Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges

摘要

Every year as spring break approaches or when another promising young student dies in an alcohol-related tragedy, college drinking becomes a national issue. Although excessive drinking by college students is accepted as a rite of passage by many, alcohol-related tragedies never fail to shock us and to prompt calls for immediate action. When schools respond with well-intentioned programs, but the problem persists, it is natural to wonder how much we really understand about excessive, college student drinking. Is it inevitable. Can we take steps to prevent it or reduce its consequences. Why have efforts to date proven ineffective. The fact is that since 1976, when the newly created National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) issued its only report on abusive drinking by college students, research advances have transformed our understanding of alcohol abuse and related problems. For example, we now know that a broad array of factors affect college student drinking behavior. These include an individuals susceptibility to alcohol, campus norms related to drinking, and conditions within the larger community that make alcohol readily accessible and fail to penalize inappropriate use. Together these influences contribute to a culture of drinking that is more damaging and deadly than previously recognized. This report, developed by the NIAAA-supported Task Force on College Drinking after 3 years of intensive discussions, describes our new understanding of dangerous drinking behavior by college students and its consequences for both drinkers and nondrinkers. Rather than debate how many drink how much, the Task Force focused on the consequences. What it found challenges many common assumptions about the size and nature of the problem. Not only do some 1,400 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die every year as a result of hazardous drinking, but a half million suffer unintentional injuries under the influence of alcohol. Another 600,000 are assaulted by fellow drinking students and more than 70,000 are sexually assaulted. The data on academic achievement, damage to facilities, and health problems are equally alarming.