Amnesty Should Be Taught In Schools

1761 Words4 Pages

According to the New York Times, “More than 1,800 students die every year of alcohol-related causes...600,000 are injured while drunk, and nearly 100,000 become victims of alcohol-influenced sexual assaults”(Mcmurtrie). Alcohol-related injuries and deaths are issues colleges have been struggling with for decades. While some have implemented laws to prevent binge drinking, many have simply banned the use of alcohol on campuses. By implementing these strict rules, it seems as if colleges think students only drink for fun and because of peer pressure. Rather than solving the problem of alcohol-related injuries and deaths, these strict laws ensure that students find other dangerous means of obtaining and consuming this substance. It also ensures …show more content…

In an article about ensuring the safety of students with amnesty, Lehman et. al speak about how few colleges have implemented amnesty. The authors express that the amnesty policy comes with a mandatory education plan for those who use it(Lehman et. al). They specifically address Virginia Tech’s education plan for using the amnesty policy. They state that those who use amnesty in Virginia Tech have to go through an educational program, counseling or an assessment.” Students who are using amnesty are not just escaping the consequences of their actions. Although they aren’t to be penalized, they have to be counseled about what they have done. This gives them the opportunity to obtain help and change their unhealthy drinking patterns. By stopping these patterns, schools have the opportunity to reduce alcohol-related injuries and deaths. Thankfully, many of the colleges who have adopted amnesty also have an educational aspect to ensure that students obtain the help they need. For example, the University of Texas at Austin makes sure that students who are under amnesty see and listen to a counselor. The university’s site explains how their amnesty works on the campus (Student …show more content…

For some students, abusing alcohol is their form of coping with the stress they feel as college students. Dr. Daphne Pedersen, who specializes in social psychology, conducted a study on how stress affects binge drinking. In her report, she begins by separately talking about the issue of binge drinking and the issue of stress amongst college students (Pedersen). Before addressing her study, Pedersen explains that “[a]lthough binge drinking is often a recreational behavior, woven into college culture, it is also a documented response to stress.” This expresses that students tend to abuse alcohol because of stress. As a result of the stress they feel from the pressures and burdens in their new lives, they have the strong desire to escape. This leads them to begin viewing alcohol as a way to liberate themselves from stress. Due to this common misconception of alcohol reducing or eliminating stress, students continue to drink excessively without realizing that intoxication could injure and kill them. With the medical amnesty policy, those who call 911 to get help will not be penalized. Instead, they will be treated and they would have to attend counseling to ensure they deal with their stress in much safer ways. This, in turn, reduces the number of alcohol-related injuries and

Open Document