A Culture of Alcohol
Jimmy Porter“By this newspaper’s count, 16 Ole Miss students have died in unnatural tragedies since May, 2004,” stated Patsy Brumfield, news editor of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. She further noted in her October 26 article entitled “This time, a tragic death may spur Ole Miss into action,” that “alcohol was a factor in at least four of these deaths. And they don’t include the death of Laura Trependahl in 2003, on her way from a peaceful sleep in her dorm to pick up friends who had drunk too much to drive.”
These tragedies, along with other events, has caused the leadership in the city of Oxford and the University of Mississippi to address a culture that is often referred to as “a culture of alcohol.” The problems created by underage drinking, binge drinking, and lax law enforcement are shared by every college and university campus and town, not just Oxford and Ole Miss.
A “culture of alcohol” exists in a community when the norms of that community are relaxed to the point that it becomes acceptable and “in” to drink often and excessively. Often the community is in denial and very little is done to curb or prohibit such practices.
The term “alcohol culture” has been associated with binge drinking for over a decade. Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks in a row for a boy and for or more drinks in a row for a girl.
Despite laws in every state that make it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase or possess alcohol, young people admit that alcohol is easy to obtain and that many high school and college students drink with one goal in mind and that is to get drunk (American Academy of Pediatrics).
Studies reveal that drinking by college students contributes to 1,400 student deaths, 500,000 injuries, and 70,000 cases of sexual assaults or date rapes each year. Dr. Ralph Hingson, professor at Boston University of Public Health, said, “The harm that college students do to themselves and others as a result of excessive drinking exceeds what many could have expected. Our data clearly point to the need for better intervention against high-risk drinking in this population” (http://www.alcoholism.about.com/cs/college).
According to the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, nearly half of all college students surveyed drank four or five drinks in one sitting within the previous two weeks. Students who live in a fraternity or sorority house are the heaviest drinkers-86 percent of fraternity residents and 80 percent of sorority residents report binge drinking (http://www.ncadi.samhsa.gov). College students currently spend $5.5 billion a year on alcohol, more than they spend on textbooks, soft drinks, tea, milk, juice, and coffee combined.
Problems with alcohol are easy to identify, document, and discuss but real solutions are harder to come by. A single group or a single law will not change the abuses of excessive drinking in college towns and universities. But the situation is not hopeless when responsible leaders recognize that a problem does exist and they take measures to address the situation.
What should trouble us is that the data collected by research groups represents real people, individuals who have died, or who have their lives ruined forever because of alcohol. Signs that say “Drink Responsibly” or “Don’t Drink and Drive” are not working. Everyone is responsible for their choices, but our culture must and should be one that encourages sensible decisions.
What can we as Christians and Baptists do to help with the problems inherent in a culture of alcohol? First, we can pray for the administration of our colleges and universities as they seek solutions to their problems. Second, if you are a former student or a resident of one of these college or university towns, write a letter to the administration and to your elected officials expressing to them your opinions and a willingness to be a part of the solution instead of the problem. Also, cooperate with and give support to the local authorities as they seek to enforce the laws that are already on the books. Finally, make sure you tell your children and grandchildren that they don’t have to drink alcohol to have fun or to be sociable. You can carry on a conversation without a drink your hand. Tragedies happen and will continue every single day, but if we learn from them and then act upon what we learn, then all is not lost.