When the Century Council partnered with the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition last year to create a campaign to reduce binge drinking on college campuses, mass amounts of primary and secondary research was dug up.
“The facts that I found while conducting some of this research were mind-boggling, and the responses we got from surveys were just ridiculous,” said Stephanie Underwood, a NSAC participant. “People thought that binge drinking was just getting drunk.”
According to the government, binge drinking is defined as the consumption of five or more drinks for males and four or more drinks for females in a two-hour time period at least once in the past two weeks. NSAC participants found that 93 percent of college students did not identify with that definition and that more than half claimed to be knowledgeable of what a drink consists of.
“A drink is whatever can fit into my cup,” said Kelsey Chambers, a college senior.
The federal government’s official nutrition policy defines a standard drink of alcohol as 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits, 12 ounces of regular beer or 5 ounces of wine.
A few of the health related dangers these young adults are exposing themselves to include alcohol poisoning, liver disease, sexually transmitted diseases, unintentional pregnancy and neurological damage. These individuals are not thinking about the longterm consequences.
“The only risk of binge drinking that has ever really concerned me was the criminal aspect of it, like driving while intoxicated,” Chambers said. “I know that a DWI can affect your future and will also cost you an arm and a leg.”
Underwood said people do not realize how bad binge drinking is for your body because your brain does not fully develop until you are 25. She encourages students to drink responsibly and to consider the consequences, criminally and physically, before heading to the bar for another round of drinks.
Briana Chenkin is a Ranger reporter. She can be reached at lbchenkin@my.actx.edu.
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