ANY FACTORS COME TOGETHER to make a successful college (university) experience. Education is a privilege that comes with a price tag that includes physical and mental effort, determination, perseverance, as well as financial planning and innovative budgeting. Students often take care of expenses by taking on two or three additional jobs, as well as student loans. No dedication, no degree; no effort, no education.
Complicating the efforts of students and faculty is the culture of drinking that has become entrenched and somewhat accepted in many institutions of higher learning. Student fund-raising events, float-building, sports and athletic events, are typified by consumption of varying quantities of alcohol--usually large amounts! This is a worldwide phenomenon, manifesting itself from Cambridge to Canada, from South Africa to South America--wherever student life and culture exist. This custom is handed down by and through generations of college drinkers, reinforcing the notion that alcohol is a necessary lubricant for social interaction and success.
This behavior is further encouraged and promoted by sports arenas that carry the advertisements of alcohol industry sponsors, and also alumni who continue the alcohol tradition, albeit less flamboyantly. As pernicious is the permission granted by communities for establishments near campuses to serve or sell alcohol; these outlets depend on college clientele to ensure their financial success.
Data from several national surveys in the United States indicate that four in five college students drink; about half of the student drinkers engage in heavy episodic consumption. Much concern has been focused on this practice of binge drinking, which is defined as the consumption of five or more drinks in a row for men and four or more drinks for women. Approximately 40 percent of college students (two in five) have indulged in binge drinking at least once during the past two weeks.1 A wide variation exists in college drinking from campus to campus, ranging from 1 to 70 percent; therefore, the same data do not apply to all campuses.2
A Snapshot of College Drinking
The following statistics for a year bring into focus the consequences of college drinking:
1,400 students aged 18-24 die.
500,000 students aged 18-24 are unintentionally injured.
600,000 students aged 18-24 are assaulted by another student.
70,000 students aged 18-24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.
400,000 students aged 18-24 have unprotected sex, and more than 100,000 are too intoxicated to know whether they had consented.
2.1 million students aged 18-24 drove a car the previous year while under the influence.
25 percent of college students report negative academic consequences from their drinking.
150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem; 1.2 to 1.5 percent of students indicate suicide attempts within the past year as a result of alcohol or drug use.
Approximately 11 percent of college students admit to vandalism while under the influence of alcohol.
Alcohol-related property damage is a significant problem on campuses with high drinking levels.
About 5 percent of four-year college students are involved with the police or campus security as a result of their drinking.
In response to these sobering statistics the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Task Force on College Drinking released a document entitled A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges. It is sad to note that Seventh-day Adventist colleges and schools throughout the world have not been left untouched by this problem. Although the figures quoted above are drawn from sources in the United States, the worldwide situation in colleges is similar.
There are many other factors that influence student drinking behavior. Included in these are biological and genetic predisposition, belief system and personality, as well as the expectations of the effects of alcohol. Size of the student body, geographical location, and importance of athletics in campus life also affect drinking patterns.
It is not surprising that commercial interests fuel the fire of college drinking. The pricing and availability of alcohol in surrounding areas influence consumption. Advertising at sports events further influences drinking practices. The advertising is blatant and unashamed, going to the extent of naming liquor stores near the college campus!
Drinking in Adventist Colleges
Valuegenesis3 and other studies4 confirm that alcohol drinking is a problem in Seventh-day Adventist schools and colleges. This is more of a reality to those who have had family go through these institutions and have witnessed the situation firsthand. We as a church are fortunate to have caring and involved faculty who are committed to fostering relationships with the students. This is a crucial factor in preventing and decreasing at-risk behavior.5 The example of abstinence in the faculty is a positive deterrent to the students. However, we tend to prefer denominational denial on some matters, and for some time we have been silent on issues such as alcohol and temperance in general.
Before a problem can be solved, its existence must be acknowledged.
We need to assess the problem realistically. The first step is to collect information about the extent and severity of student drinking. This needs to be done sensitively and in a structured manner in order to ensure that the best data is obtained and high ethical research standards are maintained. Interventions then need to be applied, addressing the particular problems relating to each specific campus.
The results of any interventions need to be assessed and reviewed on an ongoing basis in order to reflect desired changes.
What are some of the interventions? Education is pivotal. Honesty in this process is crucial. There is a body of evidence that shows that alcohol contributes some benefit to cardiovascular health in certain populations studied. It is important to emphasize that these so-called benefits have not been demonstrated in young people and certainly not in the average college student age group. The catastrophic consequences of addiction need to be emphasized. The truth that alcohol negatively affects all systems of the body must be shared. Relationships and connectedness among peers need to be cultivated and sustained. Resources for those needing help to overcome addictions need to be identified and information disseminated. It is of vital importance that the students themselves be major role players in effecting the process of change.
What Is Our Goal?
The pen of inspiration so eloquently states: "Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. Godliness-godlikeness-is the goal to be reached. . . . He who cooperates with the divine purpose in imparting to the youth a knowledge of God, and molding the character into harmony with His, does a high and noble work."6
What will be our response--to learn from our present situation and act, or to drop into the trap of ambivalent status quo? History will not be the only judge if we fail to respond and make the difference in changing the culture of college drinking in our institutions.
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1 A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2002).
2 Ibid.
3 Roger Dudley and V. Bailey Gillespie, Valuegenesis: Faith in the Balance (Riverside, Calif.: LaSierra University Press, 1992), pp. 258, 259.
4 Gary L. Hopkins and Joyce W. Hopp, It Takes a Church, (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 2002).
5 Ibid.
6 Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1903), pp. 18, 19.
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Peter N. Landless, M.B., B.Ch., M.Med., F.C.P.(SA), F.A.C.C., is ICPA executive director and associate director of the Health Ministries Department of the General Conference.
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