Alcoholism In College Essay

Sending a child off to college has been a rite of passage to parents for decades, often accompanied by hours of subsequent crying and worrying. The experience can be just as traumatic for students as well, where they are now given a world of possibilities and opportunities. However, as a student starts college, whether they wish it so or not, they will now be exposed to numerous opportunities to drink. One of the many ways a student can be exposed to alcohol is through Greek life, where the issue of fraternities and alcohol has been on the national news for the recent deaths of students at Florida State University, Louisiana State University and Penn State University. These recent deaths along with others, have caused parents to now have to wonder when they drop their child off to college, if they will even make it home by the end of the year. Likely, the student will survive to make it back to their house, but run the risk of bringing their acute alcoholism back to home. Who is to …show more content…
Most major universities have multiple sports teams for both genders, that are being played continuously throughout the year. According to the NCAA, the average Division One program has “19 teams per school” (NCAA). From all of these sporting events, there are numerous occasions where alcohol can be present, influencing a student’s decision to engage in consuming alcohol because of the overwhelming peer pressure. This peer pressure has led to numerous areas of concern for colleges, such as that according to the National Institution on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) “Almost 60% of college students aged 18-22 drank alcohol in the past month and 2/3 binge drank” (White, Aaron and Hingson 201). These statistics suggest an obvious issue of ethics for colleges, should they promote dry campus policies or the other extreme of allowing drinking, but only in