“Alcohol abuse on college campuses has reached a point where it is far more destructive than most people and today realize and today threatens too many of our youth.” -Senator Joe Lieberman

Why do college students drink so much? This timeless fad has effected this generation in high percentages since the beginning of college education. Today in America it is estimated that approximately 29% of college students are regular alcohol abusers. Another recent study by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism performed showed that college students suffered 1,400 deaths, 70,000 date rapes and assaults, and 500,000 injuries each year as a result of alcohol. (McDonald) Although binge drinking (5+ drinks in one sitting) is considered a normal part of the college experience many factors contribute to whether or not an individual is more prone to be an abuser.

There are five factors that connect students with alcohol abuse with include: gender, family alcohol abuse, family depression and mental illness, childhood hyperactivity, and deviant behavior before age 15. Deviant behavior, for example, consists of acts such as being expelled from school, fighting, committing vandali

Criterion B covers more serious abuse which harm one’s personal and occupational lifestyles. Any one of the following items point to serious abuse: family members objecting to subject’s drinking, professional advice about drinking, job or school troubles due to drinking, accident while driving intoxicated, arrest, or physical fight. (Fleming)

A clinician test given to suspected alcoholics or taken personally is called the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). The test given to check for pathological alcohol abuse is known as Criterion A for alcohol abuse. Requirements for this test include: wanting to stop drinking but could not, drinking 20 or more drinks in 1 day, having blackouts while drinking, going on two or more binges, continuing to drink with a serious health problem, or making rules to control drinking habits. (Fleming)

Students who binge drink are 80% more likely to miss class, experience hangovers, damage property, and receive injuries. Therefore, it is strange that it is such a desired state. The underlying reason is that people who participate frequently in this activity crave sensation. More students under the legal drinking age of 21 abuse alcohol than over but admit they feel pressured in some way by the students who are over 21. One study has shown that a typical American college student will spend more money on alcohol during college than textbooks. Perhaps the most common answer to why students drink so much is the initial rebellion from the freedom gained by moving out of their parent’s home. Individuals who do not develop a dependence in most cases decrease binge drinking habits after their freshman year. After all, college years are as much a time of social development and emotional growth as

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