Is student binge drinking a serious problem?
 

YES
Henry Wechsler:
The situation calls for strong alcohol control measures

In 1998, U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher called binge drinking “the most serious public health problem on American college campuses today.” In the past year, a study commissioned by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimated that 1,400 deaths, 600,000 injuries and more than 70,000 sexual assaults each year result from college alcohol misuse. Last month, the Institute of Medicine called for serious alcohol control measures to combat the familiar problem of underage drinking.

Over the past 10 years, the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study has surveyed more than 50,000 students at 140 colleges. These studies consistently show that two in five college students put themselves and others at risk from their binge drinking. Drinkers miss classes, are injured and get into trouble with the police. Nondrinkers experience secondhand effects, including property damage, verbal, physical and sexual assault, and disruptions of sleep and study.

In recent years, many universities have turned to social norms marketing programs as a prevention method for binge drinking. This strategy is based on the premise that students overestimate the amount of alcohol their classmates drink, and that by correcting this misconception, students will decrease their own drinking.

This summer we published the first independent national evaluation of social norms marketing programs. Our study found that at 37 schools using social norms, there was no decrease in student alcohol consumption. In fact, we found an increase in alcohol consumption on two measures of drinking at social norms schools, while no such increase occurred at schools not using social norms.

Social norms marketing is growing in popularity because of its positive, nonthreatening approach. Almost half of U.S. colleges use social norms marketing programs, even though scientific support for their effectiveness is lacking. Social norms programs let administrators downplay the level of drinking on campus, overlook underage drinking and de-emphasize the consequences of heavy drinking. Perhaps this is what makes social norms attractive to the alcohol industry, as well. Major beer producers have supported these programs nationwide.

We encourage colleges to seek real answers in more comprehensive approaches to combat heavy drinking by involving their communities, enforcing minimum-age drinking laws and limiting access to cheap alcohol. These are proven methods, and it’s our responsibility to address this grave public health problem the best way we know how.

Henry Wechsler is director of the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Studies Program. The full study on social norms marketing can be found at www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas.
 

NO
Michael Haines:
Most of our kids are drinking responsibly

Parents, students and campus administrators should be relieved that the problem of excessive drinking on college campuses is grossly overstated and that, according to several recent national studies, the norm for student behavior is one of responsibility, safety and moderation.

We are often inundated with images and stories depicting “Animal House” conduct at our colleges and universities, including excessive drinking and reckless behavior. Unfortunately, these stories are what grab the headlines. The truth is that nearly two-thirds of college students in the United States drink moderately, infrequently or not at all. These findings are confirmed in an annual study developed with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and conducted by the Core Institute, and in a study by the American College Health Association.

Additionally, according to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, most 18- to 22-year-olds are not heavy drinkers. In fact, the National College Health Assessment points out that about a quarter of students do not drink at all. Further, according to a just-published report in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol, the notion of binge drinking as the norm is completely false. Findings from the study, which measured Breathalyzer readings of Kent State University dorm residents, found that among those who had been drinking, a large percentage had blood alcohol levels far below Ohio’s legal limit.

Using the social norms approach, colleges and universities are using these positive findings to promote, and in turn create, better behavior. Social norming works by identifying young people’s dramatic misconceptions regarding peer norms and encouraging accurate public reporting of actual positive norms in all student populations. The positive messages communicated to students using the social norms approach have resulted in an average 20 percent reduction in high-risk drinking in only two years. Social norming is far different from scare tactics and other “traditional” methods, which have been shown to have little or no effect and, in fact, are often counterproductive. This past June, for example, two schools (the University of Colorado and the University of Iowa) participating in the scare-tactic oriented “A Matter of Degree” program reported that the number of students binge drinking at their schools has remained unchanged or increased.

The vast majority of college students are drinking and acting responsibly. They go to class, do their work and are concerned for their own welfare as well as that of their peers. If they are repeatedly made aware of these positive norms, excessive drinking will continue to be curtailed.

Michael Haines is director of the National Social Norms Resource Center on the campus of Northern Illinois University. A portion of the center’s work is funded by Anheuser-Busch.