Teens And Safe Drinking Habits

Volume 1 Issue 6

May  2002

On February 2nd, 2000, Daniel Reardon, 19-year-old University of Maryland student and pledge to the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity, sat down with other pledges at a bid party to drink bourbon from a bottle despite being underage.

Fraternity officers stress that no one was forced to drink nor hazed in any way. About 4 the next morning, paramedics found Reardon in cardiac arrest in a lounge area of the fraternity house that reeked of alcohol. Paramedics noted symptoms of alcohol poisoning including clammy, bluish skin and labored breathing.

Reardon was in a coma for a week before his family removed him from life support. Hospital doctors told his father that the boy had a blood alcohol as high as 0.5 which they stressed can only happen from intense drinking – 0.08 is considered legally drunk in Maryland. Reardon died from acute alcohol intoxication according to his death certificate.

The cause should have been listed as binge drinking. Despite laws in almost every state making it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to posses or purchase liquor and extreme efforts by colleges and universities to stop students from drinking, more and more college students are putting down drink after drink with one goal in mind – to get drunk – even students at all female colleges which had been protected in the statistics for a while.

44% of students in all colleges and universities are involved in binge drinking with the rate in women’s colleges skyrocketing from 24% in 1993 to 32% last year – a statistic your college student does not have to become part of. Binge drinking is drinking a large quantity of alcohol in a short period of time, usually for the purpose of getting drunk. Men who consume five or more drinks in one sitting, and women who consume four or more drinks in one sitting, one or more times within a two-week period are classified as binge drinkers.

A frequent binge drinker is defined as a person who has engaged in binge drinking three or more times within a two-week period. Recent studies have shown that in colleges across the United States, up to 70% of the students are binge drinkers. The average amount of binge drinkers on a college campus is 50% of men, and 39% of women.

The top three reasons people give for binge drinking are: drinking to have a good time, drinking to get drunk and drinking to celebrate. College students, especially freshmen, tend to drink more than the average adult because they are suddenly free of parental control, they are trying to fit in, and they may feel insecure about their new setting. Other reasons people binge drink include peer pressure, boredom, stress, and depression.

Binge drinking has serious consequences which often lead to numerous problems on college campuses including but not limited to: 41% of frequent binge drinkers participate in unplanned sexual activity, increased risk of contracting STDs due to lack of good judgment, increased risk of being sexually assaulted, violence and social problems and serious injury or death – death from intoxication in four stages as happened to Daniel Reardon.

Stage 1: Emotional changes are experienced including loss of control, impaired thinking, and erratic behavior.
Stage 2: Confusion stage. Double vision, disorientation, staggering, and anger may also be present.
Stage 3: Unable to walk or stand, vomiting, loss of bladder control and/or passing out.
Stage 4: (Coma Stage) the final and most serious stage resulting in unconscious and death from alcoholic poisoning which is one of the most serious consequences of binge drinking.

Alcoholic poisoning can lead to brain damage, lung infections, pneumonia, a coma, or even death. When a person consumes alcohol, it enters the bloodstream very quickly. Within minutes, it reaches the brain. Alcohol poisoning occurs when the level of alcohol in the body is so high that it causes the collapse of the autonomic nervous system. Alcohol numbs brain cells, specifically respiratory brain cells. The brain stops signaling the body to breathe, and the person ultimately suffocates and dies – death that can be prevented both when a student is in immediate danger after having consumed too much alcohol and not in immediate danger.

Immediate treatment to prevent death from alcoholic poisoning is:

• Call for assistance.

• If sleepy and listless, roll the person onto his/her side in order to prevent choking from vomiting.

• If passed out, shake the person gently or give a pinch to wake him/her up.

• If the person gives no response, but his/her breathing is normal, make sure to constantly monitor breathing for any change in rhythm.

• If breathing is irregular, the person appears unconscious, or his/her skin has a bluish hue, call an ambulance or 911 immediately.

• Never leave the person alone, even for a minute. Medical problems may not show up for over an hour. If you are in doubt, call for help.

• If the person is not breathing, use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and call an ambulance or 911 immediately.

Also, find out where your student is going to college. If your college student must go away to a four-year school, check out the reputation of the school. There are national sources of information about colleges and universities. You do not want schools known as party schools. If you family has a religious background, you should consider a religious college where the principles you raised your child under are followed. And, be sure your student knows where to get help if he has a problem. He can go to the college counseling service which has people skilled in whatever problem your student may have such as alcohol abuse.

She can go find help with pregnancy and sex abuse in the college counseling office. College counselors are there to help and not judge students. And emphasize that your student can always come to you with her or his problems. Caring about your student is the best way to keep him or her from becoming a binge drinking statistic.

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