According to the latest research, binge drinking numbers are up for college girls.
“Researchers found that, among students who drank alcohol, 85.4 percent exceeded an NIAAA drinking guideline at least once during their first week of college.”
Wow. In the first week.
Sad to say, this isn’t surprising… with about 1 in 4 American college students suffering academic problems due to drinking, but it does serve as yet another reminder that we need to beef up our alcohol education in high schools… before sending the kids off to college.
Here’s a great new PSA from Above the Influence
We also need to challenge the norm that binge drinking is a necessary part of the teenage experience.
The newer brain research shows us that binge drinking while the brain is still developing can cause as much as a 10% decrease in development…. and that a teenager would only need to binge drink about once or twice a month, and just 4-5 drinks at a time (what is that, like one round of beer pong?) for the effects to take place.
What’s surprising is the fact that it impacts girls in the area of spatial reasoning… math and engineering skills, while for boys, it’s concentration and the ability to focus.
Not really sure what the answer is here (if the fear of actual brain damage won’t get them), but we obviously need to be doing something more when it comes to prevention.
My hope is that the public nature of social media will guide our kids to start making better choices… realizing that the evidence of any mistakes made while drunk might end up sticking around for a lot longer than the average hangover.
