Communities have role in keeping students sober

By Rosemary King

"The recent death of an Indiana University student on the Ball State University campus shows just how dangerous an 18-year-old's decisions can be. Consuming large quantities of alcohol and mixing alcohol with other drugs are not isolated events on our college campuses. Although college administrators may consider their students as adults, the fact is that the human brain does not fully develop until around age 25. Unfortunately, the part of the brain most undeveloped by college-aged students is the area where reason and judgments are formed."

"The college culture itself has been termed a culture of drinking. College students are more likely to drink and binge drink than their non-college peers. More than 80 percent of college students drink alcohol and almost half binge drink. Binge drinking (consuming five or more drinks for males and four or more for females at a sitting) leads to numerous dangerous consequences, including injury, assault, blacking out, risky sexual activity, driving under the influence, and death. Even students younger than 21, for whom it is illegal to drink, report near equal rates of drinking and binge drinking as the older students. For these students, the question is, how are they accessing so much alcohol? ..."

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http://www.indystar.com/article/20101001/OPINION01/10010329/Communities-...