College is a rite of passage.  You’re away from home, experience new-found freedoms and you test the boundaries. One of those boundaries is substance abuse. Kids in high school who would never drink a beer are chugging through a beer bong as part of the fraternity initiation. Happens all the time.

But with freedom comes responsibilities and, more importantly, the power of choice. As a college student, you’re in control of your life. Making smart decisions about drinking and other forms of substance abuse may well determine your course in life. Substance free or waiting for happy hour.

Right now, college kids have the choice. So, how about some numbers and facts to back up the case for voluntary sobriety? Check these out from California Poly Tech and collegedrinkingprevention.gov:

“Let’s Play Hi Bob.”
Remember the old Bob Newhart show, the one where he’s a shrink in Chicago? Well, there’s a college drinking game based on the show. The rule (there’s only one) is simple: Every time a character on the show says “Hi, Bob,” participants have to chug a beer or take another shot of Jack. Good fun, eh?

Beer bongs are long tubes that are filled, then, through the force of gravity, flushed down the throat of the beer bong user. The theory is beer bongs get you drunker faster, which, in college, is the whole idea. This ain’t social drinking

There are lots of drinking games at college gatherings. In one, participants down 15 shots of tequila in one hour. This can actually lead to alcohol poisoning because the body can’t metabolize that much alcohol in such a short time – and alcohol poisoning has taken almost 100 young lives in recent years among inexperienced college drinkers out to break the frat record.

Peer Pressure and How to Defuse It
The pressure to fit in – to belong – can be overwhelming, especially for someone experiencing the freedoms and responsibilities of adulthood. Mommy or daddy aren’t there to protect these vulnerable, eager-to-please freshmen, making it all too easy to fall victim to peer pressure.

It’s typical for college frats and other social groups to have keggers – parties with three or four kegs of beer on ice, 120dBs of music and a lot of STDs being spread around. (60% of all college females are infected with some type of sexually-transmitted disease.[Cal PolyTech]) And it’s tough for an impressionable 18-year-old to resist the excitement and the pressure placed on her by newly-made friends.

This is where the power of choice comes in. The students have choice to engage in dangerous drinking habits that may lead to a lifetime of libations, or to steer clear of the whole binge drinking thing.

Message to college students: You can say no and mean it!

The Limits You Set Determine Your Future
Excessive drinking in college has numerous effects. Let’s start with the student. Students who abuse substances are less academically prepared. They place less value on their education and their futures.

These people hurt themselves mentally, physically and emotionally by abusing alcohol and other mind-altering substances. They are more likely to die while in college.

In addition, these party-goers put others in danger by DUI, stunts and bad judgment in general. When you’ve downed that much alcohol, thought processes aren’t very clear.

Heavy drinking hurts the university – its reputation, its prestige and its standards. Standards set by the student body. You don’t hear about beer bashes at West Point for a reason. The highest standards of trust and integrity.

It’s your choice. Or, it soon will be. You can follow the herd to Jagermeister Night at the local college bar, or go see that movie you and your friends have been talking about.

The decisions you make today may set the course your life will take. Make good decisions and take care of yourself.

That’s one of the best lessons you learn in college. Learn it well.