Alcohol and College Life

College students often have misperceptions about the amount of drinking going on around them. People frequently believe that everyone at college is drinking and everyone is comfortable with drinking. Furthermore, most students tend to overestimate the amount of alcohol their peers are consuming on a regular basis.

However, these perceptions are not accurate. The reality is that, while some binge drink, many people at UND don't drink at all and others drink very moderately. And not everyone is comfortable with the amount of drinking at UND.

Furthermore, students are increasingly recognizing that drinking alcohol and "partying" are NOT necessary to fit it at college or to have a good time!

Nevertheless recent reseach offers some disheartening statistics about excessive alcohol usage among college students. However, the news is not all dire. Studies have shown that several carefully conducted community initiatives aimed at reducing alcohol problems among college-age youth have been effective, leading to reductions in underage drinking, alcohol-related assaults, emergency department visits, and alcohol-related crashes. These studies have shown the close collaboration between colleges and their surrounding communities is key. This includes environmental approaches (such as more vigorous enforcement of zero-tolerance laws, other drinking and driving laws, and strategies to reduce the availability of alcohol) as well as approaches that target the individual drinker (such as wider implementation of alcohol screening, counseling, and treatment programs). (from NIAAA college bulletin).