Public Problems on College Campuses - Essay Example

Abusive college drinking is a public problem. It affects not only those who take alcohol, but also those who are around them. Whether they drink or not, almost all college students suffer from the consequences of college drinking. It is a habit that has severe negative impacts on the college students, their families and the entire community of college students as a whole. Some major consequences of college drinking include drunken driving, death, injury, physical violence, sexual assault and unsafe sex.

Every year over 1,825 college students die owing to drinking related injuries and vehicle crashes; 599,000 succumb to unintentional injuries inflicted due to drinking; over 696,000 are physically assaulted by a fellow student who is drunk; and more than 97,000 students report having subjected to sexual assaults and date rapes as a result of drinking. Apart from these problems there are some other less obvious, though equally alarming effects of drinking amongst college students. About 25 per cent college students report academic problems as a result of their drinking habits, such as missing classes, lagging behind in studies, performing poorly in examinations and receiving lesser marks or grades.

Majority of the college students show an incidence of alcohol abuse or dependence. Some other consequences are suicide cases, health issues, damage to property and involvement with the police. (NIAAA, 2013) In most cases the students enter college with pre-established drinking habits, or at least with some involvement with alcohol. But there are certain factors in college life that accentuate any such pre-existing habits. These factors include irregular daily routine, restricted interactions with parents and family, easy availability of alcohol in and around the college campus, and lack of implementation of laws on drinking abuse.

In fact college goers show high rates of drunken driving than their