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.

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