A popular misconception when it comes to college life is that almost every college student parties on the weekends and participates in binge drinking. Angela K. Fournier, Erin Hall, Patricia Ricke, and Brittany Storey performed this study to identify if there is a link between this misconception and the presence of alcohol-related content on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
One of the theories that Fournier, et al. (2013, p.86) discuss in the article is the Social Norms Theory. The idea of the Social Norms Theory is that our perceptions of how other people think and act affect how we think and act. The theory focuses mainly on how perceptions of unhealthy behavior can lead to more unhealthy behavior, such as binge drinking (Berkowitz, 2011, as cited by Fournier, et al., 2013, p.86) Binge drinking is a continually growing problem in colleges across the United States (Glatter, 2014). According to Hingson, Heeren, Winter, and Wechsler (as cited by Fournier, et al., 2013, p.86), most binge drinking occurs within late teens and young adults, particularly college students. The Social Norms Theory suggests here that much of this binge drinking in college is due to the fact that many students go into college thinking that binge drinking is the norm. With this thought, they feel that they must also binge drink to conform to the culture of their college.
Among the issue of binge drinking and alcohol abuse on college campuses, the rapid growth of social media has led to an increasing problem of college students posting alcohol-related content to their pages. This content can range anywhere from pictures from last night’s party to a “Wall” post talking about how intoxicated the student was. Peluchette and Karl (as cited by Fo...
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...ut a rapidly growing issue throughout colleges across the United States. Fournier, et al. did come up with the results they were expecting to support their hypothesis. After reading this article and the results of the study, it is safe to say that the presence of alcohol-related content on social media, particularly Facebook, does in fact alter people’s perception of college drinking norms.
References
Fournier, A., Hall, E., Ricke, P., & Storey, B. (2013). Alcohol and the social network: Online social networking sites and college students' perceived drinking norms. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 2(2), 86-94.
Glatter, R. (2014). Update On Binge Drinking Among College Students: From Bad To Worse. Forbes. Retrieved 13 April 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2014/03/11/update-on-binge-drinking-among-college-students-from-bad-to-worse/
Weshler, Henry, and Wuethrich, Bernice. Dying to Drink: Confronting Binge Drinking on college campuses. Chicago: Rodale Inc., 2002. Print.
College student drunkenness is far from new and neither are college and university efforts to control it. What is new, however, is the potential to make real progress on this age-old problem based on scientific research results. New research-based information about the consequences of high-risk college drinking and how to reduce it can empower colleges and universities, communities, and other interested organizations to take effective action. Hazardous drinking among college students is a widespread problem that occurs on campuses of all sizes and geographic locations. A recent survey of college students conducted by the Harvard University School of Public Health reported that 44 percent of respondents had drunk more than five drinks (four for women) consecutively in the previous two weeks. About 23 percent had had three or more such episodes during that time. The causes of this problem are the fact that students are living by themselves no longer with parents or guardians; they earn their own money; students need to be a part of a group, be accepted; and they have the wrong idea that to feel drunk is “cool.”
Earlier studies have examined this issue of alcohol consumption and the negative peer effects among college students. Sacerdote (2001) examines peer effects in universities. He finds evidence that supports this theory that students whose roommates reported high beer consumption were more likely to replicate the same behavior. Kremer and Levy (2003) noted that peers who had a roommate that drank could potentially increase the peer’s preference for alcohol consumption. The Cooperative Institutional Research Program’s (CIRP’s) Entering Student Survey demonstrated GPA’s declining in peers whose roommates drank alcohol frequently, especially those who had in high school. The survey classified males as being especially sensitive to peer influences. Empirical data presented by Wechsler, Lee, Kuo & Lee (2000) show that alcohol use and abuse reported by 40% of university students had been binge drinking at least once within the past two weeks and it was concluded that alcohol use, and more specifically binge drinking, is a social influence by peers.
Why do college students drink so much? This timeless fad has effected this generation in high percentages since the beginning of college education. Today in America it is estimated that approximately 29% of college students are regular alcohol abusers. Another recent study by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism performed showed that college students suffered 1,400 deaths, 70,000 date rapes and assaults, and 500,000 injuries each year as a result of alcohol. (McDonald) Although binge drinking (5+ drinks in one sitting) is considered a normal part of the college experience many factors contribute to whether or not an individual is more prone to be an abuser.
“80 percent of teen-agers have tried alcohol, and that alcohol was a contributing factor in the top three causes of death among teens: accidents, homicide and suicide” (Underage, CNN.com pg 3). Students may use drinking as a form of socializing, but is it really as good as it seems? The tradition of drinking has developed into a kind of “culture” fixed in every level of the college student environment. Customs handed down through generations of college drinkers reinforce students' expectation that alcohol is a necessary ingredient for social success. These perceptions of drinking are the going to ruin the lives of the students because it will lead to the development alcoholism. College students who drink a lot, while in a college environment, will damage themselves mentally, physically, and socially later in life, because alcohol adversely affects the brain, the liver, and the drinkers behavior.
Scrivo, K. (1998, March 20). Drinking on campus. CQ Researcher, 8, 241-264. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Not only in the US, Many countries around the world have the same problem in college campuses. Like many European countries, college drinking has been developed into kind of traditional culture in the US and she has been facing the change of the culture of drinking at colleges. However, other than the damage and injuries that happen during semester break each year, the only consequences of college drinking that usually come to the public's attention are occasional student deaths from alcohol overuse, such as alcohol poisoning or other alcohol-related tragedies. (Ramaley) In fact, the consequences of college drinking are much more than occasional and normal. According to the studies, 1,825 college students who aged from 18 to24 died from alcohol-related inadvertent injuries, including car crashes, while 599,000 students are unintentionally hurt over the influence of alcohol (Hingson et al., 2009). College drinking also results in serious injuries, assaults, sexual abuse and other health and academic problems. The impacts of excessive college drinking are more widespread and destructive than most people realize. Therefore, this essay will first consider the pr...
Many of us, especially during those days in college have woken up with a pounding headache, dry throat and bleary eyes wondering how we got to this point. However, very few of us wonder why we drank so much when most of us are smart enough to know the consequences of heavy drinking. In the book “Getting wasted: why college students drink too much and party so hard”, the sociologist professor from Ohio University examined college drinking culture.
Alcohol consumption is a natural occurrence that happens throughout many people’s lives. One of the easiest gateways to alcohol has been through college. Many can get into the swing of things and find their limits with the stuff, however with others it falls into the more sever category of binge drinking. Binge drinking is the act of drinking more than 4-5 beverages (differing per gender and body weight) in quick succession. This leads to a multitude of things. One of them leads to a dependence on the drink. Suddenly having to buy extreme amounts of alcohol to get drunk or look cool to friends causes many problems with student’s lives. Some of these problems can lead to dangerous situations and permanent problems.
One of the main reasons students feel the need to binge drink is peer pressure. They do this because their peers are doing it and they want to fit in better. College dorm rooms offer many different places for students to drink. Dorm rooms give a great place for a few people to get together, and before you know it “everybody’s doing it”.
Underage students drinking on college campuses has been a problem for countless years. Parents and professors look over the problem of students drinking and look at their college life in a positive way. They understand the students to be studying, making new friends, or working. Instead, an abundance of students are partying and drinking at these parties. The transformation from high school to college causes stress to the students. Therefore, instead of the students looking towards studying more, they start partying to solve their problems. Once they start partying, it gets harder for them to stop and they become depressed. Students drinking at college has become a provision for them, thinking it would help with their stress and problems rather than causing other predicaments.
According to a national survey conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “almost 60 percent of college students ages 18–22 drank alcohol in the past month, 1 and almost 2 out of 3 of them engaged in binge drinking during that same timeframe” (NIH). Binge drinking culture refers to the recent rise and normalization of college age students drinking excessively. The CDC describes binge drinking as “a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol level to 0.08grams within two hours” (CDC). For many young adults, college is one of the first times they will experience complete freedom. This freedom often leads to partying, which goes hand in hand with the consumption of alcohol. However, since the age at which
Binge or excessive drinking is the most serious problem affecting social life, health, and education on college campuses today. Binge or excessive drinking by college students has become a social phenomena in which college students do not acknowledge the health risks that are involved with their excessive drinking habits. Furthermore college students do not know enough about alcohol in general and what exactly it does to the body or they do not pay attention to the information given to them. There needs to be a complete saturation on the campus and surrounding areas, including businesses and the media, expressing how excessive drinking is not attractive and not socially accepted.
According to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, more than 1,800 college students die from alcohol-related causes every year, while about 800,000 are being assaulted by other students because of drinking. About one in every four college students who binge drink also admit that they have experienced academic problems. Binge drinking is drinking multiple drinks in just a few hours to get drunk. Despite the fact that college drinking has caused many issues, it has not been stopped, yet. In article, “Why Colleges Haven’t Stopped Binge Drinking,” McMurtrie (2014) explains that this issue has not been resolved yet because many people still see alcohol abuse as general issue instead of seeing it an individual behavior. Because colleges
In 2008, over 80% of United StateS college students have had at least one alcoholic drink in a span of over two weeks (Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2009). 40% of these college students binge drink, having four or more drinks. This exceeds the rate of other non-college peers. Research suggests