Persuasive Essay on College Drinking

INTRODUCTION

I would like everyone to close their eyes and just picture the scenario I am about to paint for you. It's a Friday night and you're out with a few friends. You're at a big party, you've drank enough to be feeling pretty good. You're having a good time until you look around and realize that one of your friends is nowhere in sight. He/she not responding to any of your calls or texts, and is not with any of your other friends. You've checked every room at the party and still nothing. This feeling of panic starts to overcome you, where did he/she go? You find out the next morning that your friend has been hurt. You may now open your eyes. The decisions students make while under the influence of alcohol are risky and can lead to dangerous results, which is why students should take more safety precautions when they drink. I know that not everyone in the audience drinks, but it is safe to say that everyone either has a friend who drinks or knows of someone who drinks. I know that some of you are sitting there saying, "Amanda, I know my limit and nothing is going to happen to me." Well, my answer to you is, that's what they've all said. The information I provide for you today may be irrelevant to your own life, but maybe you can use it to help a friend. I am no expert on college drinking, but I have done some extensive research on college student drinking behavior, ways to increase safety and have dealt with it personally on numerous accounts and. I have had experience with friend and family deaths due to the decisions made while drinking. Today I am going to tell you about the problem with the risky student drinking behavior, and some simple safety solutions to fix the dangerous results.

First I will start off by telling you what the problems associated with college drinking are.

FIRST MAIN POINT--DRUNK DRIVING

Student drinking behavior is leading to more drunk driving accidents. According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), 3,360,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 drive under the influence of alcohol. It would be great if you could drink at the same place all night, but let's be honest, there's always another or better party someplace else. Sometimes these other parties are a great distance away. It's either too long of a walk or we're too impatient to wait for the CyRide bus. Here is where the problem develops. Students will think they are okay to get behind the wheel of a car. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 17,013 people lost their lives in the U.S. in 2003 in alcohol-related collisions, representing 40 percent of all traffic fatalities. Forty percent! That is nearly half of all traffic fatalities. Driving drunk has many false feelings. When you're intoxicated, you don't think that the distance you have to drive is long enough for something bad to happen. We think, "Oh that few miles is close enough, nothing could possibly happen in that 5 minute drive." WRONG. A wide variety of things could happen. Anything is possible. Another false feeling we get is the false trust feeling. Getting into the car with someone who has been drinking is just as dangerous as being the person driving. A lot of times we'll hear, "Don't worry, I'm fine to drive. I'm a great driver." These phrases pose a false sense of trust in our friend's drunk driving. But at the time, we are so quick to believe in it.

Not only is drunk driving an issue, but sexual assault is also a growing problem.

SECOND MAIN POINT--ASSAULT

According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking. There is a direct correlation between assault and drinking. According to Antonia Abbey, PhD in Community Medicine at Wayne State University states, "Alcohol-involved sexual assaults more often occur among college students