For years, college students in the U.S. have been known to like to party, but a new study suggests colleges and universities could do more to curb binge drinking.
The new study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, comes from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Looking at a national sample, the researchers found most schools are not adequately trying to stop harmful alcohol abuse on campus.
Binge drinking is defined for men as consuming five or more alcoholic beverages in a row, and four or more for women, at least once in a two-week period. Unlike alcoholism, binge drinking can occur sporadically, but it is still dangerous because of its effects on the brain, mainly a person's judgment.
"Study results showed that it was rare for campus security or law enforcement officials to issue citations for students involved in an alcohol-related violation or incident," study co-author Ken C. Winters, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota (UM) Medical School, told USA Today. "It was also not typical for these students to be referred to a campus health center to be evaluated for a possible alcohol problem. Rather, students were usually referred for discipline or sanctions to other university officials."
The study researchers sampled 343 four-year colleges in the U.S., questioning directors of campus and local security on how they responded alcohol-related incidents. Principal study investigators Traci L. Toomey, a professor of public health at UM, said the team's work is among the first on the subject.
"There are probably few colleges that have a system in place that integrates strategies across departments," Toomey told USA Today. "Campus security should be trained on what steps should be followed, including where to refer students following an incident."
Students like Aria Wexler, a rising junior at the University of California - Davis, who attend larger schools tend to have less fear of consequences for being caught in an alcohol violation.
"I think that there is a lack of a fear of consequences other than just the party being stopped," she told USA Today. "(There is) not a fear of a general, actual hardcore consequence by the police."
