How Bingeing Became The New College Sport Essay Example
How Bingeing Became The New College Sport Essay Example

How Bingeing Became The New College Sport Essay Example

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  • Pages: 4 (1058 words)
  • Published: March 20, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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Drinking on college campuses has become a huge problem. For example, in the 10th century only old people used to drink, but now students drink more than their parents. Students see their parents drinking, so they may think that drinking has no effect on health that anyone can drink so why can’t the students drink? Therefore, college students have been drinking alcohol since the 14th century. Barrett Seaman’s article “How Bingeing Became the New College Sport,” appearing in TIME magazine on August 29, 2005, explains how binge drinking is affecting college students.

It also suggests that lowering the drinking age might help solve the problem of binge drinking. This article has much information on how and where students get drunk. According to the article, alcohol is consumed by students in dorms or even

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at off-campus apartments. Students do not want to drink alone so they throw a party and mostly everyone who attends that party will drink and more than half are going to drink more than their limit. The students who drink heavily not only put themselves but also others in danger.

If students drink too much at a party and want to go back to their own dorm or apartment, they are going to drive there and put others on the road at risk. This article states how binge drinking is hurting or even killing students. “By the Thanksgiving break of the year I visited Harvard, the university’s health center had admitted nearly 70 students for alcohol poisoning” writes Seaman and explains that students are drinking too much and getting poisoned by alcohol so that they don’t even notice when they reach their limit. Once

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they drink a lot, they can end up in the hospital. While reporting for my book Binge, I witnessed the hospitalization of several students for acute alcohol poisoning. Among them was a Hamilton College freshman who had consumed 22 shots of vodka while sitting in a dorm room with her friends,” writes Seaman, explaining that students drink in their own dorm rooms and they drink more than their limit. Alcohol has many effects on health. In some cases too much alcohol can lead to many serious, long-term health issues such as liver disease and heart disease. Alcohol can also have a long term effect on the brain by damaging or killing brain cells.

Alcohol can also be deadly if one consumes too much of it, for example, the student from Hamilton college who had 22 shots of vodka. Drinking alcohol can also increase the risks of liver cancer and breast cancer. This article also states how the drinking age has changed during the time period. The drinking age used to be 21 until the student revolution of the ‘60s. This changed the voting age to 18 and it also changed the drinking age to 18. Then there was another change due to Mothers against Drunk Driving, in which Congress changed the drinking age back to 21.

It’s a good thing that the drinking age was changed back to 21 because there would be a lot more deaths if it were at 18 or 19. Seaman also suggests that if the drinking age were lowered to 18 or 19, it might reduce the number of students hospitalized. “But over time, I predict, U. S college students would settle

into the same approach to alcohol I saw on the campus I visited where the legal drinking age is 18,” writes Seaman. He thinks that reducing the age might bring some sense into students and they won’t drink as much. I disagree with Seaman on lowering the age of alcohol consumption.

I think it will help solve one problem but it might even create a bigger problem. If the age is reduced to 18 or 19, students who are not even 21 don’t have to worry about any legal issue and they would start drinking. Some students might not drink because they are not 21, but if we lowered the age, they may start drinking, too. Due to that we will have more students hospitalized. “When students are hospitalized-or worst yet, die from alcohol poisoning, which happens about 300 times each year-college presidents tend to react by declaring their campuses dry or shutting down fraternity houses. This quote states that there are already many students hospitalized or dead. This happened when the drinking age is 21. I think if the drinking age were lowered, the number of students hospitalized might go up or even double. I think that the college presidents should make strict laws around campus that would help stop students from drinking. If colleges were to have a security check in every dorm, every day that will lower the number of hospitalizations. I know that there would be liquor at student apartments, but it would still help lower the number of deaths.

I disagree on lowering the drinking age because students may drink more than their limits and go overboard. “I visited where the legal

drinking age is 18: Montreal’s McGill University, which enrolls about 2,000 American undergraduates a year. Many, when they first arrive, go overboard, exploiting their ability to drink legally. But by midterms, when McGill’s demanding academic standards must be met, the vast majority have put drinking into its practical place among their priorities,” writes Seaman, explaining that the drinking age should be lowered, so students will drink less and meet their academic standards.

But the fact is students will get more freedom and as soon as they reach age 18, they may start drinking. I think the age 18 is not mature enough to let teens drink alcohol. Also, lowering the age may kill more students, and it will also make college a dangerous place. By saying “a dangerous place,” I mean that if students go to college and get drunk, they may end up in the hospital. Students won’t only die from drinking too much alcohol but also they could get into serious fights or an accident while driving.

I know that there isn’t any way to stop the students from drinking at college, but it could be limited. It could be limited by having a strong security check in every dorm, everyday. Lowering the drinking age is not going to help the students but only hurt them more. Therefore, I think having more security and strict laws in the colleges would help lower the number of student hospitalizations or deaths.

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