five or more drinks in a row.
For women, binge is defined as having four or more drinks in a row. A drink can be
considered as a twelve-ounce bottle or can of beer, a twelve-ounce bottle or can of wine
cooler, a four-ounce glass of wine, and a shot of liquor (either straight or in a mixed
drink). A 140 college nationwide study cosistently reported that 86-95 percent of
students drink alcohol, but 50 percent of men and 37 percent of women binge drink. On
average, most college students consume about fifteen or more drinks a week. That's a lot
of alcohol and a serious problem, though most binge drinkers in college were probably
heavy drinkers in high school.
One of the reasons most teens drink now days is because of the accessibility of
alcohol. Almost anybody can get it if they want to. Alcoholic beverages are inexpensive
compared with other beverages, especially beer when purchased in a keg. That is why
many teens drink. Some other reasons teens drink is because of the "high", the taste, and
because most of thier friends to it also. Another big reason teens binge drink is to get
"wasted" fast. The main reason they get drunk fast is because most binge drinkers don't
drink during the week and "cram" it all in during the weekend. Most college campuses
are target of heavy marketing of alcoholic beverages (especially beer companies). Beer
companies are especially active in promoting to college students under 21. That makes it
very easy for many college students to get beer. Infact, students spend more money on
alcohol then soda pop, tea, milk, juice, coffee, and books combined. The wide
availability of alcohol makes you think about how easy it might be to get drugs. Most
drug use starts with alcohol anyway.
Many high school and college students think it's cool to drink alcohol, but the
consequences of binge drinking can result in bad situations. Sexual encounters with
pregnancy, STD's, HIV exposure, rape, and violence can occur more often while students
are consuming large amounts of alcohol by binge drinking. Binge drinking also
influences athletic performance, poor grades, sexual assault, fights, accidents, drunk
driving are vomiting, dizziness, impaired metal capabilities, and hangover. Some of
these may be short term consequences to binge drinking, but can change your life in so
many ways in just one night.


Word Count: 461