Decrease Alcohol Abuse on College Campuses
Problem-The Blackout Culture: We at USC face real problem with our alcohol and drinking culture. We face an extensive number of hospitalizations each year from college students and specifically those underage. This year based off of reports from the local hospitals to the university, there was an increase of hospitalizations by 200% within the first six weeks of school in comparison to last year. From my personal accounts of my peers, there seems to be what is considered a “blackout” culture on this campus. I have noticed people start the evening with intensions of drinking so much that they don’t remember the next day. I believe this is causing unsafe drinking habits, students being found in dangerous situations, and even sexual assault. Drinking is something that is considered to be an integral part of the college experience. This is why students don’t currently find our culture to be a problem, but something needs to be done when it comes to education on safe practices for consuming alcohol. Taking care of one’s body is so important. There are clear and prominent problems that our community faces with alcohol and if there is any way to solve them, it is in our civic duty to do so. That is why this problem is the perfect one to face for my pathway of civic and professional engagement.
Solution: We as students at Carolina need to not only hold each other accountable, but hold ourselves accountable as well. This begins with proactive training and education for our students. This would need to go beyond just an online portal and would focus more on safe practices of drinking rather than telling students that they shouldn’t do. Action also needs to be taken to make sure that all alcohol related events that students are attending are managed properly and safely. Lastly, something needs to be done about the price of alcohol in areas like Five Points. The reason that many people get too intoxicated is because so many bars sell alcohol at an extremely low cost. There are also many bars that let in underage drinkers regardless of the South Carolina Law Title 61, Chapter 6, Article 1- Alcohol Beverage Control Act. The actions that need to be taken are focused on what affect people the most. Based on my experiences at the university, peer to peer relationships are what leave the most impact on people. In my third key insight, I talked about how we created a plan to begin a registration system through the university for all events put on by organizations. This was not an easy pill for many to swallow, but the best way to get our point across was to present it from a peer’s perspective. I personally made a presentation to my sorority’s chapter so that members could listen from a friend and a sister rather than another university authority figure.
Detailed Plan: This entire plan would be focused on the idea of “me to we.” Students would first learn the importance of taking care of themselves and their bodies, to taking care of their friends, and finally learning how to take care of our community and campus as whole by not being a bystander.
This can all be achieved through peer-to-peer conversations and relationships. The first step would be to gain a better understanding of how to take care of one’s own body. This needs to be something that all incoming first year students need to participate in. This would begin during orientation. A student would come in to talk during the orientation period to discuss the facts about alcohol and drug abuse. It would be imperative that the person giving this presentation is engaging and also a student, or other incoming students will not have as much respect for them as they would for a fellow peer. This presentation should focus on the proper way to consume alcohol so that harm is reduced and risk is managed. Solid facts should be given regarding the effects that alcohol can have on your body not only physically, but emotionally as well. Students need to know exactly how alcohol affects their blood alcohol content (BAC) and decision-making processes. And correlation needs to be drawn between an increased intake of alcohol and sexual assault and mental illness.
The next step would be to take alcohol prevention to a wider scale. This means that once students grasp the concept of how to take care of themselves, they can pay attention to their friends and those they care about when it comes to drinking. I believe that this should be taught again by a peer, but in a smaller setting like a sorority chapter, a U101 class, or a student organization’s meeting. These are places that friendship and companionship are fostered and should be the time in which students also learn how to take care of one another. In these presentations, the focus needs to be on the bystander effect. Student should learn how to be an active bystander when it comes to alcohol, violence, or sexual assault intervention. This is especially imperative since the likelihood of violence and sexual assault all increase when alcohol is involved.
Finally, steps need to be taken against the community as a whole. A clear and serious problem that we have in Columbia, SC is the bars that target college aged students in the Five Points Area. Students are able to get extremely intoxicated very quickly because of the inexpensive drink specials. There should first be a conversation with bar owners and inform them of the problems that occur to see if they are willing to be a part of the solution. After all, they run a business and would not want their sales to be lacking. If progress isn’t made from there, there needs to be more police force in the area to monitor not only the problem we face with underage drinking, but more importantly, the sale of alcohol at an unreasonable price. There has to be more regulation on the actions of bars and consequences should be quick and enforced.
To accomplish all of these things we would need the help of important offices on campus. These include, but are not limited to SAVIP (Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Prevention), SAPE (Substance Abuse Prevention and Education), the office of Fraternity and Sorority life, as well as Student Conduct. With these offices on campus we can train the right people to give the presentations necessary regarding alcohol education, sexual assault, and violence, and we can have the right reports and statistics to evaluate the progress. My timeline of events can be seen below.
Solution: We as students at Carolina need to not only hold each other accountable, but hold ourselves accountable as well. This begins with proactive training and education for our students. This would need to go beyond just an online portal and would focus more on safe practices of drinking rather than telling students that they shouldn’t do. Action also needs to be taken to make sure that all alcohol related events that students are attending are managed properly and safely. Lastly, something needs to be done about the price of alcohol in areas like Five Points. The reason that many people get too intoxicated is because so many bars sell alcohol at an extremely low cost. There are also many bars that let in underage drinkers regardless of the South Carolina Law Title 61, Chapter 6, Article 1- Alcohol Beverage Control Act. The actions that need to be taken are focused on what affect people the most. Based on my experiences at the university, peer to peer relationships are what leave the most impact on people. In my third key insight, I talked about how we created a plan to begin a registration system through the university for all events put on by organizations. This was not an easy pill for many to swallow, but the best way to get our point across was to present it from a peer’s perspective. I personally made a presentation to my sorority’s chapter so that members could listen from a friend and a sister rather than another university authority figure.
Detailed Plan: This entire plan would be focused on the idea of “me to we.” Students would first learn the importance of taking care of themselves and their bodies, to taking care of their friends, and finally learning how to take care of our community and campus as whole by not being a bystander.
This can all be achieved through peer-to-peer conversations and relationships. The first step would be to gain a better understanding of how to take care of one’s own body. This needs to be something that all incoming first year students need to participate in. This would begin during orientation. A student would come in to talk during the orientation period to discuss the facts about alcohol and drug abuse. It would be imperative that the person giving this presentation is engaging and also a student, or other incoming students will not have as much respect for them as they would for a fellow peer. This presentation should focus on the proper way to consume alcohol so that harm is reduced and risk is managed. Solid facts should be given regarding the effects that alcohol can have on your body not only physically, but emotionally as well. Students need to know exactly how alcohol affects their blood alcohol content (BAC) and decision-making processes. And correlation needs to be drawn between an increased intake of alcohol and sexual assault and mental illness.
The next step would be to take alcohol prevention to a wider scale. This means that once students grasp the concept of how to take care of themselves, they can pay attention to their friends and those they care about when it comes to drinking. I believe that this should be taught again by a peer, but in a smaller setting like a sorority chapter, a U101 class, or a student organization’s meeting. These are places that friendship and companionship are fostered and should be the time in which students also learn how to take care of one another. In these presentations, the focus needs to be on the bystander effect. Student should learn how to be an active bystander when it comes to alcohol, violence, or sexual assault intervention. This is especially imperative since the likelihood of violence and sexual assault all increase when alcohol is involved.
Finally, steps need to be taken against the community as a whole. A clear and serious problem that we have in Columbia, SC is the bars that target college aged students in the Five Points Area. Students are able to get extremely intoxicated very quickly because of the inexpensive drink specials. There should first be a conversation with bar owners and inform them of the problems that occur to see if they are willing to be a part of the solution. After all, they run a business and would not want their sales to be lacking. If progress isn’t made from there, there needs to be more police force in the area to monitor not only the problem we face with underage drinking, but more importantly, the sale of alcohol at an unreasonable price. There has to be more regulation on the actions of bars and consequences should be quick and enforced.
To accomplish all of these things we would need the help of important offices on campus. These include, but are not limited to SAVIP (Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Prevention), SAPE (Substance Abuse Prevention and Education), the office of Fraternity and Sorority life, as well as Student Conduct. With these offices on campus we can train the right people to give the presentations necessary regarding alcohol education, sexual assault, and violence, and we can have the right reports and statistics to evaluate the progress. My timeline of events can be seen below.
Evaluation:
I think change will be marked in the number of cases that the university sees in alcohol transports and hospitalizations, sexual assault, conduct cases, and mental health. These are statistics that the university receives weekly from different locations on campus as well as from the city of Columbia. This change can be seen in numbers, but it can also be seen in the quality of life with students. Every year there is a survey that is sent out to students that can evaluate their quality of life here at the university. I believe that these surveys, a decrease in numbers for conduct cases, and an increase in the price of alcohol will show signs of improvement and success.
I think change will be marked in the number of cases that the university sees in alcohol transports and hospitalizations, sexual assault, conduct cases, and mental health. These are statistics that the university receives weekly from different locations on campus as well as from the city of Columbia. This change can be seen in numbers, but it can also be seen in the quality of life with students. Every year there is a survey that is sent out to students that can evaluate their quality of life here at the university. I believe that these surveys, a decrease in numbers for conduct cases, and an increase in the price of alcohol will show signs of improvement and success.