Binge Drinking

Thesis- college students that participate in binge dinking are more likely to have problems with their health and well being.

Binge drinking is considered to be the consumption of five or more drinks by men and for women 4 or more drinks in a row. They do this at least once every two weeks. However for heavy binge drinkers three or more times in that two week period. Some reasons students will binge drink is because they think it will relieve stress, or they want to feel older, some also think it will make them feel good.

There are many risks to binge drinking and one of them is internally injuring themselves. Some examples would be the risk of alcohol poisoning. There is a great risk of getting liver disease. Some other risks would be high blood pressure, stroke, and any other cardiovascular disease. It is noted that the younger someone begins binging, the more likely it is for him or her to develop alcohol dependence. Nearly 25% of people who start drinking before the age of 17 become alcoholics, while 10% of people who begin drinking after the age of 21 become alcoholics.

Another big risk of binge drinking is physically injuring yourself or others. People that binge drink cannot only put themselves in danger but others too. Some results of being drunk are falling, unplanned pregnancy, DUI accidents and assaults. Alcohol affects everyone differently. A lot of people when drinking their moods can change drastically. Alcohol is a depressant so therefore when people drink there mood can change drastically.

Studies show that students that partake in binge drinking greatly impacts their academics. Bucknell University found that when students binge drink there GPA greatly decreases. Women who don't binge have a average GPA of 3.29 where women who do binge have an average GPA of 3.01. Men who don't binge have an average GPA of 3.25 where men who do binge have an average GPA of 2.95. For women with a GPA dropping that much is about 4.2 percent drop in their annual earnings, which is about $1,600. However for men there was a 0.47 percent drop in their annual earnings, which is about $235 dollars. So it is safe to say that women that binge drink are impacted a lot more then men are.

Many students that binge drink run into problem with the law. Every year over one hundred thousand students are arrested for alcohol related crimes. Also about five percent of students are involved in campus police as a consequence of alcohol consumption.

Binge drinking negatively affects student's academics. Students that excessively binge drink are twenty-one more times likely than non-bingers to miss important classes or fall behind in school. A study shows that an estimated amount of 1,700 college students die a year from unintended alcohol related injuries, most often due to car crashes. "Students who binge drink are