Valeria Dolgov

Courtney Sviatko

UNIV 112

04/16/2019

The Normalization of alcohol

Alcohol is something that is all around us, from our parents having a beer at dinner or having a

glass of wine after a stressful day at work. Most of our elders have showed us that drinking is normal

and a way to relax. But many teenagers see alcohol in a different context, they see it as a chance to

have a fun night with their friends while getting intoxicated and not having to worry about their

problems. This is an issue because it is endangering our young adults that are going to college and

have first encounters with alcohol. An alcohol prevention class will give students more understanding

on the use of alcohol, will help students recognize what to do in a emergency involving alcohol, and

implement a scare tactic on those choosing to buy fake IDs and indulge in other illegal activities

surrounding alcohol (Benson).

Although alcohol is looked at as stress relieving and fun time to most teens, it becomes a

problem when binge drinking occurs, which is 5 or more drinks for males and 4 or more drinks for

females within a two hour time span (Calbicsek). This type of attitude towards alcohol can result in

severe consequences due to young adults engaging in harmful activities that are getting normalized

on campuses. At VCU there is a resource to help students who want to have more knowledge about

the effects of alcohol and how to be safe while drinking which is called The Well. This organization on

campus hangs up fliers (The Stall Seat Journal) about a number of untalked about topics including

alcohol. As helpful as this organization may seem many students don't pay attention to the fliers

and/or take them as a joke which does not help the growing problem of the normalization of binge

drinking on college campuses.

 The reasons why many college students binge drink is due to not having enough knowledge

about the effects of alcohol. For most college freshman, going to a party on campus is their first time

being around alcohol causing them to make impulsive decisions. However, in the article “Alcohol

Awareness & College Students” written by Jeff Benson explains how at Boston University they have

implemented a good cop, bad cop approach. This entails that all students are required to take an

alcohol prevention class that teaches student about this topic. Meanwhile, the school also prevents

underage use of alcohol by working with law enforcement to stop the use of fake IDs and older

students buying alcohol for underage students. This type of approach will give students more

understanding on the use of alcohol, will help students recognize what to do in a emergency involving

alcohol, and implement a scare tactic on those choosing to buy fake IDs and indulge in other illegal

activities surrounding alcohol.

Giving students an opportunity to learn about alcohol will significantly decrease binge drinking

because they will have a better understanding of how to be safe while drinking. Having this knowledge

will help students drink in a responsible manner which will also decrease the chances of alcohol

related harms happening like unintentional injury, driving under the influence, committing assault or

sexual assault whilst intoxicated and, engaging in unplanned or unprotected sexual activity (Jones). In

the article from The Eagle Times, “It’s about getting ‘effed up,’ but it’s also about working hard” written

by Abbie Vietch, she explains a situation that happened to a college freshman when a student went

out on a weekend and became unresponsive and foaming at the mouth and had to be transported to a

local hospital. If this student had taken a class which provided her with information on how to drink

responsibly, it would've been less likely to happen. Many things can go wrong while drinking but

knowing how to be safe about it by taking a mandatory prevention class will assist the denormalization

of binge drinking.
 During an emergency surrounding alcohol most college students don't know what to do to help

their friends or even strangers who may be unconscious or suffering from alcohol poisoning. In the

same situation after the college freshman became unresponsive, this became an emergency. A fellow

student who was a sophomore came to take care of her and called an ambulance. The student that

came to help knew this girl as someone who lived on her floor who she only vaguely knew. She saw

her being carried out and had to stay up very late taking care of the girl and answering questions when

she only knew little information about. After the situation she said “I would never want to be in a

situation where a stranger had to be responsible for me being alive, so I never pushed it remotely to

that point.” Many who try to assist in these type of situations don't know what should be done, but by

taking the required course they will have the knowledge to help whoever may need it and will

decrease ambulance calls and deaths that involve binge drinking.

After Boston University implemented the alcohol prevention course they also wanted to make

sure that those who choose to engage in illegal activities, like buying/using fake IDs to buy alcohol or

buying alcohol for underage students would be punished accordingly. The University teamed up to

work with local law enforcement and started to use a good cop, bad cop approach. In the article from

The Markkula Center, “A Framework for Ethical Decision Making” written by a collection of Santa Clara

University students. They explain a Utilitarian approach where it produces the greatest balance of

good over harm for everyone involved. In this situation this type of approach is the only solution

because it provides the greatest good and the least harm because those who choose to indulge in

illegal behavior will receive correct disciplinary action which would people less likely to do those

certain activities. Another reason why this is helpful is because using law enforcement as a resource

will decrease the chances of students wanting to involve themselves in this type of activity because of

this scare tactic they will use. This tactic would help the issue of underage students having alcohol to

begin with.
 In summary, having a mandatory course for all university students and having the university

working with local law enforcement would decrease the normalization of binge drinking on campuses

and help students understand the dangers and consequences of alcohol. Some people may claim that

a course would not reduce binge drinking on campuses because students would still make their own

decisions and wouldn't care about safety. However, a class surrounding an unpopular topic like alcohol

would strike conversations among students about being safe and knowing what to do in emergencies.

After knowing this information, this type of approach is something that would benefit the VCU

community and its students and should be implemented. Since VCU already has a Title IX training

during summer for all incoming freshman, including a separate conversation about alcohol under this

required training would benefit everyone and keep them safe in many different situations.
Works cited:

“ClinicalKey.” ClinicalKey, www.clinicalkey.com/#!/content/playContent/1-s2.0-S0306460313003262?

returnurl=null&referrer=null.

“College Alcoholism - Alcohol Abuse in College - AlcoholRehabGuide.” Alcohol Rehab Guide,

www.alcoholrehabguide.org/resources/college-alcohol-abuse/.

Santa Clara University. “A Framework for Ethical Decision Making.” Markkula Center for Applied

Ethics, www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/a-framework-for-ethical-decision-

making/.

“The Wellness Resource Center.” The Wellness Resource Center | Virginia Commonwealth

University, thewell.vcu.edu/alcohol-drugs/alcohol/.

Writers, Staff. “How to Prevent College Binge Drinking & Student DUIs.” AffordableCollegesOnline.org,

AffordableCollegesOnline.org, 26 Apr. 2019, www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-

center/how-to-prevent-college-binge-drinking-and-duis/.