Binge Drinking 101

            Being a college student, I know the effects and consequences of alcohol and have experienced them firsthand.  College is known for the crazy parties and wild things that happen at them.  And it’s obvious that behind any good party is alcohol.  Alcohol transforms us into a new person; we’re more outgoing, more spontaneous, and more confident. 

The reasons why college students drink so much are infinite: to be popular, to be someone different, to meet people, etc.  We never realize though that all of us who get wasted on the weekends are binge drinkers and there can be some serious consequences from it. 

So what exactly is binge drinking?  By definition it is the heavy consumption of alcohol over a period of two hours.  So, what constitutes heavy consumption? For men it means five or more drinks and for women it’s four or more.  Binge drinking can go even further into heavy binge drinking where this occurrence happens three or more times in two weeks.  Obviously by this definition the majority of college students can say they are binge drinkers, or even heavy binge drinkers.

(istockphoto.com)

I will have to admit that throughout my college career I have been a heavy binge drinker and it happened the most when I was a freshman.  We are new to the scene and wanna go to all of the cool parties and meet the hot fraternity boys.  We get drunk because everyone else is and it’s more fun.  We play the drinking games like beer pong and flippy cup.  We dance on tables and do beer bongs.  That’s what college kids do.  But in the end is getting wasted really worth it?

In the next five weeks I’m going to explore binge drinking and decide for myself if getting drunk on the weekends is worth risking my health, my future, my life.  What will you decide?